arthur_brogard

<p>Hmm, couldn't find a way to edit my post.<br> Got a reply back from Amscope and I'm informed that digital cameras used in this way have a natural magnification which, for instance with their typical cameras, is about 40X.<br> So they add in a reducer to knock it back down to 20X.<br> Which is still more than the highest eyepiece magnification I currently use.<br> So if all the other 'in tube' cameras are the same as this there's no problem.<br> I would have edited/deleted my previous post but couldn't see how to do it.</p> <p> </p>

<p>Yes, I've been to that link. Long time ago. The very first item, the KK2, is closet to what I'm looking for. Cheap, light, does the job. Doesn't bother trying to do anything else.<br> Except it doesn't do the job. <br> It fits into the eyepiece tube of the microscope. That means the eyepiece lens has to come out. That means I lose magnification. If I have a 40x objective and a 15x eyepiece I have a total of 600x magnification. If I take the eyepiece lens out I can only take pictures or stream video at 40x.<br> See?<br> The next best is the SK2-3.1 which takes the money up to $125. It seems to have exactly the same problem. They do not make anything very clear in their voluminous spiel about the specs and quality of the thing - they never come out and specifically state 'allows photography through the eyepiece' which I would have thought would be an essential first claim in dedicated microscope cameras.<br> But they do say again and again that it has a 23.2mm adapter. Well that is the internal diameter of the eyepiece tube. So it seems definite to me that it slides in. And the eyepieces and their magnification multiplying effect, come out.<br> So that's no good.<br> The AM4023 seems the first that might work. It seems to have three adjusting/clamping screws. That indicates to me that it goes over the eyepiece which is what is wanted.<br> However they want $250 for that. <br> I am shopping for something cheaper.<br> If a typical webcam can stream the video then it is not a high tech, difficult, expensive thing to provide.<br> I have low definition webcams that I can mount on the eyepiece and get good pics at low res from.<br> All I need is a HD webcam, seems to me.<br> Or a low end digital camera (such as the cannon A520 or the Fuji AV250 that I have) that is capable of streaming the video.<br> I got a HD webcam. A microsoft HD. But it has two faults.<br> 1. The construction is such that when mounted on the eyepiece it is too far back, too far distant, from the objective lens and the picture circle is too small. <br> 2. It does not have automatic brightness compensation as webcams usually have, it seems. For it is dazzled by the light shining up the tube.<br> So it is a piece of junk. For this purpose. Okay as a webcam.<br> So there is a problem.<br> I, too, think there should be no problem. None at all. Seems easy to me. Surely there's a low end digital camera out there that streams? No? Ah, well, that's the problem.<br> Surely there's a dedicated microscope camera available? Yes, but they all require removing the eyepiece lens. Ah, well, that's the problem.<br> Surely any HD webcam would do? Try the Microsoft. Doesn't work. Ah, there's the problem.</p> <p>:)</p> <p> </p>

<p>It is mainly for capturing video. But not to the exclusion of stills. I much like video of living pond life doing its thing but stills of more inanimate subjects are still wanted.<br> A video camera would be quite huge to try to mount on the eyepiece of a microscope.<br> An acceptable thing is something like my present cameras - the finepix and the cannon - made for it or not, doesn't matter, the produce a video that is adequate, that is fine. I have hand held them at the eyepiece and taken some good videos.<br> If I can fasten them up there and have them streaming to the computer I can view the image on the computer - with, for instance, yawcam - and adjust focus and objective lens and move the stage - and see the result immediately and clearly. That's why I want what I want.<br> So it just boils down to which cameras will do it?</p>

<p>Okay, thank you. So I look in the specs for the word 'tethered' or a whole sentence 'capable of being tethered' or something? <br> A DSLR is out of my price range right now and would be a bit heavy for the microscope, too, I think. <br> What I'm looking for is only the functionality of a webcam, actually. Pretty low tech and very ordinary. You'd think every camera would have it as a matter of course.<br> So why not a webcam?<br> Well HD is the point. But HD webcams are not easy to find and begin to cost a bit more than their LD cousins so I'm thinking might as well buy a camera if I'm going to spend that much. See? That's the logic behind it all.</p>

<p> I want a camera I can connect to the computer and view what the camera is viewing - on the computer. I will then use the computer software to take pictures or videos. <br> Or use the camera itself to take pictures or videos.</p> <p> The reason for this is that the camera will be mounted on a microscope and I will be seeing what it sees and will have a much better ability to photo and video than I do with a camera that does not 'stream' (if that's the right word) to the computer.<br> Because when it does not stream I can only judge the picture by looking at the small screen on the back of the camera - which is pretty poor.</p> <p>I have a finepix av250 and a cannon a520 and they're both great little cameras. But neither of them can do this.<br> What is this feature called so I can vet cameras online and see which have it and which don't?<br> And if anyone has a suggestion on a good camera for this job I'd like to hear it.</p> <p>:)</p> <p> </p>