Digital Eyepieces for Microscopes?

tfiedler asks: "I'm trying to find a low cost digital eyepiece for my microscope, around $200 or so in cost, and have ran across very little useful information. I want something that can be plugged into my video capture card, so RCA or S-vid output is a requirement. I've found the following two products. The barrel for my microscope is 18mm in diameter. Does anyone have other suggestions, or any experience with the ones at the mentioned URLs? Additionally, has anyone done anything like this with a webcam?"

Comments

Not just microscopes

[DynaSoar]

You might find more options if you don't limit yourself to microscope accessory makers. Try including telescopes. Although the barrel sizes differ (telescope eyepieces being usually either 1.25 or 2 inch diameter) the technology should be compatible/adaptable. I found this one: http://www.scopetronix.com/digitalcam.htm

I've been working on this myself.

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

I use a low power stereoscopic microscope to inspect assembled printed circuit boards. I need to be able to drop the camera over the eyepiece, snap a .jpg, and email it to the board vendor when I see a defect. All with a minimial amount of hassle. Since I have a Win98 box next to me, a USB camera would work, but I'm having trouble getting the mechanics and optics to work. IBM's webcam has a nice integrated capture and email utility so they might be my first choice.

Have you tried Edmund?

[NickFusion]

The folks at the venerable Edmund Industrial Optical probably have what you seek.

Edmund...ah...what a catalog.

Commercial solutions

[raider_red]

If you're looking at paying a good chunk of money, you might try these guys. They make a 5 MPixel digital model for microscopes.

http://www.vaytek.com/cameras.htm

Old Quickcams seem to work well for this.

[Myself]

I bought a Connectix Color Quickcam 2, back before Logitech bought the product line, when such things cost a week's wages. I quickly discovered that the ball could be opened with a paperclip, and after unscrewing the lens housing, the infrared filter could be removed. This gave the unit phenomenal "night vision", and soon I added an IR LED to the camera's housing, powered from the 5v lead in the cable. (Those who attended Rubi-Con 1 probably remember this.)

That's just the beginning of the fun. After opening the Quickcam case, you'll find that the lens barrel unscrews completely, exposing the bare CCD. This makes it easy to mount in all sorts of optical projects. Mount it in your favorite telescope for astral or terrestrial viewing. Some folks have even placed negatives and microfilm directly against the CCD for contact imaging. I haven't personally played with a microscope application but it should work just fine for that too.

A bit of quick Googling will turn up plenty of Quickcam modification links. But, why are webcams an option if you need Composite or S-video output?

Nikon

[Seraphim_72]

Nikon has a ton of products for this very purpose and in fact many if not all major vendors carry and sell them. If you want a webcam ready microscope you are going to have to buy one I would bet. But even a quick look at Amazon will yield interesting results. We have the Nikon setup in the lab and it is a wonderful beast.

Sera