advice for microscope camera?

[stillhope]

can anyone here help shed light on issues
regarding and manufacturers of cameras designed to couple to
microscopes? Or devices designed to couple a camcorder to a
microscope?

I have some experience with an older, analog camera on a goose-neck
that would output S-Video and made pretty good images from a
microscope. I have been researching these, and most new offerings are
digital, but none of the manufacturers seem familiar.

I'm researching this for a friend who wants a $200-$300 solution.
I'm thinking that it might be better to spend the $$ on a mechanical
and optical device that would allow her to use her XL-1 to do the
imaging.

Anyone out there have experience with these or insights into the
manufacturers or products?

[RFBurns]

Hi!

Micro (google search) has some small CCD cameras that are very sensitive, and have high resolution enough for this kind of work. They range in price from 100.00 on up and are easily configurable to mount in special applications like your describing. Though they are not actually designed for microscope imaging, a few of my engineering friends have used them on telescopes, binoculars and other applications. One used these little CCD cameras on their rifle scope, and mounting the rifle onto a rotational pod that allowed him to remotely control the rifle's aiming and fireing.

[volfann]

One used these little CCD cameras on their rifle scope, and mounting the rifle onto a rotational pod that allowed him to remotely control the rifle's aiming and fireing.

That's kind of scarey. Avid deer hunter??

[RFBurns]

That's kind of scarey. Avid deer hunter??

Actually he uses that little setup to hunt bear, though he has used it for deer hunting a time or two. The rotational pod was salvaged from a news live truck that rotates and lines up the remote microwave antenna to the repeater station.

It works very well, using UHF transmitters and recievers, he can sit in his warm tent or truck and monitor areas where the bears would gather, and via remote control, WHAM!

I believe he once had a too close encounter with one while hunting, and decided that hunting at a distance in his truck was much safer than crouching behind a bush or tree and letting his target's friends come creeping up behind him!

[volfann]

Hard core.....

[RFBurns]

Hard core.....

Yep! I have used these little CCD cameras on RC cars, helicopters and airplanes. Another engineer friend of mine uses them on his RC boats and submarines.

It is neat to sit inside my computer room, set up my helicopter on its landing pad in the back yard, and lift off and fly while using a monitor for forward view, and having flight instrumentation overlaid via my own custom built CG generator that displays airspeed, fuel level, altitude and artificial horizon indicator while in the comfort of the air conditioner at my flight pc using its joystick and custom built PCI interface card and software to fly it via the computer. I also included on board the helicopter an infrared LED array to mimic the police helicopters that have FLIR, Forward Looking InfaRed cameras that allow them to see at night. The CCD cameras are so sensitive that they double as night time cameras when the target area is illuminated with IR LED's.

The fellow with the remote rifle.....he also has that puppy set up so that with a flip of a switch, that rifle will fire at anything that moves in its sensor range, using both ultrasonic sound sensors and thermal sensors, the "quickset" pod can track and aim a moving target!!! Uses simple electronics that you can find in typical thermal sensing devices like automatic porch light units that turn on when it senses motion in the front yard, etc.

Some neat stuff can be built with a little imagination and a few spare parts lying around!