Nikon MXA5400

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Andreylien
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2022 4:26 am
Location: Basque Country

Nikon MXA5400

Post by Andreylien »

Hello everyone,

I have just purchased Nikon MXA 5400 adapter for the photo microscopy and I was curious if anyone had some experience using it. I also got a 5 MP Nikon Coolpix 5400 camera, for which the adapter was designed and mounted it onto a Nikon Labophot Pol trinocular microscope for fluid inclusions:
Image


So the first issue is that in the space between two lenses it is slightly dirty and I am not sure how to access it. The adapter has clearly two pieces, but my attempts of unscrewing had no success. It would be great to confirm if it is actually supposed to unscrew before trying with special tools. Also would be nice to know if I have to turn it clockwise or viceversa.
Image

The second issue I am experiencing is the considerable loss of the field of view. Without any zoom this is what I see:
Image

With the maximum zoom I see the whole frame covered, but I am very concerned with the quality loss of the image. Also you can visualize the small dot in the center, which is kind of fluff in the space between two lenses I mentioned before.
Image

With the intermediate zoom the image is kind of ok, but the quality loss is noticeable.
Image

So my second question is if there is any way of expanding the field of view with the external optical devices. For instance, on BH2 we are using a Jenoptik CMOS ProgRes CT3 camera and without additional projection lens in between the trinocular port and PMTVC adapter the coverage is also scarce. But adding a 2.5x or 3.3x projection lens amplify the image and we do not loose the resolution.

Andreylien
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2022 4:26 am
Location: Basque Country

Re: Nikon MXA5400

Post by Andreylien »

Hello Pau

That came to me as a surprise as well, I could not find any information about that adapter either. I reached out Nikon microscopy division, but here in Spain we have quite some vacations this week, so I am not expecting a fast response.

I really appreciate your comments, since I am not really familiar with the digital microphoto. Well, I have used it for ages, but I had never built a system from the scratch, with the particularity of this system being quite old and not being able to outsource the whole building process.

Responding to your question, no, unfortunately there were no additional paperwork coming with the adapter. I think it is slightly non-parafocal, but very close to it. I might need to get the C-mount to C-mount adapter with adjustable vertical position, so that I could achieve the complete parafocality. And yes, I am using it with the 1x Nikon C-mount adapter for that microscope. I don´t really get why would people use the 0.5x adapters and reduce the magnification, on top of adding more lenses in the system with possible aberrations.

This adapter might not be the best pick for the high magnification work (10x and 50x objective), unfortunately. I will wait until the response from Nikon, but at the end it is likely that I would just leave it for the SMZ-2T stereo-microscope and use Jenoptik CT3 C-mount camera instead. Not very cool, since it will necessarily need the PC attached to it, but little can be done.

Interestingly, for the Olympus BH2 I got similar combination of Olympus C5060-ADU adapter with Olympus C7070 7.1MP camera and it works better than Nikon adapter + Coolpix 5400 camera. I still need to figure out where to get the lowest adapter for the C5060-ADU to C-mount (it came without it, so I likely will just make a 3D model and print it, since I have the access to another microscope with the same adapter and I can obtain all measurements of the needed piece), but I can already see that it is filling more space of the frame without zoom + better resolution in MP degrades less the details.
ImageImageImage

Thank you for your comment!

enricosavazzi
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Re: Nikon MXA5400

Post by enricosavazzi »

I don't know about this specific adapter, but before I started using DSLRs I had for a few years a Coolpix fixed-lens super-zoom camera (it was so long ago that I don't remember which camera model), and the afocal microscope adapter for this camera also required the lens to be zoomed fully to the telephoto end.

