Digital camera for photomicrography

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Our pathology group wishes to digitalize our photomics. Can we consider using a midrange price camera $1000-2500 for photomicrography? Do these cameras provide enough resolution at low power (2x to 10x objective lens).

-- Frank Burrow (ashdowns@carol.net), January 07, 1999

Answers

A trick I've used with my Oly D-600L (a SLR digicam with front-lens filter threads, both necessary characteristics for this technique) is to use a "reversing ring" to mount a standard 35mm lens on the front of the camera, facing backwards. Bizarre as it sounds, this is a pretty good way to get VERY large macro magnifications. I usually use my Nikkor 50mm F1.4 lens on the front of the D-600L. The result is fairly severe vignetting around the edges (you get a circular image area roughly filling the image area, but the corners are dark), but a VERY small image area. (Probably on the order of a few mm on a side.)

For pure on-the-scope photomicrography, Polaroid makes an industrial- strength unit based on their PDC-3000 technology, that sells for about $5K or so. An outfit called Pixera makes a much less expensive unit for around $1K. I haven't had any contact with Pixera for over a year, but last I knew, their website was www.pixera.com, and they had some photomicrography samples on-line.

Good luck!

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), January 08, 1999.


What dimension size is your imaging subject, are you imaging prints, transparencies, screen display, or is it tissue, 3-d subjects, etc.

If you're imaging hardcopy documents/pictures a flatbed scanner is the way to go.

-- Jon (jonmiles@pacbell.net), January 08, 1999.


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