 I have finally ordered a microscope. It was quite a learning experience, figuring out what we needed, but I finally settled on a purchase from the company at which I ought to have just started, GreatScopes. But first, here's what I learned I wanted, then I'll include other resources. -- I wanted a "college-level" scope, that would include 1000x magnification, great lenses, etc. -- I wanted halogen lighting (nice and bright, but cool). -- I wanted it to be digital, and started out thinking that would include a built-in camera. I wanted decent resolution on the digital images we would capture. (On microscopes with built-in cameras, the higher the resolution, the more expensive the scope). -- I wanted it to work with our Macs, connected via USB. -- I wanted the best possible price. I found a microscope with 3-megapixel camera for $699 that would work, but the software was not compatible with Macs. I found something for $785 that would work with the Mac, but the camera image resolution was only 1.3 megapixels. I didn't really want their software. I just wanted to be able to capture a high-quality image that we could manipulate on the Mac, using Photoshop and any other software (InDesign for print pieces or pdfs, maybe PowerPoint, maybe Dreamweaver for Web pages). When I looked at the cost for a good-quality compound microscope without the built-in camera, I realized I was paying $300-400 for the camera. Yet, I already own a wonderful Nikon D70 digital camera. I searched Google for information about connecting the D70 to a microscope. At first, information I found on discussion boards was not encouraging. It sounded needlessly complicated. Then I found this great diagram and specs on a Meiji Techno site, showing that connecting digital SLRs to one of their microscopes is fairly straightforward. But their microscopes are too high end, meant for professional lab use. Then I ended up on the GreatScopes Microscopes site. Owner John Lind's "How to Buy the Right Microscope" page confirmed everything I had learned elsewhere and did an even better job of explaining the features I wanted. Then I used his "Build Your Own Microscope" ordering page to choose just the options we needed. I chose a second eyepiece, a "teaching eyepiece," which is where we will attach the adapter for my Nikon D70 (see image above left, borrowed from the GreatScopes site). GreatScopes made it so easy to order what we needed to do this on its Camera Mounts page -- now that I understood this was even possible, and easy to do! For $129 I was able to add an adapter for my 6-megapixel camera -- and resolution is not the half of it with the Niikon D70. The color and other aspects of image quality are so superior. I never would have been happy with the junky knock-off cameras built-in to those other microscopes. Also, the microscope for $785 had a lifetime warranty -- but the camera built into it only had a 1-year warranty! So, for less than $500 I have all the features I wanted in a quality compound microscope AND an adapter for my high-quality digital camera. I can't wait to try it out, and will post some of our images here! -- Jennifer Dees June 18, 2009 Great information on microscopes: Optical Microscopy Primer (at Florida State's incredible High Magnetic Field Laboratory) -- oodles of high-resolution microscopic images as well as great information on microscopy Microscopes: Basics and Beyond (pdf, 20 MB) - thorough introduction to optical microscopy by Mortimer Abramowitz of Olympus. Museum of Microscopy |