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Goodwill Hunting


Nimravis

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I love Fossil Hunting, but I also love Goodwill Hunting. I usually stop in the various Goodwill stores that I see and look around for plastic cases that I could use for fossils, but I also look to see if I can find some other things that I could use for fossils- Today was one of those days. After picking up a couple of plastic cases, I was walking towards the door and noticed something in their locked case. Upon further inspection it was a Bosch & Lomb Stereoscope. I took a look at it and I could not see anything through the optics and I put it back. Before driving away I decided to go back in and use the light on my I Phone to illuminate that stage. I placed a dime on the microscope stage, which can be flipped to white or black, and placed the light so it illuminated the dime and the view through the optics was amazing. The dial that is on top of the microscope is used to zoom in on the object and it works great and every tiny scratch on the dime can be zoomed in. I decided to buy this stereoscope for the price of $19.99, now I have 2 stereoscope’s and I can use my fiber optic lighting for this new scope.

 

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If our local store even had something like that I bet it would be a cheesy kids scope with half the parts missing and be charging twice as much.  Quite a steal!

Is there a way to take photos through it?

 

 

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There are always great bargains to be found at thrift stores IF you happen to be there at the right time. I’ve collected vintage Pyrex dishes from various Goodwill stores for several years. Maybe one trip out of a dozen will be successful. The ongoing hunt is half the fun, in my opinion. (Just like with fossils! Lol.) Very nice bargain, Ralph! :)

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Nice score! It's always worth looking around, you never know what you can find. :D

 

37 minutes ago, caldigger said:

If our local store even had something like that I bet it would be a cheesy kids scope with half the parts missing and be charging twice as much.  Quite a steal!

Is there a way to take photos through it?

 

There are digital cameras that fit into the eyepiece. I like the one I have (LINK), and I'm sure there are others out there.

 

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1 hour ago, caldigger said:

Is there a way to take photos through it?

I will try

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24 minutes ago, Mediospirifer said:

There are digital cameras that fit into the eyepiece. I like the one I have (LINK), and I'm sure there are others out there.

I might have to buy that one.

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Very nice! I'm looking into scopes now to help picking micro-matrix. The new ones I'm considering have a few more zeros at the end of the price tag. :P

 

 

Great score!

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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nice buy

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

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Score!  Or, as they say in soccer, Scoooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrre!!!!!!!!

 

Don

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4 hours ago, caldigger said:

Is there a way to take photos through it?

Doren- when I got home, I used my fiber optic lighting and place a couple pieces on the stage and used my I phone camera and tried to shoot through the optic. They did not come out too bad and I really like this microscope a lot.

 

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Here are the pics-

 

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3 hours ago, digit said:

Very nice! I'm looking into scopes now to help picking micro-matrix. The new ones I'm considering have a few more zeros at the end of the price tag. :P

 

 

Great score!

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

I recently bought this digital one from AmScope and though it does a nice job for pictures, this stereo microscope that I bought today is a lot better. I am going to buy a camera for it like @Mediospirifer mentioned. I have another stereo microscope that I paid a lot of money for about 20 years ago and I still like the quality and ease of use with this $19.99 one.

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Really nice pictures. :)

So much hidden detail can be revealed. 

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Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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Nice find. Not long ago I picked up an old stereo microscope from our rockhound club sale. They pretty much foisted it upon me for $5, but it's a little older and could use some cleaning perhaps. Yours looks to be the better deal - you're off and running and already taking pics thru it!

 

 

microscope2.jpg

microscope3.jpg

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9 hours ago, aplomado said:

Goodwill has a website that always has a lot of microscopes:

https://www.shopgoodwill.com/

 

Keep in mind their return policy is typically not good, so if you get a lemon you are probably stuck with it.

 

Even if a purchase is a lemon, the price is (presumably) worth risking, and it's to support a good cause. :D

 

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On ‎5‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 7:04 PM, Nimravis said:

@Herb , @ynot and @FossilDAWG thanks for the comments. I like the pics, what do you think? I think with a camera mounted on the microscope it will be a better quality.

 

My microscope is a B&L Stereozoom 4, with 15x ocular lenses (I see yours are 10x). I originally took photos by pointing a camera down the eyepiece, with acceptable results. My "Conodonts" gallery photos were taken with this method. (LINK)

 

With the Celestron camera, I don't have to hold the camera steady. It also has approximately 20x magnification (instead of the ocular lens magnification of 15x or 10x), so it's possible to get higher magnification than with the lenses you have. Between those two factors, you can get significant improvement. See my "Scolecodonts" gallery for examples. (LINK:D

 

I agree with you about the scope's quality and ease of use. Lately, I've been using image stacking in Photoshop to improve the images further. My "Buggy Amber" thread has the best images I've managed to date: LINK.

 

Just a few examples of what's possible with that setup. :D

 

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@Nimravis Check out the teeth on a Didontogaster cordylina or Octomedusa pieckorum with the scope.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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1 minute ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

@Nimravis Check out the teeth on a Didontogaster cordylina or Octomedusa pieckorum with the scope.

I will do that- I really love this scope and I am checking out cameras for it now. I have been checking out a couple hash plates and it opens up a whole new world with the quality of this scope.

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3 minutes ago, Nimravis said:

I will do that- I really love this scope and I am checking out cameras for it now. I have been checking out a couple hash plates and it opens up a whole new world with the quality of this scope.

The "floor tile" is worth checking for bits of insects, arthropods, vertebrates, etc. 

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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