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 pepper
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Registered: 10/31/10
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 Help me pick a microscope please. 
#13991926 - 02/19/11 08:04 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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So I did a Google search and found this site. http://www.microscopenet.com/compound-microscopes-c-25.html
They seem to have affordable prices that my wallet can handle. Does any one know of a better place to purchase a microscope at an affordable price?
So I think I need a compound microscope? They have monocular microscopes and binocular microscopes. What do you guy like to use with this option?
I see they have scope that have built in cameras too and I think you can add a camera to some of these microscope down the road? Here is a link to that page. http://www.microscopenet.com/microscope-accessories-cameras-c-89_49.html
It would be nice if you could post some of your picture that you took with your microscope and let us know how many megapixels the camera was. I would like to thank everyone for posting. 
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 TimmiT
Registered: 03/23/10
Posts: 5,303
Loc: Victoria 
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 Re: Help me pick a microscope please. [Re: pepper] 1
#13994409 - 02/20/11 07:29 AM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Amscope have affordable microscopes that are decent quality. You could also check ebay.
Yes, you will want a compound microscope. I prefer binocular scopes because the monocular ones are a pain in the ass and usually give me a headache.
A microscope camera is not necessary for taking pics, although some like to use them (ie with a trinocular haed or eyepiece mounted camera). Unless you're taking pics all the time, I wouldn't bother to buy one. I use a normal digital camera to shoot down the barrel (through the eyepiece). It works quite well once you get the hang of it.
Here are a couple of pics using that method:
 
1. Capillitial threads of a puffball (200X mag)
2. Cystidium of an Agrocybe sp. (800X mag)
There are quite a few similar threads in the hunting forum that you would probably find useful. Just search MH&I for threads with "microscope" in the title.
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"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination" ~ John Lennon
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pepper
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. [Re: TimmiT]
#13995010 - 02/20/11 10:58 AM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Thanks for replying TimmiT. I have some more questions for you.
So what kind of microscope do you have? What other items will I need from that website that you would recommend for someone starting out?
So have you tried taking movies with your digital camera? RogerRabbit said he has taken movies of mycelium growth, have you tried that? Would be neat to see that.
Anyone else? Please post your thoughts please. Thanks again.
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Bacchus
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. [Re: pepper]
#13997092 - 02/20/11 06:18 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Get one with a mechanical stage. This is absolutely crucial and is something that I overlooked when I got mine. It's just been collecting dust at a friends house for two years...
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TimmiT
Registered: 03/23/10
Posts: 5,303
Loc: Victoria
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. [Re: pepper]
#13997438 - 02/20/11 07:27 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Mine isn't an amscope, but is similar to the Model B490B on that website. Bacchus makes a good point on the stage, it's definately worth making sure you choose one with a mechanical stage. You can still buy one seperately though and install it yourself (or pay someone to).
There really aren't that many other things you need (that I can think of). Obviously some slides and coverslips. Maybe some immersion oil (usually comes with scope) if you're using the 100X (oil) objective and a non-abrasive cloth to clean the oil away.
As for the light source question from the other thread... halogen is the standard bulb used in microscopes but it does get very hot. Same with tungsten, which means that samples can dry out if you're not careful. Halogen gives a better quality light than tungsten. Be sure to get a scope with a dimmable light source. LED is probably the best option, but also the most expensive. They give a bright, white light and produce almost no heat.
I haven't tried taking video with my camera, so can't comment on how that works. There's no reason why it wouldn't. Sometimes the camera carries on about focus and exposure but usually works itself out.
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"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination" ~ John Lennon
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Rik
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. [Re: TimmiT]
#13999733 - 02/21/11 06:53 AM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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I got a compound microscope from amscope with 42% discount and I am very pleased with it. I find it as good as the mics I used in college.
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RogerRabbit
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. [Re: pepper]
#13999810 - 02/21/11 07:33 AM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
pepper said:
So I think I need a compound microscope? They have monocular microscopes and binocular microscopes. What do you guy like to use with this option?
