Arriving today or tomorrow: Celestron 44360 Infiniview LCD Digital Cordless Microscop

[JBW]

Today or tomorrow, after a 10 day delay in Customs the new tool for the new adventure should arrive. The Celestron 44360 Infiniview LCD Digital Cordless Microscope (110 V, Gray).


5.0MP CMOS Sensor/32GB MicroSD Slot
5-Element Infrared-Reducing Glass Lens
8-LED Top Illumination/Dimmer
Captures 5.0MP Images/30 fps Videos
4-160x On LCD/Up to 800x On Monitor
3.5" TFT Color LCD Display Module
4.4 x 4.4" Adjustable Stage/Metal Clips
1050mAh Rechargeable Battery/2 h Runtime
Compatible with Windows & Mac
Multi-Language Support
Celestron claims it is professional quality. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But the microscopy group I've been interacting with thinks that it is a great place to start.

I must admit a great curiosity about how the 5mp color camera will work. I've been told that on a large monitor it will show a lot of detail.

[rpcrowe]

My first DSLR was 6MP and was quite decent i image quality.... Your microscope looks like it will be a lot of fun for you to use... I hope that you will enjoy it!

[JBW]

My first DSLR was 6MP and was quite decent i image quality.... Your microscope looks like it will be a lot of fun for you to use... I hope that you will enjoy it!

I'm going to use it as I did the FujiFilm S4200, a gate into a new world. It should allow me to begin to explore extreme macro. If I enjoy it as much as I hope too I will use it to build my skill set and eventually move up a notch or two in equipment.

[xpatUSA]

Well done, Brian!

Expecting some "what-is-it" shots shortly ...

[JBW]

Well done, Brian!

Expecting some "what-is-it" shots shortly ...

Absolutely

[DanK]

I didn't know that one could get a microscope with an LCD rather than regular eyepieces. An interesting idea for those of us with aging eyes.

If you didn't look at the details, the page with the Nikon photomicrography winners includes the magnification of every shot. If I recall, they go up to 100x, but I was surprised that the majority are between 5x and 20x.

I'll be eager to see what you come up with--particularly since I am going to have my own introduction to photomicrography in about 6 weeks (without equipment of my own for the time being).

[JBW]

I didn't know that one could get a microscope with an LCD rather than regular eyepieces. An interesting idea for those of us with aging eyes.

If you didn't look at the details, the page with the Nikon photomicrography winners includes the magnification of every shot. If I recall, they go up to 100x, but I was surprised that the majority are between 5x and 20x.

I'll be eager to see what you come up with--particularly since I am going to have my own introduction to photomicrography in about 6 weeks (without equipment of my own for the time being).

I did look at the details and this microscope puts me in the ball park. All things being equal I'll be unpacking it today or tomorrow.

I imagine there will be a serious learning curve so please don't judge the equipment on my beginners results.

If you google digital gem stone microscopes there are lots of links to much better equipment. Here's one.

[PhilT]

Hi,
I'm interested to know which kind of subjects you intend to study with this. Is it a kind of "super macro" photography?
BTW, just for information, I'm working daily with professional microscope (Olympus BX41), it's my job (diagnostic surgical pathology). For pictures we used before a dedicated 12MPX digital camera mounted on a microscope (Olympus D70). Now we switch to Whole Slide Imaging using a digital scan. It allow to have good quality pictures up to X120 lens (X1200 enlargement). Obviously it is a very expensive stuff, used in medical & research institutions, so I'm probably out of the subject

[JBW]

Hi,
I'm interested to know which kind of subjects you intend to study with this. Is it a kind of "super macro" photography?
BTW, just for information, I'm working daily with professional microscope (Olympus BX41), it's my job (diagnostic surgical pathology). For pictures we used before a dedicated 12MPX digital camera mounted on a microscope (Olympus D70). Now we switch to Whole Slide Imaging using a digital scan. It allow to have good quality pictures up to X120 lens (X1200 enlargement). Obviously it is a very expensive stuff, used in medical & research institutions, so I'm probably out of the subject

Three dimensional subjects rather than slides. Super / extreme macro is where I want to go. I would enjoy trying your gear. I bought the Celestron for a learning tool. It is a good one if for no other reason than the limitations it comes with.

[Manfred M]

Three dimensional subjects rather than slides. Super / extreme macro is where I want to go.

In that case I hope that you are planning to become an expert in focus stacking. Given the extremely shallow depth of field field as you get to the level of magnification that instrument has (even at 4x magnification), that technique is going to be quite necessary to get reasonable images of some of the subjects you've been working with.