4 Important Points In Buying Digital Cameras For Microscopes

A digital microscope camera is a necessity for those who want or need to be involved with microphotography.  For instance, some hobbyists enjoy capturing images of microscopic objects.  Others might need to do so because they're students in a biology or chemistry class.   Still others might be professional scientists who take photos of the specimens they study.  But regardless, before you buy your camera, you'll need to consider four important points.POINT #1:  A definition.  You should know that microphotography refers to the hobby or science of taking photographs with the assistance of a microscope.  Consequently, we're talking about photos of the tiniest of specimens.  Clearly then, the two main things you'll need to do this are a microscope and the camera which attaches to the scope.  For the most part, digital cameras for microscopes resemble any other digital cameras.  However, they usually have some kind of digital camera microscope adapter and a digital microscope camera eyepiece.POINT #2:  Your budget.  There is a wide range of prices in this field, so you'll need to decide what your budget will allow.  While quality is of top importance, you don't want to go broke buying your microscope and / or camera.POINT #3:  The person / persons using the microscope / camera.  Whether this will be kids and / or students using it or more professional scientists matters a lot.  The quality, along with prices, varies substantially.  The cheaper setups are those which are totally integrated.  That is, the camera is actually part of the microscope, together with its various optic parts.  These units are portable, durable and affordable.  However, they also typically have low magnification levels.  Their typical use is for students in the classroom or for kids as kind of a fun hobby.For the older hobbyist or more professional mind, there is the self-contained microscope camera.  This is a microscope with digital camera which sits atop the all-purpose microscope.  This is not that expensive, but has more flexibility with the camera zoom. At the high end is the digital camera which is separate yet, thanks to a special adapter, attaches to a separate microscope.  The professional will typically use this configuration, because it gives the maximum zooming capability and allows you to use special viewing options.  POINT #4:  The special accessories you'll need.  There are separate accessories that are normally needed to connect your camera to your microscope--and ultimately to your camera or monitor for viewing the images.  One accessory is a special stand which holds your camera and holds the specimen that you're studying.  Other situations will have the camera mounted to the microscope, either by placing an eyepiece on the camera or via a camera adapter. Then, once you've taken pictures of the specimen, these images must be viewed someplace.  Sometimes this could be on a video or computer monitor.  This means you'll need the cable to connect the camera to the monitor and perhaps a video system to record the images.  More often, though, you'll connect your camera to a computer via an USB port and cable.  If you intend to do this, make sure, before you buy your digital microscope camera, that you have a spare USB port.If you use a stand-alone digital camera / adapter setup, you might need to settle for viewing the image on the camera's LCD screen while you capture the full-resolution picture onto your memory card. As long as you clearly understand these four points, you'll be able to make sure you select the right digital microscope camera for your purposes.