I haven't taken my compound scope out of its box in the last three years. However, I use my stereo microscope and my lighted 8" magnifying glass on a stand almost daily.
It all depends on what you want to study. If looking at mycelium in a petri dish, or gill structure on a mushroom you're trying to identify, you'll probably use a stereo microscope more. If you're wanting to make slides and study the actual cell structure, you'll need the compound microscope. I always get trinocular scopes, regardless of type. I like using both eyes to look at the object, and my camera inserts into the third tube.
RR
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"I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work."
Thomas Edison
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pepper
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. [Re: RogerRabbit]
#14004293 - 02/21/11 10:05 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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I'd like to thank everyone for helping me find the best options to look for in a microscope. 
Here are some of the option that people have said to get for a microscope that will be use to identify wild mushrooms by looking at the spores.
1. Compound Microscope 40X-1600X with an oil immersion lens. This should be lots for magnification, what do you think? Or 40X-2000X?
2. Binocular Head or Trinocular Head. Both good choices.
3. Mechanical Stage. A must have.
4. LED light.
5. Cargille oil, Type A or B. Order some lens paper with the oil.
6. Stage micrometer to measure spores and 10x eyepiece with a reticle installed. Where is a good place to get these from?
7. Slides and Cover-slips. Are they all the same?
Is there anything that I'm miss to get?
Thanks again to the people that are making this thread happen.
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RogerRabbit
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. [Re: pepper]
#14004368 - 02/21/11 10:19 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Forget 2000X, especially with a cheapie. They generally still use a 100X objective, but 20X eyepieces, which in my experience don't let enough light through.
RR
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semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat
"I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work."
Thomas Edison
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vjp
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. [Re: RogerRabbit]
#14026201 - 02/25/11 04:05 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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I have a Omano OM88T and it works great - depending on how much your trying to spend a trinocular scope can be overkill.
This is 2500x (25x eyepiece) - "1000x is the limit of magnification for regular microscopes, anything claiming 1200x or higher is empty magnification" -HerbBaker
Psilocybe caerulipes
Edited by vjp (02/25/11 04:05 PM)
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EvilMushroom666
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. [Re: vjp]
#14026421 - 02/25/11 04:44 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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RogerRabbit
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. [Re: vjp] 1
#14026918 - 02/25/11 06:25 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
vjp said:
This is 2500x (25x eyepiece) - "1000x is the limit of magnification for regular microscopes, anything claiming 1200x or higher is empty magnification" -HerbBaker
Psilocybe caerulipes
That picture makes a pretty valid case against going too high in magnification. To look at those same spores with total clarity at 1000X is much better than seeing them blurry at twice the size. With good optics, you can see the internal components of the spore, and watch as they move around like crazy in the minutes just before germination.
RR
--------------------
Download Let's Grow Mushrooms
semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat
"I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work."
Thomas Edison
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pepper
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. This is it. [Re: EvilMushroom666]
#14027089 - 02/25/11 07:08 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Features & Specifications
Model M9311K
Total Magnification 40X, 60X, 100X, 150X, 400X, 600X, 1000X and 1500X
Eyepieces
A pair of widefield 10X/18
A pair of widefield 15X/11
Objectives
4 DIN objectives: 4X, 10X, 40X and 100X
Achromatic DIN standard 4X/0.10, 10X/0.25, 40X/0.65 (spring), 100X/1.25 (spring, oil)
Viewing Head Trinocular, 30Β° Inclined, 360Β° rotatable
Hinged interpupillary distance adjustment: 55 - 75 mm
Diopter ring on left eyepiece tube
Nosepiece Revolving, quadruple
Stage
Double-layer mechanical stage, range 40 mm x 78 mm, dimension 156 mm X 135mm
Condenser
Abbe NA1.25 w/ iris diaphragm and filter holder
Condenser focus control lever for quick adjustment
Aperture
Diaphragm Iris diaphragm, attached on the condenser
Focusing Mechanism
Coaxial coarse and fine focusing knobs on left side.
Fine focusing knob on right side.
