Camera Adaptor and Digital Microscope-1

The whole paper is too long, we hereby divide it in to 6 pages to increase the readability.

The whole paper can be downlad from here  in PDF format.

1 Principle of the digital microscope
2 Basic configuration of the digital microscope
3 Ways to pick up the microscope image

3.1 Directly pick up method
3.2 Photo project ocular method
3.3 Eyepiece first, then adaptor Lens:
3.4 Pick up through intermediate reduction lenses

4 Basic requirement of the reduction lenses
5 Why so many low quality reduction lenses in the microscope eyepiece camera market

5.1 Wrong stop position and size
5.2 Different magnification reduction lenses have different sizes
5.3 Long conjugate distance
5.4 Ghost image problem
5.5 Black spots
5.6 Reduction lens NA and its image quality
5.7 Reduction lens with low MTF value

6 Reduction Lens and its dimension
7 Conclusion

Field YU on 05132013

Principle of the digital microscope

         The optical microscope has been a standard tool in life science as well as material science for more than one and a half centuries.

         The optical microscope is often referred to as the “light microscope”, which is a type of microscope, using visible light and a system of lenses to magnify images of small samples. Optical microscopes are the oldest design of microscope. Historically optical microscopes are easier to develop and popular because they use visible light so that samples may be directly observed by eye.

         A digital microscope is a microscope equipped with a digital camera allowing observation of a sample via a computer. Microscopes can also be partly or wholly computer-controlled with various levels of automation. Digital microscopy allows greater analysis of a microscope image, for example measurements of distances and areas and quantitation of a fluorescent or histological stain.

Digital Microscope=Camera+Adaptor+Microscope

         Some hobbyists prefer to modify generic cameras for use with a microscope. This can be accomplished by adding an attachment to the camera so that it can be used with a microscope eyepiece. Scientific supply companies sometimes sell kits for this purpose, and people who are skilled at such things can also fabricate specialty attachments to make a microscope camera. The image quality may not always be the best, but this option can be much easier to use and much less expensive than a specialized microscope camera.

         When choosing a regular camera, there are a number of options to consider. The choice between a digital and film camera is an important issue, as lens quality, resolution, the sensitivity of the camera's sensor, and the ability of the camera to interface smoothly with existing equipment. For those who have an opportunity to do so, it can be a good idea to test several models in a lab to see which one feels most comfortable to use, and to look at samples from various microscope cameras to get an idea of the kind of image quality to expect.

            We here will pay more attention on the basic principle of how to configure a digital camera for the microscope. Camera performance and parameters will not discuss in this paper.

Camera Adaptor and Digital Microscope-2