Perspective Image LLC, Digital Camera to Microscope Adapters
This adapter is a complete eyepiece lens unit that simply drops into the microscope once you've attached it to the camera. It's made with a set of multi element, Kellner style, achromat, color corrected eyepiece lenses that have been carefully machined into place to fit exactly into the light path to give optimal color correction and a flat focused image plane. All that is needed is to screw the adapter in front of your camera's normal lens (the Olympus cameras require the CLA-1 tube, and the Canon "G" cameras also require and extra enexpensive tube to attach any type of filter to them. See below*) and put the adapter into a standard sized 23.2 mm opening microscope tube and start taking pictures. The optics are corrected to work at the camera's default settings for the correct field size*. Generally, you can use the camera's default startup mode to get great quality images right away. The optics in this adapter are absolutely great! The Olympus cameras require a little bit more effort for setup because of their larger diameter lens than the Nikon Coolpix cameras but both cameras take excellent quality images with this adapter. The newer model Nikon Coolpix cameras are supported too, like the CP4500 and the CP4300, as is the CP5000 if you can still find one of these fine cameras. **
The adapters are made out of high quality aluminum alloy with a durable anodized coating that should last for many years. The adapters are manufactured on state of the art CNC lathes with tolerances that ensure the precision that the rest of your microscope equipment deserves to be used with to ensure the finest possible performance.
To see some images that were made with this adapter and a Nikon Coolpix camera with very minimal use of Adobe Photoshop manipulation (used primarily to down-size the files for web use), please look at these images of the Carolina Biological Diatom test slide (click on the images to expand them):
You can see more images on the
microscope image gallery page
Polarized light image of
basic sugar on the left. On the right is a photograph of some diatoms in Phase
Contrast lighting.
Both of these images were photographed with a Nikon Coolpix 995 using the Perspective
Image adapter.
Because if its optical properties, the same adapter can be used with an attachment that allows you to add one of your own low power objective lenses to end up with a small, low-power, long working distance microscope. The effective magnification of this adapter, using a 4x objective with the 10x eyepiece optics in the adapter, is approximately 20x.
(note that in the photographs above, only the
adapter piece itself is included in the purchase price. That includes the coupling
to the camera and the optics to replace what would be required for a 10x eyepiece.)
- The Perspective
Image Microscope Adapter for Coolpix cameras is available for sale for $199.00.
-
The Perspective Image Microscope Adapter for Sony (37mm filter size)cameras
is available for sale for $225.00
- The Perspective
Image Microscope Adapter for Olympus cameras is available for sale for $250.00
-
The Perspective Image Microscope Adapter for Canon PowerShot cameras is available
for sale for $250.00
-
The Perspective Image Microscope Adapter for 30 mm stereo scopes to Coolpix
cameras is available for sale for $225.00
- A low priced 4x, .10 na objective is available for $20. 00 (this is one you
won't have to worry so much about taking out in the field if you use the objective
tube holder) .
A sleeve to allow use of your adapter in 30 mm eyepiece microscopes - $20.00
- The Perspective Image Modular Microscope objective holder is now available for an additional $35.00 (this is the tube that you can screw an RMS threaded objective into) and you can add the focusing aid as shown above in the photo for $20 more - this will enable you to hold your slides steady while you focus and take a photograph. The whole set will enable you to add your low power objectives in a stable position in conjuction with the eyepiece adapter -suitable for use as a stand-alone field microscope or with the adapter screwed into the camera to take "super-macros" or you can use it "stand alone" as a small field microscope.
- We offer a 30 day money-back satisfaction guarantee (assuming that it is not damaged by abuse).
Email me with any questions or comments : mksphoto (at sign) yahoo.com
Please incude
$10.00 for shipping within the continental U.S. (please send me an email before
making orders that will require shipping outside the U.S.) and insurance by
UPS with tracking. I will acknowledge your order if you have an email account
and ship to you within 48 hours. I regret that we no longer accept payment
by PayPal because of an incident that has caused us great concern about their
integrity and security.***
You may send a check or money order to:
Mark Simmons
Perspective Image LLC
14130 SW Spaniel St
Beaverton, OR 97008
(503)590-9455
I am always happy to answer questions if I'm able to help with anything to do with photomicroscopy or the microscope, whether or not you are a buying customer. Please feel free to call me or write any time; I'll be glad to help if I can. At least, I may be able to steer you in the right direction!
