Buying the correct Microscope for microfossils

[Huntlyfossils]

Hello all I'm looking at purchasing a new microscope for my microfossils, I have been recommended Am microscopes.

I was looking for a stereo microscope with a good camera for photos and measurements .

I have narrowed it down to 12 Amscopes but im now a bit stuck on what I should look for or avoid if anyone has any advise that would be great.

 

 

 

Cheers

[Haravex]

I have an amscope (an investment I made after a very close relative passed) and its the prep tool I sue the most I can't say anything bad about it, now I believe your needs are different but can highly recommend this brand I have the 10x - 20x and that is perfect for prep and even for taking photographs of close up serrations if a customer asks for them.

[Huntlyfossils]

7 minutes ago, Haravex said:

I have an amscope (an investment I made after a very close relative passed) and its the prep tool I sue the most I can't say anything bad about it, now I believe your needs are different but can highly recommend this brand I have the 10x - 20x and that is perfect for prep and even for taking photographs of close up serrations if a customer asks for them.

Thanks for the advice this too will be an investment after losing a very close relative(mum).

[Thomas.Dodson]

I've heard mixed things about Amscopes. Some are okay, some less so. Is your plan to only use this for microfossil photography?

 

 

[Huntlyfossils]

2 minutes ago, Thomas.Dodson said:

I've heard mixed things about Amscopes. Some are okay, some less so. Is your plan to only use this for microfossil photography?

 

 

Yes this will be the main purpose, I would like to get a good quality microscope to study and photograph for microfossils , i have many kgs of microfossil material I would like to study better .

 I currently have a cheap usb digital microscope which is fine for my larger specimens but doesn't provide me the magnification and detail for which i am looking for.  

I know leica is top of the range but may break the bank as they are very expensive.

[Thomas.Dodson]

I bought a Swift S-7 with both a .05x and 2x barlow lens that covers my range of prep work to micros very well. If you don't think you will use it for prep at all than you can skip the .05x lens and the boom arm and a trinocular like the one you listed would work well if you're going to take lots of pictures.

 

I haven't worked with scope cameras for a while but @LabRatKing will likely be able to tell you what to look out for in cameras (and scopes).

[LabRatKing]

Amscope is great for eyeball use. (Remember all scopes are made in the same 3 factories. All optics for them are made in the same 4 factories. The only differences are the branding and the grade of the parts used to assemble.)

They are only as good as their cameras and the skill level of the user for photography and videos.

We have a couple of very detailed threads on here from the recent past on scopes and cameras, so I won't rehash it here too much.

Also remember that most if not all high quality microphotographs are digitally edited with layering/stacking to get a "perfect" 2D representation of a 3D image. (Google "depth of Field")

 

When choosing I scope, I suggest to follow this list:

 

1. What is my budget?

2. Do I own a high quality camera already? (DSLR, 35mm, Pro grade mobile phone)

3. If I buy a cheap scope, am I willing to put effort into making it a good scope?

4. How often will I be using it?

5. Do I have other uses for the scope beyond my primary?

6. Am I skilled with photo editing (i.e. layering) enough to create high quality images?

 

Finally, avoid halogen lighted scopes like the plague. They are outdated technology, and those still for sale as new are actually "new old stock" which means they have been sitting around for nearly a decade. However, they can be much cheaper initially. The bulbs are expensive and often proprietary. Good news is thanks to the interwebs, anyone can rip out the outdated halogen circuit and replace it with a LED unit for very little money and just a few minutes of work.

 

as an afterthought, don't be afraid to buy scopes on the Warrior Woman or Electronic Body of Water sites. I have save thousands over the years buying used scopes off the latter, then buying new parts for them off the former.

[hadrosauridae]

36 minutes ago, LabRatKing said:

 

 

as an afterthought, don't be afraid to buy scopes on the Warrior Woman or Electronic Body of Water sites. I have save thousands over the years buying used scopes off the latter, then buying new parts for them off the former.

 

LOL

[MarcoSr]

I use digital dino-lite microscopes for my micro pictures.  They have a number of different models with different options.  The current dino-lite that I use has picture stacking software which works great.  However, it doesn't have measurements which I wouldn't use anyways.  Other models do.  Dino-lite microscopes are expensive, but I take thousands of pictures a year, so the cost is worth it to me.

 

Here are a couple of pictures I took after first getting my latest dino-lite.

 

Lizard jaw (1.5x1x .33mm)

 

 

 

 

Mammal tooth (2.5x1mm)

 

 

 

 

A ray (2mm) and shark (2mm) tooth.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a more recent close-up picture of stromatolitic agate.

 

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

[jpc]

I have to ask... what sorts of microsfossils are we talking about.  7-90x is too much for little teeth like marco has shown.  But if we are talking about forams... well, I will let a foram person speak up rather than make stuff up.  

 

One fun thing you can do with a binocular microscope is take stereophotos like this.  I love doing this, but I do it through the lens, not with a third ocular, and it takes some pretty simple photo editting.  (In all honesty, you can do this with a dinolite or with the third ocular as well.  It is a lightly different technique).

 

[Huntlyfossils]

6 hours ago, jpc said:

I have to ask... what sorts of microsfossils are we talking about.  7-90x is too much for little teeth like marco has shown.  But if we are talking about forams... well, I will let a foram person speak up rather than make stuff up.  

 

One fun thing you can do with a binocular microscope is take stereophotos like this.  I love doing this, but I do it through the lens, not with a third ocular, and it takes some pretty simple photo editting.  (In all honesty, you can do this with a dinolite or with the third ocular as well.  It is a lightly different technique).

 

No they will be a similar size to those teeth, so may need to look at different magnification,  what do you recommend? 

[jpc]

a max of 30x is plenty.  But it should have various settings.  I prefer a continuous zoom, as opposed to one where you only ave a few choices. 

[Huntlyfossils]

On 6/2/2021 at 8:09 AM, MarcoSr said:

I use digital dino-lite microscopes for my micro pictures.  They have a number of different models with different options.  The current dino-lite that I use has picture stacking software which works great.  However, it doesn't have measurements which I wouldn't use anyways.  Other models do.  Dino-lite microscopes are expensive, but I take thousands of pictures a year, so the cost is worth it to me.

 

Here are a couple of pictures I took after first getting my latest dino-lite.

 

Lizard jaw (1.5x1x .33mm)

 

 

 

 

Mammal tooth (2.5x1mm)

 

 

 

 

A ray (2mm) and shark (2mm) tooth.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a more recent close-up picture of stromatolitic agate.

 

 

 

 

Marco Sr.

Wow those are amazing was looking at this dino-lite am7115mzt is this similar to what you use?  

[Adam86cucv]

On 6/27/2021 at 1:01 PM, tombk said:

I can figure out the “electric body of water” reference. What is the “warrior woman” site?

online ...ok weird it changed me putting the name of the worlds largest online auction site to online...

Edited June 30, 2021 by Adam86cucv
Clarification

[JohnJ]

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[Fossildude19]

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