Team, I'm looking for some recommendations on a microscope suitable for taking pictures (close-ups) of my collection. I really liked the pics Nesvt posted recently, they were stunning. Please let me hear your thoughts. Many thanks Ben
I just put the coin under the Microscope and make sure its clear and then hold the camera up to the eye piece and take some---this is one I took... Speedy BTW--This is an 1958 D/D/D Cent.
Nope--its just a "kids" one---the name is Boreal and the Modal is 9073. I'll try to take some photos of the set up later on. Speedy
Ben I have a picture of the stereo microscope 10x30 on my refrigerator, with a xmas tree magnet to keep it there, never hurts to let them know.
I have access to a Ziess stereo microscope at work with its own dedicated computer to capture images from it. While I haven't used it as much as I probably should have to look at coins, overall its usefulness is somewhat limited in the sense that you can only look at a small section of a coin at once. Attached are a couple of images I have handy - one is just the initials JS off of a random dime I had in my pocket, and the second is a 2001S proof cent that appears to have a die crack above the date.
Yeap, I work in a lab. Nanotechnology here - though it's not like the science fiction stuff that the word nanotech likes to conjure in people's minds of tiny robots and stuff like that. Rather, I do material testing at very small scales.
I use a Digital Blue that my kids got me for some occasion years ago. It is considered to be a kids toy, but it has 10X, 60X and 200 X. It hooks into the computer and takes nice pictures. Great at 60X for mintmarks and RPM's and repunched dates, etc. I have used it to submit stories to the Barber Coin collector Club. Not expensive, but it cannot take photos thru slabs, it cannot focus at that point.
"but it cannot take photos thru slabs, it cannot focus at that point" There are 2 "ears" at the bottom of the scope. Take a grinder and cut them off, then you can focus through the slab and it doesn't effect your scope. Love my QX3....cheap and easy...:thumb:
Actually, I didn't do it, I just don't buy slabbed coins and have had no reason to, yet... But a lot of VAMmers I know have, and nobody has had any problems so far.
Radio Shack used to sell microscopes (not sure if they still do) that shone the light onto the surface rather than thru it, like a biological microscope. I had a 30X and I LOVED IT! Only $10, too. Also, the difference between a plastic $20 microscope and a metal $600 microscope is the resolution of the lens (cheaper usually plastic, more expensive made with glass with a higher quality control.) Generally at something up to 100X, the cheapies are okay to use.
"Radio Shack used to sell microscopes (not sure if they still do) that shone the light onto the surface rather than thru it, like a biological microscope. I had a 30X and I LOVED IT! Only $10, too." Sure, but the Digital Blue can take pictures, on your hard drive. And save then, I recently found several 1916 D RPM's tht were unlisted elsewhere, inlcuding Cherry pickers, the Barber quarter book and Breen's. Kinda neat.