* The Olympus cameras require the purchase of the CLA-1 tube, available from larger camera stores. Also, the setup on the Olympus cameras and the Canon cameras will require the user to zoom into the field after the power-up sequence has completed to have a completely squared off image field. Even then, some of the models will not be completely squared off but they will be almost entirely - this is due to the differences in the focal lengths of the lenses of the different models. Note that if all of them were changed to accomodate this, it would change all of the cameras' magnification ratios with the lenses I use. Consequently I decided not to do this - it's a small price to pay to instead have the consistancy of using approximately the same magnification ratios on all of these adapters at the equivilant of a 10x eyepiece.
**Note that I do not list, nor do I recommend the use of Nikon CP 5700 cameras for photomicroscopy. These cameras are not well suited for this application at all. The reason for this is because of the design of the lens for this camera; it's great for regular use but with the range of focal lengths, it cannot be adapted for use with an adapter that needs to be able to predict the conjugate image planes to make an image from a microscope.
Now available, we have three new items - first, there's an adapter for 30 mm diameter scopes- this would include stereo microscopes, dissecting scopes, tool-room scopes and ultra-widefield trinocular compound scopes. This adapter has the right focal length so that you will maintain your parfocality with your other eyepiece(s). As with our other adapters, this one has the very best in optics in a Kellner style design, so that color, contrast and sharpness are optimized. This is currently available only for the Nikon Coolpix 28 mm size cameras at this time. If there is enough demand we may make them for other cameras too (write and let us know if you're interested). Price on the 30 mm adapter for 28 mm threads is $225.
Now available also, for Sony cameras and camcorders with 37 mm filter sizes, I am making an adapter that will fill the frame of these cameras. As with our other adapters, it's fully self contained as a 10X eyepiece (or the equivilant thereof), incorporating fine quality optics to deliver a full framed screen of your microscope's image to your Sony camera or camcorder. The Sony adapter is available for $225.
Also new is adapter for the Canon "G" series of cameras! These are wonderful cameras - I can't say enough about how impressed I am with the ease of use for accessing the many powerful features that there are for the PowerShot G5 camera. This is an incredible camera! The adapter for this camera is the same one that is used for the Sony camera above, but requires a stepup ring that I provide for a total cost of $250. To use this with the Canon "G" series of cameras, you will need to get either the LA-DC58 tube (for use with PowerShot "G" cameras that have threaded holders) or the LA-DC58B (for use with those cameras with a bayonet mount, like the new G5). I will be glad to help you with advice on this.
****It's important to realize that these cameras are heavy and it's strongly recommended that you provided some support other than just using the camera's lens mount, leveraged against your microscope, to dangle in midair! We recommend using either a table top tripod or a "ring stand" from a lab supply company.
For those of you who are interested, I will tell you that for a long time I accepted PayPal as a method of payment, mistakenly believing that this was a safe and secure way for everyone (both the buyer and the seller) to do business. I have discovered through an unfortunate personal experience how wrong this is! PayPal has put a negative balance on my account for over $4000 after a person that I sold something to decided not to pay his credit card bill! This was done with no notice to me whatsoever and with no due process. They simply refuse to talk to me about the matter too, and apparently, in the fine print of the user agreement when you sign up, there is a clause that states that they have this right. You have no right to arbitration or to be heard once they have made a decision. Since this has occured I have heard from other people who have had similar experiences with this company. My suggestion to anyone who has ever used this service is to immediately remove all of your money from your accounts with them, change your bank account and credit card numbers if you have ever given them to them and never use a service like this that is unregulated and apparently beyond the reach of the law. If you would like more information about this problem or have been wronged by them yourself and would like to know about resources to participate in a class action suit against them, please visit this site to hear what an ex-manager from PayPal has to say about his former employer's practices: http://www.paypalsucks.com/forums/showthread.php?fid=6&tid=1529&old_block=0
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Copyright
notice: All images and web content on this site, including the conceptual and
artistic design of the microscope camera adapter and the modular microscope
objective holder are protected by copyright law and belong entirely to Mark
K. Simmons and Perspective Image LLC, copyright 2001, 2002. The images and the
content of this site may not be reproduced without express written permission.
