Camera

Watch as Gabe turns a binocular surgical microscope into a trinocular microscope and adds a video camera.

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Types

It is common for a researcher to attach a camera to a microscope. Three types of cameras are available, and two are suitable for microscopy work:

• Television (Direct video)
  • 4:3 old style video, NTSC, PAL, 480i
  • 16:9 HDTV (DVI 1.0 compliant), 720P
• Computer capture
  • USB connection
  • Firewire connection
• Commercial cameras
  • Fixed lens cameras
  • SLR cameras

First, determine what you want to do:

• Capture images
• View live video

The cameras that do both are more expensive. Lower cost options capable of live view and image capture usually are capable of capturing fewer frames per second.

Television Style Cameras

Television style cameras send live video images to a television set. They can use the old 4:3 (boxy) format or the new 16:9 cinematic format. These cameras do not come with software, nor do they connect to a computer without adding a special interface to the computer. This image can be recorded by DVRs or by adding a video input and capture card to your computer. These cameras can record video...more