Optem HF-165 Microscope

[Craig Gerard]

Optem HF-165 Microscope

What is this?

I have a basic understanding of its intended application.










Craig

[Craig Gerard]

Some information I received today.

These are industrial microscopes and macroscopes.

Usually they are zoom lenses and are often designed for machine vision.
As such they usually terminate in a C mount.

The fiber optic illuminator is very highly integrated into yours which is nice.
I would recommend not winding the fiber cable so tightly as it encourages fiber breakage which can be seen if present by lighting one end and viewing the other. Check with light going in both directions..

Some more information at link below:
http://www.serteksales.com/HF-65%20&%20 ... scopes.htm


Craig

[Craig Gerard]

Here are some images with eyepiece attachments.

Will it be useful for photography......don't know - yet.

Some of these machine vision items were engineered with resolution constraints relaxed a bit to reflect the fact that the small video cams they used only have typically 1.3 megapixels or less.

Craig

[microcollector]

Craig,

Here is a link to Mindat where Bob Meyers uses a Optem zoom 125 for mineral photography.

http://www.mindat.org/mesg-13-104642.html.

I have seen his setup and it works very well. This second link is to his Mindat home page where he has photos posted.

http://www.mindat.org/user-304.html#2_0_0_0_0__

Doug

[Craig Gerard]

Doug,

Thankyou for the information and links.

I am reading through them with interest.

Craig

[enricosavazzi]

Some time ago I did look into these industrial zoom photomicroscopes/photomacroscopes and even got a few ones to test and play with (see links below).

Image quality is not bad in itself (although it is indeed true that they are meant primarily for use with videocameras of relatively low resolution and small image circles, as pointed out above). The main limiting factor is the low NA, which places a "hard" limit on the maximum image resolution. This comes as a result of the high working distance characteristic of these lenses.

If a lower working distance is acceptable, one can get a much higher resolution by using the finite or infinity microscope objectives often discussed in these forums, as well as most good photomacrographic lenses like the Zeiss Luminar and Macro-Nikkor, and "accidental" photomacrographic lenses like the JML 21 mm. Of course, a high NA and resolution comes with a low DOF, which can be increased by focus stacking.

http://www.savazzi.net/photography/phot ... enses4.htm
http://www.savazzi.net/photography/phot ... enses2.htm

The concept is not different from photomacroscopes often used in scientific research:

http://www.savazzi.net/photography/wild_leica_m420.htm
http://www.savazzi.net/photography/tessovar.htm
http://www.savazzi.net/photography/zeissshootout.htm

[Craig Gerard]

Enrico,

Thankyou for the detailed information and links to the articles on your website.

My initial intentions are to use the piece as an observation scope; but I can outfit it with a trinoc head and see what happens.

Craig

[Craig Gerard]

It's rough, it's ready....but it works! (oh....and it's huge!)

Has a zoom feature and fine focus control.

Serves as a good observation scope with considerable depth-of-field, magnification and clarity.

In regard to photography. There are many, more practical solutions.






Note: these setup images were taken using the Strobella Umbrella Flash diffuser...cool


Craig