Cell Phones, Dedicated Cameras and DSLRs for Photomicrography

[Robert Berdan]

I have always wanted to know what the best camera was for taking pictures with a microscope and how good cell phones were - so my son and I tested 4 Dedicated microscope cameras: 3 MP Amscope, 5MP Zeiss Axiocam, 5.5 MP Moticam ProS5 Lite and the Rising Cam 20 MP one inch sensor. I compared them to the Iphone 5s, Samsung Galaxy III, Google Pixel 3, and a Nikon D500 APSC camera and a Nikon D800 full frame camera. I also requested sample images from Nikon's and Leica's top of the line dedicated cameras costing more the $10,000. In brief - the Rising cam costing about $600 US and the Nikon D500 were the best and its hard to tell the difference between them. Cell phones we tested varied from bad to good, but none of them comes close to a dedicated camera or a DSLR. DSLR cameras offered the best video. I tested one mirrorless camera the 12 MP Canon G16 but could not fill the frame.

I hope this article provides some answers to those looking to take pictures through the microscope - the big surprise was the Rising Cam with a one inch sensor. I also show screen shots of different software programs used with some of the cameras. I mention medium format cameras, but they are rarely used and I also show pictures taken with Kodak Photomicrography film and provide a little bit of history on digital photography. I have been photography with a microscope for 50 years starting with Polaroid, 35 mm film and then digital.

Underneath the web images I also put links to download the full size unprocessed images so its easier to compare them as I can make even a 3MP image look good on a web site. Also I tested the Rising Cam for its ability to capture fluorescent images and it did a spectacular result. I liked this camera so much that I will now be using it regularly along with my DSLR cameras.

Link to article on my personal web site:
https://www.canadiannaturephotographer. ... DSLRs.html

I include numerous links to other studies and videos. I also discuss how many megapixels one needs to make prints and what I consider the minimum number of MP for photomicrography. I hope readers will find something of value in this article.

I am not trying to sell or promoting any particular brand - just showing the results I get with the different cameras and hope it will encourage others to take up photomicrography and use the best camera for them.
Cheers
RB

[Luis Barrera Puigdollers]

Excellent review article Robert. many thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge, always invaluable.

Luis

[Macro_Cosmos]

That's a really snug working space! I like those DIC results!
How do you keep the microscopes free from dust? I only have 2 and both have a dust cover on when they aren't in use.

[ChrisR]

An interesting and informative article, Robert, thank you for sharing your results.

[jpringle]

Robert - Always fun going down the rabbit hole with you. Tons of information in this article. As always, the DIC photos really stand out. Thanks for the information. Jamie

[Macro_Cosmos]

Finally finished reading. Lots of interesting stuff! This is an excellent paper, even comes with references!

Maybe I should put mine to a test too, it's monochrome though.

I must add, the Google Pixel does so well because of their computations.
Most android phones, especially the Chinese ones that offer rather "pure Android systems [1]" such as Oneplus and Xiaomi actually allows the Google Camera app to be installed.
Also for most Android phones, rooting is not required as long as the api itself is enabled/installed. A new Android version is necessary however, my old 7.0 doesn't let me install the app.
This greatly improves the images!

Here's an example: https://www.androidauthority.com/oneplu ... a-1130704/

[1]: Pure means minimal modification to the OS. Samsung for example usually isn't one of them, however their computations are pretty alright too... just that google's is so many levels above everyone.

For aesthetics, phone cameras might totally work in the future. Scientific use however, most want the purest images for analysis, so those extremely costly ones do have a role, a niche one reflected by the price and usually "not so amazing" image quality. Some phones limit raw output on a hardware level, Sony is infamous for this. Our choice of cameras are slowly going down this path too... unfortunately. Prebaked raw files and what not, example here.

[Pau]

Excellent article, Robert