How to use S3IS when taking photos on the microscope

[Azaliah]

Hello everyone...
I recently bought a Canon S3 IS, and I'm pretty much new to this (it's actually my first digital camera). I'm still in the process of discovering its features, and the forum has helped me a lot with the tips on how to maximize its features under different shooting conditions.

I'd like to ask if any of the S3IS users have any experience with taking photos on the microscope? My work entails that I have to take lots of photos on it, and since the microscope that we have lacks a built-in camera, what I do is simply position the lens on the microscope's eyepiece. I have tried this with the earlier models of Sony Cybershot, and it worked pretty well, the photos are just satisfactory, and still can be used in Powerpoint presentations. So, do I need any special lenses for this task using the S3IS? I tried it a couple of times, but had a hard time focusing and getting a nice shot.

Thanks...

[ceriltheblade]

I am not sure that you need a special lens, but you may be helped by a special converter. Google-it but I have seen around various holders - of course depending on the specific microscope. And you may try turning off the image stabilization...I have heard others noting that it can sometimes interfere with thier picture

[chicagoastronomer]

You will experience similar difficulty I had with the opposite instrument - a telescope.

Same principal tho, but the massive S3 lens compared to the much smaller eyepiece of the microscope/telescope is like doing several things at once - and the image gets lost while finding the exact center is not easy.

But using a microscope is a tad simpler, as you are indoors and control the light & subject. With a telescope, the Earth is moving at 1000 MPH, objects are dim and also moving and I'm outdoors in the elements...all factors conspiring against capturing a good exposure.

My efforts can be found here:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=332893

Perhaps you can display some of your microscope shots.

[mishnogram]

There are places that will sell adapters for microscopes. I used to run a lab and did some work in this field. At the end of the day, I ended up buying a $25K addition to my microscopes to be able to take digital photographs but that's not within everyone's budget. There are cheaper alternatives that run around $10K as well but if you're looking for a cheaper alternative still, here are some options.

Check the maker of your microscope to see if they sell an adapter. If not, try a place like this: (I just googled "digital camera microscope adapter")

http://microscope-depot.com/digadapt.asp


On some of my older boom microscopes, I did something really similar to this using textalite instead of aluminum.:

http://www.truetex.com/micad.htm

Took some trial and error but we got it to work fairly well.

Hope that helps.