Photographing through a microscope

[josh_miller6]

I recently was asked to shoot photos of small invertabrates for a upcoming scince resource book. The

only problem is that don't know how to get good shots out of a microscope. I have a nikon 55mm manual

Macro and PK-3 27.5mm extension tube. I have been using this combo on my D70 without the meter

successfuly for some time.

 

How do I attach the lens to a microscope. Or is there some other solution to this problem.

[SCL]

Most manufacturers sell a microscope attachment, one end which attaches to the microscope (via the draw tube or ocular tube, the other end which attaches to their various camera models...somethimes with an internal lens, sometimes not. The camera attachment is generally to the body of the camera, not the lens. However the old fashioned way was merely to use a step up ring on the camera lens (focus at infinity), and a slightly larger ring which fit on the microscope upon which the camera could be placed. You separated the two, focussed the microscope on whatever specimen is desired. replaced the camera onto the microscope and released the shutter via a cable release. Exposure is iffy but generally one roll of test shots will give you a pretty good results...I worked this way in the late 50s for several hundred shots to win a couple of science fairs. Good luck. Kodak published several monographs on the topic and there is a lot of info online..Google photomicrography.

[joseph_wisniewski]

You don't actually use any lenses for this. Instead, you get a microscope adapter. Kalt makes an acceptable generic adapter, it's about $30. The adapter slips over the eyepiece tube of your microscope and attaches to your camera with a T mount (about $15).

 

You can use the adapter in two ways, "prime focus" or "projection". In prime focus, you remove the eyepiece from the microscope, slide the adapter onto the tube, and adjust tube and microscope until the image from the eyepiece focuses an image on the camera's sensor.

 

In projection, you start as you did for prime focus, by removing the eyepiece from the microscope. You then dismantle the adapter into its two pieces (it has an interesting combination bayonet and screw mount to do this). You put only the lower piece over the microscope's eyepiece tube, then slide the eyepiece through the lower section, back into the microscope tube. You then reassemble the upper section of the microscope adapter onto the lower section, and attach your T-mount.

 

"projection" gives you much higher magnification than prime focus, but it's much harder to actually focus an image.

 

Whichever method you use, if you want to set a custom white balance, just remove the slide and shoot the light source directly using the "pre" white balance mode, to get some pretty good color from the D70.

 

Good luck, and have fun.

[ilkka]

Important thing to remember is to support the camera very well and lock the mirror if at all possible. Otherwise the vibrations will easily spoil the image. I doubt you can get a sharp image with a camera dangling at the end of the ocular tube without locking the mirror. Another alternative is to open the shutter and use the microscope's light to make the exposure but that would need a timer of some sort. Or then use a flash.

[kolaczan]

I'm teaching a number of students in a lab right now and many of them are getting really (REALLY) good shots using P&S cameras held up to the eyepiece of the scope. Certainly good enough for printing in a resource book (I'm thinking less than 8 1/2 x 11). I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.

 

****Odds are that the image quality from the microscope will be the limiting factor. Things like mirror lockup etc... will likely not be your biggest concern if you are careful.

 

OTOH I suspect you would need an adapter to do the same with a DSLR. Although I haven't tried it myself.

[dan_fromm2]

There are books on the subject, look for 'em.

 

Also visit http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html , whose archives contain many articles on doing just what you want to do.

[geoffm]

Like Chris, we shoot most of our photomicrographs with a Nikon Coolpix 995 P&S, held up to the eyepiece. The results are quite good enough for presentations as they are, and can be made adequate for publication by cropping off the edges, which can tend to be a bit blurred. Of course the "proper" way to take photomicrographs is by using the microscope manufacturer's dedicated equipment on a trinocular tube, but this is pricey and complex.<div></div>