Q&D photomacrography-cheap 'scope & compact camera

[dunksargent]

I asked my 11 year old great nephew's Ma (my niece in Salt Lake, Utah) if she thought he'd be able to cope with a basic stereo microscope. She thinks he will - because he's very interested in anything 'optical'. Thus after spotting this ex-demo DM 5 'scope on the 'USED" sales list of a well known UK microscope supplier, I ordered it for him - but decided to have a play with it myself before shipping to USA:



This is a pretty basic model with a 2x mag. stereo objective and 10x mag eyepieces giving 20x viewing magnification. The lenses have glass elements - this is not a cheap 'scope with plastic lenses. The 'scope is fairly lightweight, 550g, and is just 10" high. The instrument is designed as a portable 'fieldscope' and has its own built in incident lighting system powered by 2 AA batteries. Price was just £25 plus VAT.

When looking at a few coins as subject matter I was surprised to find that the images are fairly sharp to the naked eye - and being stereo, they are very realistic and have 'depth'. The focusing mechanism is fairly coarse (there is no fine focus) but with care it is capable of good imagery. The image edges are not so sharp but being a cheap 'scope the lenses are probably not state of the art flat field.

I could not resist trying some photography through the 'scope but I did not expect anything wonderful using a Fuji f30 compact camera resting on top of one of the eyepieces.









The photos turned out better than expected - using the non-macro mode of the camera (because the images are in effect at infinity when viewed through the 'scope's eyepiece) and zooming in and out using the camera's zoom lens. The closest focus pics are thus taken at the telephoto end of the zoom.

If my nephew enjoys using the 'scope I'll probably look out for a more sophisticated model for him.

Best wishes

dunk

[Chris S.]

Dunk, what a nice uncle you are! Lucky fellow, your great-nephew.

My three-year-old niece, every time she visits, says, "Let's look!" This is short for "Let's look through your stereo microscope." She's only beginning to get the rudiments of centering the object and focusing. We bring in bugs, flowers, rocks, seeds, and whatnot to look at. Sure makes me happy!

Bet your great-nephew will love this gift.

--Chris

--edited for typo

[dunksargent]

Dunk, what a nice uncle you are! Lucky fellow, your great-nephew.

My three-year-old neice, every time she visits, says, "Let's look!" This is short for "Let's look through your stereo microscope." She's only beginning to get the rudiments of centering the object and focusing. We bring in bugs, flowers, rocks, seeds, and whatnot to look at. Sure makes me happy!

Bet your great-nephew will love this gift.

--Chris

I think he'll enjoy using the 'scope. He has to cope with attention deficit syndrome but when he really gets interested in something he works at it with obsession to the exclusion of everything else. I'm hoping the 'scope might further his interest in natural history - and maybe he could eventually become a proficient microscopist.

Best wishes

dunk