Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sulla80, post: 4731307, member: 99456&quot;]I&#039;ve been experimenting (perhaps somewhat ineptly) with USB connected cameras for a couple of years.&nbsp; My favorite is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Opti-Tekscope-Microscope-Advanced-Definition-Industrial/dp/B0184CCOY0" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.amazon.com/Opti-Tekscope-Microscope-Advanced-Definition-Industrial/dp/B0184CCOY0" rel="nofollow">this one</a> (~$90) which takes decent pictures and has a field of view big enough that I can fit a sestertius or a tetradrachm without taking the camera off of the mount.&nbsp; Most of the photos that I have posted have been taken with this &quot;camera&quot;.&nbsp; <b>Down-sides:</b> it has poor exposure control, but this can be overcome by adding in the field of view a swatch of white or off-white paper to trick the auto-exposure into working reasonably and different backgrounds.&nbsp; The other issue: somewhat limited focus control and depth of field - noticeable in my photos.&nbsp; Why I like it:</p><ul> <li>0 setup time<br /> </li> <li>live view of a coin on a large screen - I find a tiny obol (even a denarius) much more interesting on a 23 inch screen</li> <li>fast &amp; easy to take a reasonable picture and open with a photo editor for combining (obverse and reverse) or other post-processing (which I prefer to skip)</li> </ul><p>Here are the four others that I have experimented with - none of which I can recommend - although the stand (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jiusion-Aluminium-Adjustable-Professional-Microscope/dp/B0797PPX8D" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.amazon.com/Jiusion-Aluminium-Adjustable-Professional-Microscope/dp/B0797PPX8D" rel="nofollow">available separately</a>) that comes with the Jiusion could be an alternative to the nice wood one that [USER=19463]@dougsmit[/USER] shows in the OP:</p><ul> <li>Jiusion WiFi USB Digital Microscope HD 1080P Resolution ~$60 <br /> </li> <li>Celestron - 5 MP Digital Microscope Pro - Handheld USB Microscope ~$120</li> <li>7 inch LCD Digital USB Microscope Angle Adjustable with Remote Control, Koolertron 12MP&nbsp; ~$140</li> <li>Plugable USB 2.0 Digital Microscope with Flexible Arm Observation Stand ~$40</li> </ul><p>I see little connection between observed image quality and the advertised quality (between 12MP - and HD1080).&nbsp; Several have built in lighting - which I found unusable for taking a coin photo.</p><p><br /></p><p>All of these had issues that made them unusable to me: note that not all of them had all issues - just saving space by combining lists.</p><ul> <li>field of view not sufficient (when using stand provided)</li> <li>image grainy</li> <li>poor focus control</li> <li>poor exposure control</li> <li>minimal depth of field<br /> </li> <li>color issues: mostly too cold (white going to blue to purple)</li> <li>stands that don&#039;t work very well (the flexible/bending ones)</li> </ul><p>Here are a couple of images to illustrate - the first one: Celestron supposedly 5MP (before weak attempt at white balancing, both obv and rev were more purple) and the actual coin does not have this grainy pattern:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1158120[/ATTACH]</p><p>the image from my preferred setup - better? - what do others see?</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1158121[/ATTACH]</p><p>Would be interested to hear if you find you can make anything resembling a reasonable photo with the OP 2MP camera - I could be tempted to try a 6th one (2MP or 5MP).&nbsp; I have been eyeing these <a href="https://www.amazon.com/AmScope-MU503B-High-Speed-Digital-Camera/dp/B01DJKFPLG" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.amazon.com/AmScope-MU503B-High-Speed-Digital-Camera/dp/B01DJKFPLG" rel="nofollow">AMScope camera</a>&#039;s believing that if I spend more I might get better results.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am also interested in any CT members with advice or info on positive experiences connecting a camera to computer for real-time viewing and decent photos.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in