Took the Plunge into Microscope/Camera!

[Woolshire]

…and only have 114 questions to be answered

ended up with an Eakins on a two-bar stand that seems to fit the bill for me. If anyone is wondering, $345(“free” shipping). It made it from China to my home in Iowa in 36 hours! (3-days from order). Didn’t have too much trouble figuring out setup minus camera. It did take me an hour to decipher how to adjust IPD (pupillary distance) since this one doesn’t have the normal binocular setup. (You just slide the two eye ports apart…firm smooth slide).

a couple of my 114 questions, to start:

1. Seeing my camera, how would you suggest I set up to capture photos and video? I see there is a mini-SD card (TF). I hadn’t thought about that too much, obviously. I need to get a small monitor (8-12”?). I’m pretty sure I don’t need software to show the camera real-time but am wondering about how best to record?

2. The scope is nice (using 0.5 Barlow) but am wondering about head tilt to best see the parts and not the top of my finger/hand?

[grsnovi]

You could run the HDMI out to your computer screen.

I ended up with an trinocular AmScope (for $400) and ended up using an existing DSLR camera (which needed another $100) adapter. So I knew how to deal with the whole camera business. How do you trigger the camera to get a still image? I realized that my camera through the third port wasn't exactly in the same focal plane as my eyes, so that needing some compensation.

I would suggest that you leave the scope head alone (set as it is) and adjust your approach to working so that the scope provides you with a view of something other than your hands or fingers.

[GuyMontag]

First, parafocal your microscope so that it stays in focus through the zoom range (as will your camera). This is a really good video showing how:

 

 

 

I run an HDMI cable to a monitor mounted to my desk and record to the micro SD card. I have the monitor mounted on an articulated arm so it's easy to move up and down, tilt, etc. The monitor is important to check focus because sometimes, even if parafocused, I find that it drifts and I need to adjust the camera focus. Before I had the monitor I would review my footage only to find parts of it out of focus. Also, the view through the camera doesn't show 100% of what you see in the microscope, so at times I would be doing something that doesn't show up in the footage because it was just out of frame. The monitor helps with this.
 

Edited March 8, 2023 by GuyMontag

[Woolshire]

Thanks for those tips. I haven’t tried the camera yet. Will happen soon. It seems that the TF card is a good option to save photos and video. I saw I could get a 256GB card for around $15. With that, I believe a cheap monitor is all I need…I might be wrong.

[Woolshire]

I did manage to get the camera hooked up via usb and the the software included, on my laptop. I see that neither the camera remote nor the buttons on the camera seems to do anything while on usb. I’m assuming once hooked up to hdmi that the camera functions will show up on that monitor. Does that sound correct?

[GuyMontag]

I would assume so, yes.

My camera behaves oddly where it doesn't always respond to the remote or button presses. When you are recording it shows a white camera icon in the upper left of the monitor with a red light next to the icon. When you stop recording the red light disappears while the camera icon remains. At this point the remote stops responding to the menu button. I have to first hit the "take picture" button on the remote which clears the white camera icon on the monitor and then it will start responding to the menu button presses.