Trinocular Microscope Lighting Question

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Author	Replies: 3 / Views: 1,978
jprine Pillar of the Community United States 1599 Posts	Posted 05/12/2014 10:46 pm As I have been thinking and researching microscopes for some time, I have been following the threads about the topic and have learned alot from your shared experiences. I am committed to purchasing a microscope from AmScope ( with the help here I feel pretty confident in what I want). I also have decided to purchase one with the digital camera rather than buying the attachment for my T1i; I am sure that I will not be happy having to move my camera back and forth from my copy stand to the scope. Anyway, to my question. There are multiple lighting options available with the scopes and there is my dilemma. Options include fiber optic goose neck illuminators (probably beyond my available cash after purchase of the scope), single and dual LED goose necks, 60-64-80-144 LED microscope rings and a 144 LED Four-Zone ring with adapter. It seems to me that the scope rings are where I need to be and in particular the 144 LED Four-Zone ring (Item # LED 144A). This one has four individual lighting zones that can be turned on and off separately and has variable intensity control. Is anyone familiar with this lighting system, have experience with it, concerns? Or are there other options that I should explore. I use janscos with my camera and have the same concerns about those as I do the adapter for my camera (I am lazy and do not want to have to move them back and forth from the camera to the scope). Any opinions, comments, suggestions, help would be appreciated before I jump off into another expense. Thanks. Report this Post to the Staff

SsuperDdave Moderator United States 23522 Posts	Posted 05/13/2014 09:21 am There is, unfortunately, no such thing as a free lunch. The convenience of an attached camera and scope lighting costs you a less-capable camera (much less) and less-adjustable lighting, in a discipline where two or three degrees of lighting angle are the difference between "superb" and "crap." The distance between objective and coin will play a large role in choosing appropriate lighting, and it might well be that a bespoke ring light (especially shooting detail images only) ends up your best solution. Me, I'd always opt for maximum adjustability. Report this Post to the Staff
jprine Pillar of the Community United States 1599 Posts	Posted 05/26/2014 10:29 am I know myself well enough to know if I have to move my camera back and forth from my copy stand to a microscope, one will end not getting used very much and defeat my need for both. SsuperDdave, you make a lot of sense and have given me cause to reconsider what or more likely when I make a purchase. Report this Post to the Staff
rmpsrpms Pillar of the Community United States 4038 Posts	Posted 05/26/2014 11:17 am My desk has a stereo microscope with an EKE ringlight for viewing stuff at higher magnifications, and a camera setup for taking pics. The two setups are optimized for their intended purposes, and although I've tried many times to create a single setup using stereo microscope to save on space and conversion time, I've never been even close to satisfied with the results. A stereo microscope is a visual tool, not a photographic tool. I've also tried creating a single setup using a photomacrographic (that's the proper term for the non-microscope photo setups we use) system for searching as well as photography, but PM systems always come up short due to lack of stereo capability. My method of searching varieties is to use the stereo microscope to go through rolls or other groups of coins hundreds at a time, putting aside anything of interest for later scrutiny. I have no interest at this point in photographing the coins. After closer review, I may put aside a few coins worthy of getting a pic of, and place them in easy to open containers. After I have several coins to photograph, I'll power-up the photo setup and take some pics. Lighting on the PM setup is optimized for whatever magnification I'm doing, so needs to be very flexible and application-specific. Lighting on the stereo microscope system has fewer constraints if I'm not using it for photography, and the ringlight gives great illumination for searching (though poor for photography) so you don't miss anything. Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com Report this Post to the Staff
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