digital compact photomicrography
This page deals with digital still compact cameras that are not SLR. CCTV cameras and camcorders are dealt with on other pages and are more straight forward. Taking photographs with a microscope and a digital compact camera is not as straight forward as a standard 35 mm SLR camera.
There are a large number of digital compact cameras and few can be used satisfactorily for microscopy. Unlike SLR types the lenses of compact cameras cannot be removed. There are many different styles and designs of this type of camera. In simple terms compact digital cameras can be divided into those that have a screw thread on (or around) the lens housing, and those without screw threads. Of the current models very few indeed still have lens screw threads. Brunel Microscopes manufacture to our own design two adapters that can be used to attach some digital compact cameras to most microscopes.
Our own adapter the ‘Unilink’ will fit into standard compound microscope eye tubes or, using an insert adapter, into the 30 or 30.5 mm eye tubes of stereomicroscopes. The Unilink has an integral lens and a 37 mm male screw thread. Older compact cameras with a lens screw thread (such as the Nikon 6000) can be attached to the Unilink via suitable step rings. Cameras with a lens thread diameter greater than 52 mm will tend to produce vignetting of the image and are therefore not recommended.
If there is no screw thread then our Linkarm uses the camera tripod bush to attach the camera so that it can ‘look into’ the microscope without being attached at the lens. Cameras without a lens screw thread can be attached to the Unilink by its ‘Linkarm’ accessory. This is a stainless steel framework that attaches to the camera via its tripod bush (all but the smallest cameras have these) and screws into the Unilink.
For information about the Unilink and Linkarm -
If you need specific advice about your compact camera then please email our technical support team mail@brunelmicroscopes.co.uk
single lens reflex cameras non slr compact cameras