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 Replies: 35 / Views: 6,081 |
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Valued Member
United States
129 Posts |
For example, ebay item # 182555372387. I've been having spotty results taking shots of coins with a decent camera in ultra-macro mode. Has anyone had experience with these cheap microscopes? Are they useful or just plain garbage? Thanks. |
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
50x-500x is way too much. As low as possible and not more than 200x. I have a $15.00 AmScope that works pretty good. John1  |
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
1557 Posts |
Please tell us for what purposes such microscopes are used? I would also buy up to$ 20 on ebay. |
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Pillar of the Community
2145 Posts |
If you buy a scope on ebay, make sure it isn't from overseas (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc..) it takes forever to be delivered and if it doesn't work, returning it is a nightmare.... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
There are many types and some work well while others don't. Only way to know is to find someone who owns one (unlikely) or just buy one and hope for the best.
Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com |
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Valued Member
 United States
129 Posts |
Just got a nifty new digital microscope from ebay. $16 + change, including shipping and tax. The plastic base is garbage, and is unstable, but I more or less fixed it by duct taping it to a heavyweight plastic plate. ebay item # 123963687752 |
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Valued Member
United States
129 Posts |
See also the pic I just posted on my 2003 2 Rupees India doubled die.
Forgot to mention that this came with a cd of driver software for Windows and Android. Probably useless.
I run Linux on my laptop and this microscope is automatically recognized as a generic webcam. Don't need to worry about a driver. I use the "Cheese" program to capture images. Works fine, no problems.
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Valued Member
United States
129 Posts |
Three more pictures taken with my nifty $16 digital microscope. Both coins dramatic doubled dies from 2010. The one is a 2 Rupees coin from India, the other a 2 Pound UK coin. I believe someone else posted the 2 Pound coin on the foreign error forum a few years ago, but I acquired another example from ebay. The orange bar on one of the pics is 100 microns (0.1 mm) wide. This gives a crude measurement of spread.    |
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
I suggest you put a filter on your light source. John1 |
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Valued Member
United States
129 Posts |
Being able to filter the light source would be nice, but is not possible with this cheap microscope. The light source is a ring of LEDs and there is no filter holder. Placing a filter on top of the object being photographed would just produce reflections and glare, unfortunately.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9792 Posts |
Not seeing the design of this USB scope, I can think of one way that might work to filter a set of ring LED bulbs around a lens, even ones inset up a tube scope. Cut out a small ring from a translucent plastic, (milk jug, Tupperware type container, etc.) then slide it into the tube, leaving the middle open for the lens to shoot through.
Just a shot, like I said not knowing which scope you have.
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector. See my want page: http://goccf.com/t/140440 |
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Valued Member
United States
129 Posts |
>> Cut out a small ring from a translucent plastic, (milk jug, Tupperware type container, etc.) then slide it into the tube, leaving the middle open for the lens to shoot through. << It's an interesting idea, but not something I'd do. I'll tell you why. I've had a fair amount of experience with photography, and back in the day I was even an offset cameraman in a graphic arts trade shop. The offset camera had a large chunk of optical glass for a lens, and it had a lot of light gathering capacity. It was designed to take filters, and I recall doing a fair number of filter shots. A filter would not much, proportionally, cut into the light entering the lens. This was likewise true of the film cameras I've used. An f1.8 lens is not to be sneered at. My $16 digital microscope is good enough to do the job, but only just. It has a teeny plastic lens with little light gathering capacity and marginal optical quality. A filter would likely affect that, and not in a good way.  |
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
Both of my scopes are that type. I have filters on both of mine. I used white coffee filters,made what looks like a washer. A circle with the middle cut out. You can also do what I do and turn off the on board lights and use a hand held LED flash light with a filter on that. John1 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9792 Posts |
I certainly wasn't implying to filter the lens only the harsh LED bulbs. One could still use other lighting from the side, such as Halogen, incandescent, etc. Just trying to cut back on the glare and hot spots on uncirculated coins.
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector. See my want page: http://goccf.com/t/140440 |
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Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
Thegrendel. I have seen this microscope on Amazon. I still can't decide. A few that I have seen don't magnify the entire coin. If I was to post a coin, I would like to post the entire coin, first. Then post the area or areas of concern .Is it possible to find a microscope that can do all of that? Please respond. HELP |
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
One of mine is a Celestron 44302 and it takes full coin pics up to silver dollar size. So does my $20 AmScope. John1 |
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Replies: 35 / Views: 6,081 |
Posted 01/12/2021 3:06 pm
