Digital Microscopes Have Improved!
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- It wasn't that long ago that all digital microscopes were of such low quality that you couldn't even do the most basic mineralogy work with them, however in the past couple of years the quality of them has increased greatly.
Microscope:
Link Micro LM246MS 7" - amzn.to/4fHpu0i
Link Micro LM210S 4K 10" - amzn.to/3LTg7wC
Books:
Mineralogy by John Sinkankas - amzn.to/4csPYzT
Mineral Identification: A Practical Guide for the Amateur Mineralogist by Donald B. Peck - amzn.to/4dvhHAM
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#CurrentlyRockhounding #Mineralogy #Microscopy
Good info. I bought a digital microscope several years ago. Returned it almost immediately. Turned out to be a cheap digital camera with almost no real magnification. That microscope’s “magnification” was just digital zoom. Terrible resolution on “magnified” images.
I also did that twice and then I started seeing these things come around and sure enough things really started to change.
I bought an early metal detector, I couldn't seem to get it to do anything at all. I eventually sold it. Makes me wonder what was inside of it.
We call it "Dog's Tooth Calcite" here in the UK. I went to university that was within an hour's travel of the best of the Pennine Orefield so it was my immediate suspicion. It may have helped that my undergraduate thesis was on the Magnesian Limestone so calcite was a constant sight during fieldwork. 😅
You're missing a part on that 7 inch, I have the same one. There's another set screw like the one on that stop ring that goes in on the other side of the mount from the one that extends the boom. You can see the hole where it's supposed to be. Mine came with a small bag of spare parts that had extras of those surprisingly. Never see spare parts anymore. I just slid that ring to the bottom and keep it out of the way. You could probably take the screw out of that and put it on the boom. That ring seems more like an arrestor to keep you from crushing a slide. I like that little 2 inch raise and lower system because with all of these the only focus control you have is turning the barrel, and those all have that little bit of a lag when you're turning them before the focusing kicks in. I use that bit of the system as a fine focusing tool. I've had a 10 inch too, 2 of them in fact, but both came with manufacturing flaws. Those were the 20 MP camera, not the 64 though. The first had bubbles in the material of the lens that created 2 little black dots so I returned that for another, and that one came with yellow LED lights instead of white. That's when I got the 7 inch with the extending boom. The optics on the 10 inch seemed a little better. With the 7 inch yellows seem to be a bit greenish. I also like the mast system with the 7 inch because I can swing the whole thing around and have a counterweight on the platform and use it to view a bigger item than you can using just the base or trying to balance something half on, half off.
Calcite-nice video. I really appreciate videos like this!
I rely on your honest opinion of things and that's why I bought my bf the first one you had because you were ok with it. And now with the new one, I suggested the better one with the 10" and he liked it but he had issues with the lighting. And so he returned there one, and we went with theo's suggestion for a different brand and it was complete garbage! So after he returned that one, he went back to an upgraded version of the one he had before, but with better lights and has been pretty happy with it so far! So thank you, for your honest options on these things, because we can know that if you said it, then it is the truth. And it was true. I didn't mind paying the difference but ultimately, I just wanted him to be happy with it! Thank Jared!💕
Great video! To easily see those tiny details just opens up an entirely new world. I picked up a speckled rock the other day that looked a little different. I used my loupe on it later and all those speckles were tiny garnet (?) crystals and other clear ones. Very cool.
I was so impressed with your previous videos with the digital microscope I got my own. It is more like the new one you have now. 4K, etc. etc. It is fun to use, but since I can no longer get out to collect, I have to use it with stuff I already have, which is fine.
Quite often the software in 'cheaper' photoelectronics (I'm talking about stuff not in the academic/professional sphere) will carry out overly aggressive image compression. As a result a lot of fine details, and sometimes even colour, is lost (especially in photographs). Heck, even some expensive digital SLRs have been known to exhibit aggressive compression. It is why a lot of people now don't use the compressed images at all and insist on RAW format files that have zero in-device modification. If the devices are able to produce RAW format pictures then that's the way to go. The manufacturer is missing a trick for not including it, in my opinion.
Great information. Very cool to see.
This is a good road for advanced inspections and considering there is no assay service for the average Joe, im following for the tips, great work. Plus i found something that more research is needed for.
Very nice upgrade! Going out to collect was a great addition to your review along with the acid test.👍👍
My first thoughts on trying to improve still image quality make me question iso, shutter speed and light...sort of the photography exposure triangle where lighting replaces aperture. I am assuming aperture is fixed and shutter speed is either fixed or automatic. That would make me try adding more light if I wanted to experiment.
Thanks for the review, been shopping for a scope for a while!
I hope this helps some.
Amazing video!! Thanks for sharing!!
I'm glad you liked it.
I think one of the reasons that the video quality is slightly better than the photo quality has to do with the area of the image sensor that gets used for video vs. still photo. (I am making an assumption here) A lot of cameras do not use the whole image sensor when they take video. You can tell this because the video image will appear to be zoomed-in "magnified" when you switch from still photos to video without physically changing the magnification with the lens assembly. If this is the case, if only the middle of the image sensor is being used to take video then it will have the effect of reducing the aperture which will increase the depth of field. That will make the image appear more crisp in video than it does with a still photo that uses the whole image sensor. (I want to be clear that there is a lot of conjecture here, I'm not an optics guy)
May I ask, where did you get your X, Y, Z stage?
Technology keeps marching forward. My feeling is the image quality is perfectly usable for RUclips add to that the control of each axis? Incredible tech really.
I can only imagine how good these will be in 2-5 years.
I still don't really understand how you can have a camera like this which can take perfectly good video but the photos are awful.
@@CurrentlyRockhounding probably a silly question…does it offer a photo quality setting for pixel density on photos? (Photo size) Any chance of RAW?
@@DanFarrar It does not offer those things.
@@CurrentlyRockhounding I figured you had already checked that…bummer. On the bright side, the video allows focus pulls so you could get different focal points in one video clip. I’m guessing any stills using focus stacking or HDR will not improve the quality…more crap in = more crap out lol. Still quite impressive for the cost though.
Your videos are extremely helpful. Keep up the great efforts.
Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it.
Would that smaller redish stuff next to the calcite be lepidocrocite?
I have a tomlov 4k digital microscope coming in tomorrow, along with some Dominican red amber & Myanmar amber with a wasp in it. It was supposed to be here yesterday, but the post office lost it for a couple days. I'm so excited to finally get a closer look at some of the stuff I have found.
Wich digital microscoop would you suggest for the starting hobbyist? You got me convinced going digital is the way.
This is a pretty great one for under $200
@@CurrentlyRockhounding Yeah it´s a good price considering what result you get with it. Yep i´m sold... buying soon. Thanks
You can sleep well when you only get stuff once. I can live among my buyers.
What are you trying to say here?
@@CurrentlyRockhounding edit edit ( I just remembered you moved....NO it was nothing to mis intepret that like you had to leave Dodge.) : i are using words, LOL Being honest lets you rest easy and I appreciate you not being a shill. If I wasn't honest I would not be in the same place going on 30 years later despite any slander from non residents. I appreciate your info videos and have to keep bragging on the quality of the charector of your circle of like minded creators. As a rule rock people are good people. The exceptions lie to us for money. I never thought you were less than up and up.
those digital microscopes are still to blurry.
Can you be more specific? Too blurry for what?
Clearly optical setups are better but when it comes to viewing minerals in the 5+mm FOV I showed the at the 4k resolution here is more than adequate for basic mineral identification.