New to the board - Suggestions for new camera?

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bill2penn
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New to the board - Suggestions for new camera?

Post by bill2penn »

Hello all,
I am returning to microscopy after quite a while since I have recently retired. I have an interest in diatoms, arrangements of diatoms on slides, and microphotography of diatoms. I used to offer cleaned diatom samples and mounting media (Pleurax, Zrax) and made micromanipulators but gave that up about 15 years ago. I have recently started cleaning diatom samples again and have a new webpage on that http://diatomsamples.weebly.com. I won't be making any more mounting media or micromanipulators since I no longer have the facilities.
I would like some suggestions for upgrading my current (very old) photo setup on my Leitz Ortholux and Orthoplan. Currently I use a Nikon 995 camera screwed into a Periplan eyepiece and this whole setup is attached via a trinocular tube adapter. I do have a Leitz KAVAR camera adapter that I played with 20 years ago by replacing the t-mount to fit that of my old Minolta 35mm film camera. This worked fine but I just couldn't get excited about processing film compared with digital even with the Nikon 995. Since that time technology has come a long way. What I'd like from the group are some recommendations for a good, easy to use digital camera that I can attach to my KAVAR using an appropriate t-mount adapter. I have read that the Canon 600 is a good option. I don't want to be spending thousands on this, maybe a few hundred dollars. Suggestions from the crowd?

Thanks
Bill

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bbobby
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Re: New to the board - Suggestions for new camera?

Post by bbobby »

bill2penn wrote:
Thu Jan 05, 2023 6:34 am
... replacing the t-mount to fit that of my old Minolta 35mm film camera..
If you already have something to fit Minolta SR mount there are countless adapters for $10 or so which will allow you to use any digital camera nowadays... you will have to decide if you need full frame or crop sensor, with or without a mirror and what resolution you need... older 10-12Mpix cameras often are under $100... the older DSLR (with mirror) cameras sometimes do not have live view or it is not well implemented, so better stay clear... newer is in many cases better, so if you can spend about $300 probably best bet is to go with a bit "newer" camera (16-24Mpix sensor) - my old Canon 7D and Sony Nex 7 are still doing perfectly fine job and I use them more or less regularly for 10-12 years (I told my wife after I bought them: "probably I will not need to buy another camera" and I am more or less still on this opinion even now when I have 8 different cameras at home including A7R4 - which is great and definitely better in about every aspect but overkill for most pictures)... also maybe you need to think if you need tethering to PC for better focusing - maybe looking thru the eyepieces will be enough for focusing...

bill2penn
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Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: New to the board - Suggestions for new camera?

Post by bill2penn »

bbobby wrote:
Thu Jan 05, 2023 7:37 am
bill2penn wrote:
Thu Jan 05, 2023 6:34 am
... replacing the t-mount to fit that of my old Minolta 35mm film camera..
If you already have something to fit Minolta SR mount there are countless adapters for $10 or so which will allow you to use any digital camera nowadays... you will have to decide if you need full frame or crop sensor, with or without a mirror and what resolution you need... older 10-12Mpix cameras often are under $100... the older DSLR (with mirror) cameras sometimes do not have live view or it is not well implemented, so better stay clear... newer is in many cases better, so if you can spend about $300 probably best bet is to go with a bit "newer" camera (16-24Mpix sensor) - my old Canon 7D and Sony Nex 7 are still doing perfectly fine job and I use them more or less regularly for 10-12 years (I told my wife after I bought them: "probably I will not need to buy another camera" and I am more or less still on this opinion even now when I have 8 different cameras at home including A7R4 - which is great and definitely better in about every aspect but overkill for most pictures)... also maybe you need to think if you need tethering to PC for better focusing - maybe looking thru the eyepieces will be enough for focusing...
I'd like a full frame sensor since that's what the optics in the KAVAR are designed for. Live view and pc monitoring ability would be nice but not a deal breaker. More than 10-12 pixels seems overkill for my abilities/applications. I'm happy to get a used body since my plan is to leave it connected to the scopes like I currently do with my Nikon 995. I would be willing to spend maybe up to ~$1k if the camera was really worth it. Otherwise I'll just stick with my dinosaur.
Bill

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bbobby
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Re: New to the board - Suggestions for new camera?

