Microscope Question

I am not familiar with the lighting terms, or scopes either, I have a Fugifilm EXR w/ 16mega CMOS, 15x zoom=44-66mm 1.35-5.3 camera, and need to know what the best type microscope to take pics through/ What eyepiece and objective combination do I need to view the entire circumference of the coin?

Nope, no dimmer on the Jansjos. They're intended as desk lamps, so always full on. It's simple to add layers of diffusion to dim them and same time even out their light distribution. Just tape some translucent paper over them. Need them darker, put another layer on. They stay cool enough to not melt the tape adhesives from my experience.

Ham,

Thanks for the suggestion, however, but what seemed to be an obvious and simple solution turned out to cause more problems than I initially had before integrating this type of dimmer.

These type of aforementioned dimmers are available at Lowes and Home Depot for under $ 15.

Unfortunately, when connecting to one of these types of dimming devices 'dimmable' CFL bulbs produced an electrical interference in the form of vertically moving horizontal lines on my laptop screen while being connected to a USB camera.

Then I connected this dimmer to a normal 'non-dimmable' CFL bulb and the light intensity would never diminish to a required low enough level without suddenly cutting off.

I did not try this dimmer with LED lighting since CFL bulbs have routinely produced the overall best true-to-life coin photos at least using my USB equipment.

A work-around solution must surely exist for this type of dimmer but I exhausted both my available time and level of interest trying to make this dimmer function properly with my current photographic equipment.

mdpmedia

LED bulbs work on current control, not voltage. The small power supply that comes with the Jansjos takes the incoming voltage, rectifies it to DC, then uses that DC to force a current through the LED bulb. The current level through the bulb is regulated, ie regardless of the incoming voltage (over a very wide range) the supply provides a constant current so you don't see any flickering or variation in intensity if the utility voltage varies. Almost all the inexpensive dimmers vary the average voltage using a pulse waveform created by a silicon controlled rectifier. This method won't do anything to the LED power supply unless the pulse width is so narrow the regulators stop working, and at that point the supply current will collapse and the LED will go dark. Sometimes you'll see a flickering when this happens. There is no external way to adjust the intensity on the Jansjos. You may be able to modify the power supply but that would take some effort and understanding of how the thing works.

Based on my experience with diffusers, if you are going to build one it's a golden opportunity to adjust the size and shape the resulting source to maximize photographic qualities, ie rather than simply making a diffuser, make a director.