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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

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Re: The perfect MICROSCOPE [Re: eLeSDenes] 1
#26354930 - 12/01/19 03:26 AM (4 years, 5 months ago) |
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The cheap cameras don't have much dynamic range and are often grainy. The more expensive Amscope cameras are good. I have very good luck with my Samsung s7 cell phone camera, it has manual focus which helps a lot.
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eLeSDenes
Mycelium Expander




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Thanks for answering Alan. I just found one of your videos on youtube about fungal microscopy and there are tons of good information in there if anyone is interested : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsZC4rEfNic Sorry for hijacking the thread, but it might be useful for people interested in the topic.
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Throwawaygrower
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Re: The perfect MICROSCOPE [Re: eLeSDenes] 2
#26359150 - 12/03/19 01:48 PM (4 years, 5 months ago) |
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Whatever scope you get, the quality of what you're seeing is going to be mainly determined by the quality of the lenses. An expensive brand of scope with shitty lenses is going to suck way more than a cheap scope with high quality lenses. Get the most expensive glass you can afford.
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Nichrome
I and I are the roots.



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Re: The perfect MICROSCOPE [Re: eLeSDenes]
#26370013 - 12/09/19 12:02 AM (4 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
eLeSDenes said:
Quote:
Alan Rockefeller said: A cardboard microscope won't do the same thing as a cheap Amscope, don't bother with cardboard scopes. The minimum you should get is an Amscope b120. That is a respectable scope that will work well for many years if you keep it covered when not in use.
Is it worth getting the one with the camera attachment or better to attach your own camera? I have read that sometimes the image can be out of focus at some places so Ideally I would rather work with the camera and a monitor so I can stitch the images together, but not sure how good the Armscope b120 camera is.
Various pictures of live stuff on agar with my amscope camera...

The lack of focus is due to the condensation on the petri lids.
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“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh
Edited by Nichrome (12/09/19 12:07 AM)
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eLeSDenes
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Re: The perfect MICROSCOPE [Re: Nichrome]
#26370151 - 12/09/19 02:52 AM (4 years, 5 months ago) |
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Very nice images! Quite impressed how good the images are through the petri lids! Well done man
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Greg
always learning




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Re: The perfect MICROSCOPE [Re: eLeSDenes] 3
#26370838 - 12/09/19 12:27 PM (4 years, 5 months ago) |
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Bacterial LC video. This was taken through my amscope b120 / canon rebel dslr setup, the original is much higher quality but it had to be compressed a lot to upload here.
Edited by Greg (12/09/19 12:28 PM)
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Nichrome
I and I are the roots.



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Re: The perfect MICROSCOPE [Re: Greg]
#26371143 - 12/09/19 03:20 PM (4 years, 5 months ago) |
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Rad...
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“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

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Re: The perfect MICROSCOPE [Re: Nichrome] 1
#26378422 - 12/13/19 02:37 AM (4 years, 5 months ago) |
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I got an Amscope T340 recently, which has darkfield capability. The darkfield looks awesome at 40x and 100x, and a little but at 400x.
Here's some fern pollen at 100x darkfield that I photographed yesterday.
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eLeSDenes
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I ended up buying the Swift 380T, someone was selling it for £120 barely used and I couldn't resist. The lowest magnification can give pretty good looking images through petri dishes but the bigger magnifications need to be closer to the object I suppose. @Greg, How did you check your LC? A drop of LC on the slide, then using the oil immersion? I guess It only works when the LC is loaded with bacteria and agar test would still be necessary, but I love how you can use it as a first quality control.
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Nichrome
I and I are the roots.



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Re: The perfect MICROSCOPE [Re: eLeSDenes] 1
#26378834 - 12/13/19 09:48 AM (4 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
eLeSDenes said: I ended up buying the Swift 380T, someone was selling it for £120 barely used and I couldn't resist. The lowest magnification can give pretty good looking images through petri dishes but the bigger magnifications need to be closer to the object I suppose. @Greg, How did you check your LC? A drop of LC on the slide, then using the oil immersion? I guess It only works when the LC is loaded with bacteria and agar test would still be necessary, but I love how you can use it as a first quality control.
If you sanitize your microscope you can buy sterile cover slips to go in the plates themselves allowing you to view things closer. They lay right on the media. You NEED a laminar flow Hepa filter to work in front of (I'm not a proponent of the term "flow hood" unless it is an actual hood as there is a difference) to do this without ruining your culture. Iv'e never bothered as the view I get with the smallest lens on my microscope is enough to see contams and things like that as well as sectors I'd like to expand. Microscopy is a very valuable tool in mycology.
Looking at things up close will greatly increase your understanding of these organisms on a personal level.
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“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh
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DragoonsSworn
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Hi Alan, what microscope did you use to take that photo (my apologies if already answered)?
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FutureChemist
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Wow, I'll have to come back to this
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

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Quote:
DragoonsSworn said: Hi Alan, what microscope did you use to take that photo (my apologies if already answered)?
Amscope T340
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trubblesome
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Re: The perfect MICROSCOPE [Re: eLeSDenes]
#26420517 - 01/07/20 07:54 AM (4 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
eLeSDenes said: I ended up buying the Swift 380T, someone was selling it for £120 barely used and I couldn't resist. The lowest magnification can give pretty good looking images through petri dishes but the bigger magnifications need to be closer to the object I suppose.
flip the plate upside down and you should be able to get the 10x objective close enough to see what's happening on the surface of the agar. since this is lightfield work it doesn't really matter from what direction you're looking at it.
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eLeSDenes
Mycelium Expander




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Thanks, that is a really good tip! A workaround hack I found that if I pour the agar thick (almost touching the top of the plate) I can use the larger magnifications too, but very hard to get a good image which captures a larger area. I am currently looking for a way of stacking the images in different focus and also stitch different parts together to create a large image where everything is in focus. This is absolutely unnecessary and would provide no benefit, but I love doing this stuff cause it looks super cool.
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

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Re: The perfect MICROSCOPE [Re: eLeSDenes] 1
#26423580 - 01/08/20 08:26 PM (4 years, 4 months ago) |
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I have stacked micrographs with the free software Hugin. CombineZP also is a good free one.
Here is a photo I took of the spores of Oregon white truffle, Tuber oregonense. 600x magnification, 30 images stacked with CombineZP.
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Randalf the Grey
Woodland Creature


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Far from the perfect scope,and I expect to catch some flak for it, but a good beginner scope. It allows you to see spores and growth on agar and while the eyepiece quality is not the best, it does get the job done. I am a bit picky with eyepieces due to my amateur astrophotography hobby but these are not so bad as to make the scope useless. My biggest complaint is there is not enough clearance to fit a 100mmx15mm plate on the stage at the highest mag. https://www.amazon.com/TELMU-Microscope-Magnification-Illumination-Microscopes/dp/B07DQQKJNZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=microscope&qid=1578559156&sr=8-3
This has fulfilled my very simple needs so far but am looking to step up at some point in the near future.
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Hillionaire
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Are there models that have digital aspects with the Zeiss lenses?
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Sleepingstar
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Re: The perfect MICROSCOPE [Re: bodhisatta]
#27005580 - 10/27/20 12:46 AM (3 years, 6 months ago) |
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Would plastic wrap let you get in closer without contamination if you can’t see without the lid off?
Edited by Sleepingstar (10/27/20 12:48 AM)
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist

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Yes, great idea.
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