Post by bbobby »

bill2penn wrote:
Thu Jan 05, 2023 12:07 pm
I'd like a full frame sensor since that's what the optics in the KAVAR are designed for. Live view and pc monitoring ability would be nice but not a deal breaker. More than 10-12 pixels seems overkill for my abilities/applications. I'm happy to get a used body since my plan is to leave it connected to the scopes like I currently do with my Nikon 995. I would be willing to spend maybe up to ~$1k if the camera was really worth it. Otherwise I'll just stick with my dinosaur.
Bill
I was pretty happy with my Sony a7R III - the reason I sold it and went to 4th version was the pixel shift mode and better battery life, not so much the additional resolution... I did quick check on eBay and few were sold under $1k for the last month - if your optics cover the full frame sensor I think this will be really good choice... low iso noise, tethering, not really big/heavy... the 42 Mpix files are somewhat big, so this may be an issue if you have very old PC... but otherwise if I have to select best used full frame camera for under $1k today I will not hesitate to choose this one.

Pau
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Re: New to the board - Suggestions for new camera?

Post by Pau »

If I understand well your Leitz KAVAR has a T mount camera coupler and a Periplan 10X at its base, am I right?

If you use a lower magnification eyepiece you could be OK with a smaller sensor camera (although I have no experience with the KAVAR)

A full frame DSLR for several hundreds must be used. I suggest the Canon EOS models: 6D, 5D mkII and 5D MkIII because they have EFSC (electronic front shutter curtain) so they do not transmit vibrations during the exposure and tether nicely with the computer with free bundled software (EOS Utility). I don't know if the suggested Sony has these features, if so it would be great.

Another approach would be to couple a camera (DSLR or mirrorless) with its lens to the eyepiece directly like you do with the Coolpix, likely less stable but also useful if the camera is not very heavy and you get the adequate lens

Take a look at https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... 265#p99265
Pau

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bbobby
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Re: New to the board - Suggestions for new camera?

Post by bbobby »

Pau wrote:
Fri Jan 06, 2023 1:39 am
...I don't know if the suggested Sony has these features, if so it would be great.
It does... also "fully electronic shutter" (silent shooting) where the mechanical shutter is out of the picture so even the minute vibrations from it are not an issue... if shooting fast moving subject it could be banding in this mode, but this is not the case using microscope...
I had in the past all these 3 models of Canon and they are good cameras and if the budget is under $500 you cannot go wrong with them - they will get the job done (Nikon D800/810 series too), but in my opinion Sony is just better in almost every aspect... and $500 more expensive as of today, so I guess all comes down to that.
It is worth checking Sony A7R II, it was so long ago I used it I do not remember everything, but it was pretty similar to III and I am pretty sure First-curtain and Silent shutter functions are available. And it should be about 300 bucks cheaper than III, about $700 used.

bill2penn
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Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: New to the board - Suggestions for new camera?

Post by bill2penn »

I thank everyone for their comments and suggestions. I pulled the trigger on eBAY and bought a used but good shape Canon 6D which also had three Canon lenses included: a 50mm F1.4 USM, a 24-105mm F3.6-5.6 IS STM, and an ancient but excellent condition 80-200mm F2.8 EF L Canon lens with original case. Also included a Canon 430EX flash. I've never had such an assortment of lenses and flash to play with on a camera so that's a lot of fun for me taking nature shots and portraits.

But why I wanted this camera was to do microscope imaging on my Ortholux and Orthoplan. So I tried it on my KAVAR microscope adapter and was able to get some good shots. I'm still learning and will ask some questions about it and post some images in another thread that I will start latter.

But thank you all again for your help.

Bill

Adalbert
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Re: New to the board - Suggestions for new camera?

Post by Adalbert »

Hello Bill,
Congratulations on buying an excellent camera.
I have it too and really appreciate Magic-Lantern running on it.
Best, ADi

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