It seems to be a common requirement for this type of cameras and adapters. It is probably to avoid damage to the zoom mechanisms, which must be allowed to extend the lens barrel fully. My camera was once made useless when my daughter turned it on without extracting it from its bag, preventing the lens barrel from extending. It required a quite expensive but fast (three days) repair at the Nikon service center in Shinjuku, Tokyo. I was living mostly in Tokyo at the time and periodically traveling between Japan and Sweden - repair centers in Sweden did flatly refuse to repair the camera because it would have meant shipping it to Japan.
--ES

Pau
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Re: Nikon MXA5400

Post by Pau »

Thanks for the follow-up
Andreylien wrote:
Wed Dec 07, 2022 2:45 am
I don´t really get why would people use the 0.5x adapters and reduce the magnification, on top of adding more lenses in the system with possible aberrations.
This is for matching the small sensors present in many C mount microscope cameras with the microscope FOV
Better than explain it, just play with sensor size and CCD dimensions in the calculator here https://www.microscopyu.com/tutorials/m ... resolution
For example, your Jenoptik CT3 1/2" sensor will have better coverage with a 0.5X adapter than with the 1X
Pau

Andreylien
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2022 4:26 am
Location: Basque Country

Re: Nikon MXA5400

Post by Andreylien »

Hello Pau and Enricosavazzi,

Thank you very much for your responses. I really appreciate it and I feel like I understand why I always need to zoom in, indeed otherwise the adapter would have been blocking the lens barrel and could damage the camera. That is still unfortunate given the quality loss, but it is what it is. Now I even understand better why Nikon was doing the adapter for a newer DSLRs such as:
Image
I was lucky enough to get the one with the pins on the ring, so that the camera can be used in automatic mode, making it much easier to make some good photos.

So, for the Nikon adapter I haven´t heard anything from the Tech Support so far. It would be great to know if they reach me out regarding the possibility of unscrewing the two pieces and clean the inter-lens space. But given low resolution and need of zooming, I will just leave Nikon e5400 and the adapter for occasional photos with stereo-microscope SMZ-2T.
Image

Thank you for the link for the calculator of the FOV. Very interesting to dig in how it actually work, but it is clear that x0.5 would have been a better match. Still the extra zoom is kind of handy for the fluid inclusions and I think we will just use it with 1x adapter.

Finallly, I managed to design and 3D print the model for the missing part of Olympus C5060ADU adapter and have a 7.1 MP Camedia C7070 for the BH2 microscope. Was an exciting project and luckily successful. If anyone need the model for the lower retention ring, just drop me a line.
Image Image

Andreylien
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2022 4:26 am
Location: Basque Country

Re: Nikon MXA5400

Post by Andreylien »

Hello again,

So I finally received the response from Nikon about the adapter. Unfortunatelly they miss the manual, but at least now I have full specifications, which I leave here in case anyone need them:

Image
resize imgur

Best,
Andrey

Pau
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Location: Valencia, Spain

Re: Nikon MXA5400

Post by Pau »

Thanks for the follow-up, although I fear that you got info for the MXA29008 that is different although also dedicated for the Coolpix 5400 and functionally (and maybe optically) similar, the paper is unclear as they use both the MXA29008 and MXA5400 names
1589295607.jpg
Pau wrote:
Wed Nov 30, 2022 10:01 am
* for the maybe similar MXA29008 at https://www.nikon.co.uk/en_GB/product/d ... r-mxa29008
Quote: Due to its superb performance and reasonable price, the COOLPIX series is popular in both the consumer market and the photomicrography market. The (MXA29008) MDC5400 Relay Lens has been exclusively designed for the COOLPIX 5400. This converter lens enables you to connect your COOLPIX 5400 to any Nikon microscope and take photos of microscopic images. When connected to the COOLPIX 5400, it has a magnification range of 0.37 – 0.8x FOV: 19mm and weighs 200 gr. The dimensions are approximately ø 47.5 mm x 93.4 mm. A C-mount adapter (MQD42000) is necessary to mount the COOLPIX 5400 onto the microscopes.
Do you remember?
Pau

Andreylien
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2022 4:26 am
Location: Basque Country

Re: Nikon MXA5400

Post by Andreylien »

Pau wrote:
Thu Jan 05, 2023 8:56 am
Thanks for the follow-up, although I fear that you got info for the MXA29008 that is different although also dedicated for the Coolpix 5400 and functionally (and maybe optically) similar, the paper is unclear as they use both the MXA29008 and MXA5400 names
Hello Pau. Sorry for the late response. Yes, you are right, these must be the specs for the adapter you mentioned. Extremely strange, this kind of companies are normally very organized and clear on their products. This adapter must be very rare and designed for a very specific purpose/microscope and was not openly sold.
Anyhow, it works ok with the Nikon 5400 and hopefully will last some time. Thank you again for the information

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