shawngibson

<p>Wow, brain melt.</p> <p>Thanks everyone.</p> <p>I think it's been clearly established that in order to get any cell-level image that is full of information, is beyond both my budget and my knowledge.</p> <p>However, that doesn't leave me dead in the water.</p> <p>I'd also like to be able to view impressions of macroscopic fossils in detail, for example, casts of Ediacaran and Cambrian fossils. And I'd like to be able to look closely at the parts of extant arthropods. </p> <p>So I am guessing that a 50x magnification is best for that.</p> <p>The entire point of all this is, I'd like to take a snapshot of whatever I compose on a slide, so that I can later turn it into a painting.</p> <p>I don't want to rely on internet images, as I prefer to be the photographer of my paintings.</p> <p>The learning about biology aspect seems unfeasible given the monetary and (microscopy) knowledge constraints, but that won't stop me from being a geek:)</p> <p>On that note, would something like this (link below) suffice? If not, please make a product recommendation. I will learn as I explore, but right now I just want a solid purchase to get me started:)</p> <p>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AEJ9FJ4/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00AEJ9FJ4&linkCode=as2&tag=bestcompoundmicroscopes-20</p>

<p>>>Single cells are mostly transparent, and hard to observe using simple transmitted or reflected light. Usually special illumination techniques are need, including polarization, dark field and phase contrast. Above 400x, you usually find oil immersion objectives, which use mineral oil to "connected" the microscope with the subject.</p> <p>If I want to see a flagellum, or maybe a nucleus, how does this work out?</p>

<p>>>I suggest you do some research of cellular microscopy to see what else is involved in sample preparation, as well as the hardware needed for observation.</p> <p>I will do that, thank you:)</p>

<p>>> A word of caution....when you get beyond 4-500x magnification your DOF is extremely narrow, and in order to get good resolution and light transfer, you need to use an oil immersion lens and Abbe condenser....there is a learning curve.</p> <p>Is this a camera, microscope, or fine-tuning thing? I've never looked at biota under a microscope before:( I've been looking from a phylogenetic point of view, i.e. theory. I'd like to see the differences microscopically.</p> <p>Is oil immersion/Abbe condesnser a way to get very close, if you know what you're doing?</p> <p>Shawn</p>

<p>Hey all, been a while...hope you're all well:) Apologies for not being around, not that anyone missed me lol.</p> <p>I'd like to capture microscopic images onto a dslr sensor. Nothing crazy, an average APS-C sensor would do. People make adaptors to do this.</p> <p>My confusion revolves around the microscope. I'd like to get close enough to get decent images of single cells. Not spectacular images, just decent ones, for example, of a bacterium or an average eukaryotic cell. </p> <p>I see that 400x gets you to the cell level, and 2000x gets you a pretty decent view, but are those numbers just digital zoom? </p> <p>If I were to spend say $750 on a microscope that had an attachment to hook up a camera, am I anywhere close to catching say the faint borders of a cells' nucleus?<br> Thanks,<br> Shawn</p>