Dino-Lite Scope Users...

[gristlejaw]

Need some advice/feedback: I'm looking to move to a USB scope...it's just too much eyestrain to look through the eyepieces for hours at a time. Watching real-time on a computer monitor seems to be the way to go and the Dino-Lite USB scopes seem to be a very good choice, however i have not been able to work with one yet (just seen the youtube videos). I wanted to hear some feedback from those who have the scopes. Which scope & stand models do you have and anything you would change about them or things that are a must on them? I would consider the $1000 (5Mb, metal bodied) models if it's worth it over the $300 - $600 models. I would primarily use it to look for micros. Thanks.

[painshill]

Based on past experience... I would now only ever buy a scope which does not require its own drivers, but uses the drivers provided in Windows by Microsoft. Manufacturers have to pay Microsoft to certify independent drivers and so many don't bother, or pay initially and then stop paying as software versions advance.Windows 7 and later no longer even allow you to install “unsigned” drivers unless you have paid for the full professional version. I gave away my last digital scope because the drivers were unsigned and when I moved my PC from Windows XP to Windows 7, the drivers for the scope wouldn’t work and no updates were available. Microsoft won't help in these circumstances. Up until then you could install unsigned drivers by ignoring the (normally over-cautious) Windows warning message.

I replaced my scope with one from Bresser in Germany (Celestron seem to have identical models) which needs no driver installation and am very happy with it. The one I have now comes with illumination above and below the stage, has an LCD preview screen and a slot for an SD memory card (all good things). You don’t have to run it linked to a PC all the time… you can use it stand-alone and then upload the pictures from the memory card at your convenience if you wish.

One other thing to watch out for is that at higher magnifications, you’re restricted to transmitted light only because the clearance between the objectives on the turret and the stage is small, so you can’t do really high magnifications on thick specimens… those higher magnifications are designed for thin sections.

For thicker specimens I use an inexpensive “hand-held” model from Celestron, which comes with a stand. You can easily overcome the “clearance between objective and specimen” problem by placing the stand on a pile of books and weighting it down for steadiness. I actually drilled a couple of holes in the stand and screwed it to a wooden block as a platform, using the pile of books to adjust the specimen height.

[xonenine]

I couldn't agree more about the software issues when it comes to new unsigned driver policies. Bypassing the microscope manufacturer (in my case, Celestron also, their 44320 kit) and going to the digital camera maker, Vimicro, resolved the issue. Being told it can't be done without resorting to ridiculous solutions like turning off driver verification every time you boot always makes these little issues fun, though I can see it is a widespread source of frustration in many forums.

Vimicro was the camera manufacturer that eventually had drivers for me, but each case is different, and in fact it was their xp 64 bit package that did the trick - though I am running Win7 64 bit.

both scopes now recognize and function with all my software versions, Amcap, VP-Eye, etc.

Edited February 2, 2014 by xonenine

[MarcoSr]

What types of micros are you going to look for? I use a Dino-Lite AM-411T. I really use it to examine individual specimens and to take pictures. I use a small metal stand that is from a Celestron microscope in combination with a part of a stand that I bought for the Dino-Lite because the Dino-Lite stand as bought wasn't working for me. I haven't found the Dino-lite very useful for searching matrix. I've tried putting narrow lines of matrix down in a large plastic tray and moving the microscope stand along the line. With my old computer, it would lock it up with the Dino-Lite trying to refocus as I moved along the line of matrix. I could do this with my cheap Celestron microscope on its stand. When I upgraded my computer with a better processor and more memory, I was able to do this with the Dino-Lite. However, it just took too long to look at a small amount of matrix. I also tried using little plastic sample trays with matrix in them. Again this just took too long. But I look for vertebrate micro fossils only down to .5 mm and I can search my matrix much faster using a tabletop inspection loupe that lets me pick the specimens. I then use a 10X jewelers loupe or my Dino-Lite microscope to look at the individual specimens closer. It is nice though to see your matrix on your computer screen and you are less likely to miss a very small nondescript specimen. However I look at large quantities of matrix in a week, multiple gallons of both coarse and fine, and just don't have the time for the microscope unless I'm looking for a very specific small type specimen in the .4mm or .5mm size range that I might miss with my inspection loupe.

Marco Sr.

[gristlejaw]

Thanks for the replies.

Marco Sr.: I will be using this for looking through matrix for small macro fossils as well as small to very small micros (some of the forams are super tiny). I can't say that i'll be looking through gallons a week though (i wish). Luckily, I talked my work into purchasing a AM413T and a nice boom stand (MS36B) so i'll get to play around with that one to see if i want to get one for personal use. As far a lag on the computer...i'm planning to use a dedicated computer so hopefully lag will be minimal.