Tool-free tension adjustment
Illumination
Transmitted, 3W LED light (equivalent to 30W halogen)
Kohler illumination device
Variable intensity
Power Supply
100-240V, 50/60Hz, 0.5A
Dimension 12-3/16" x 7-7/8" x 17" (31 cm x 20 cm x 43.3 cm)
Net weight 12 lb 9 oz (5.72 kg)
I would like to thank everyone that helped with all the questions that I had posted in this thread.
In another thread Alan Rockefeller posted a link to this microscope. Thanks
Here are the links that helped me out.
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/13959224/page/1
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/11133509/page/1
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/12693266/page/1
http://cgi.ebay.ca/1500x-Kohler-Trinocular-Compound-Microscope-3W-LED-Lite-/120695159852?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item1c19fdfc2c
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Edited by pepper (03/10/11 09:30 PM)
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vjp
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. This is it. [Re: pepper]
#14027631 - 02/25/11 09:10 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
That picture makes a pretty valid case against going too high in magnification. To look at those same spores with total clarity at 1000X is much better than seeing them blurry at twice the size.
The picture is blurry because the spores were still moving around in water when the picture was taken. The point i was trying to make is you do not gain any more detail from empty magnification - the spores just appear larger. 25x eyepiece is a waste of money.
Glad you found a scope peppers
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BlueLightRain
WhoaUnbrokenChain
Registered: 01/14/11
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Enticing thread...will definitely refer to this when I go shopping! Thanks for your input RR. RR you said you tend to use your microscopes on a daily basis. Can you give tell me what you are using them for? Cultivation, identification, curiosity?
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. This is it. [Re: vjp] 1
#14031577 - 02/26/11 05:34 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
vjp said:
The picture is blurry because the spores were still moving around in water when the picture was taken.
That is common at 1000x, sometimes the spores get bumped by moving water molecules (brownian motion), other times bacteria is swimming around and they bump into the spores. Also vibration can do it, like someone walking around, music, or a bus driving by outside.
Compensate by increasing the shutter speed. Raise the ISO, open the aperture and condenser diaphragm and do whatever else you can to allow more light through.
Quote:
The point i was trying to make is you do not gain any more detail from empty magnification - the spores just appear larger. 25x eyepiece is a waste of money.
In many cases empty magnification is a good thing. It helps a lot if you are trying to measure the micro features, significantly reducing the amount that human error affects the measurements.
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RogerRabbit
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. This is it. [Re: Alan Rockefeller]
#14031677 - 02/26/11 05:52 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
RR you said you tend to use your microscopes on a daily basis. Can you give tell me what you are using them for? Cultivation, identification, curiosity?
Cultivation. I use my stereo scope, as said above much more often. Obviously, a stereo scope isn't suitable for looking at spores or counting nuclei in cells. They are great for looking at mycelium on a petri dish to see if it's worthy of transfer during strain isolation. Truth be known, I actually use my lighted magnifier more than any of my scopes for this purpose.
RR
--------------------
Download Let's Grow Mushrooms
semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat
"I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work."
Thomas Edison
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teknix
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Registered: 09/16/08
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. This is it. [Re: RogerRabbit]
#14036464 - 02/27/11 02:59 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Photoshop can help some as well. 
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BlueLightRain
WhoaUnbrokenChain
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Posts: 354
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Re: Help me pick a microscope please. This is it. [Re: RogerRabbit]
#14036570 - 02/27/11 03:28 PM (13 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
RogerRabbit said:
Quote:
RR you said you tend to use your microscopes on a daily basis. Can you give tell me what you are using them for? Cultivation, identification, curiosity?
Cultivation. I use my stereo scope, as said above much more often. Obviously, a stereo scope isn't suitable for looking at spores or counting nuclei in cells. They are great for looking at mycelium on a petri dish to see if it's worthy of transfer during strain isolation. Truth be known, I actually use my lighted magnifier more than any of my scopes for this purpose.
RR
I can see myself constantly using that illuminated mignifier. It seems pretty functional. I'll have to wait to build my flowhood before I invest in one of those, however.
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