Hey all, I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this... but here it goes. I would like to know what type of digital microscope you use. I have a low end model of the Dino-Lite, it is 0.3mp and 480x640 image size. The zoom is 20x-50x, 200x (meaning, I can go from 50x to 200x, but nothing in between). 200x is pretty grainy. What do you use? Do you like it? Could you post your model, specs (resolution, image size), approx. cost and a link if you have it. I'm in the market for a new model and I'd be interested in your thoughts/opinions/experience. As always, thanks for entertaining my posts! JohnT
There have been a bunch of threads on digital microscopes and if they're good or not. Here's a link to a thread that will hopefully help you out. Good luck in your search. Also, you might want to post this in the Coin Chat section of the forum, idk if you'll get the best answers in the Error Coin section. http://www.cointalk.com/t162077/
I use a Veho VMS-004, but the 400x is too much, in hindsight I should of went with the 200x. Also, the LED lighta on it are too bright, it has 6 when 4 would of been fine. All in all, it's an ok little scope.
Here is a post from another forum... http://board.conecaonline.org/showthread.php?t=3664 Larry Nienaber
The critical measurement on any microscope is not the magnification, but the resolution ( resolving power). RP is how close can 2 lines be to each other and the lens can separate them rather than blurring them into just 1. Each microscope lens, the ocular ( eyepiece) and the objective lens ( close to the object) has a rating that reflects their sharpness and price of course. A poor lens of 20X can be marched with another poor resolving lens of 20X and what you get is 400X larger fuzzy image. It is like taking a 3mp camera image and blowing it up to a 16x20 print., when it should stay at about a 3x5. Take a 12 mp camera and you can have a high resolution 16x20. Most of these USB microscopes have a 3mp or a 5mp sensor ( low). A 12mp usb type of microscope could be very useful @ about 20-30 X max. Lab microscopes above 700X has to use oil between the lens and the object for sharp focus. Around Christmas time, the 1200X microscopes and the 500X Telescopes show up in the toy section, but they are just toys, their resolution is so poor , even though the image is large, the resolution is horrible. You see things that are not there and miss things that are there. Probably drives more people from life science and astronomy than we know. Wait and buy a macro lens for a 12+mp camera or buy a good used binocular "dissecting" type of scope and photograph through an eyepiece with a 8+ mp camera ( even a point and shoot) and you will get the kind of shots you want. And if you have a USB microscope, use a good photo program for best results, and if the LEDs are accessible, use small pieces of black tape to block off some of them to control the light level.IMO. Jim
Lots of good info in Jim's post ^ I have a dinolite model AM311 I believe and it works very well. It can be difficult to get good pictures of entire coins with it but it can be done if you play with the lighting etc. It is definitely good if you are an error hunter or if you have bad eyes as the image you get on the computer screen is HUGE and much easier to see the a loupe etc. I've got some extra time on my hands so I took a few quick test shots for you to check out. All the shots were done using the highest resolution it can do which is 1280x960. The first 2 shots were taken with the microscope about 5-6 inches above the coin and about 25x magnification. As mentioned the LED lights included on the lights can be a bit much (8 LED's on this model), first shot is just light from the overhead flourescents in my room, second shot is with the LEDs on... As you can see it washes out the shot a bit much... This 3rd shot was taken from about 3 inches above the coin with the the LEDs off. You can definitely get better pics then these out of it if you play with the lighting. This shot was taken just an inch or so above the coin at 35x magnification with the LEDs on. Once you get this close the camera itself starts to block out the light unless you play with it or use multiple lights. This shot was taken basically with the camera as close to the coin as possible, 55x magnification with the LEDs on.
Last but not least the "close-up"... Definitely great for those hard to see errors etc... This is taken at 215x. IMHO if you need to get closer to a coin then this then you have issues! I can see the smallest of die markers with this magnification and anything more would be too much~ Hope this helps~ J
