Microscopic Topic

Up until now I've got by with a binocular microscope. I've had it for a long while now, and it has no external branding - in fact it looks identical to this generic model that you can get for c£150ish.

I use it with 10x and 15x eyepieces, and the scope has an additional 2x / 4x on the objective lens. It has both incident and transmitted light sources. It is basic, but fine for me as up to now I've not got into dissecting anything that it already tiny. The only problem is not being able to get a photo using it.

To get over that I aquired a USB microscope to grab the odd image. Again it is basic, and has a low resolution image. It is a Veho VMS-001. The casing is some sort of weird 'soft-touch' plastic that over time has gone sticky and vulcanised. I've had to shroud it in cellotape. The collar for the stand also broke, so I have been using it handheld. It currently looks like this ....

So I wanted to get something new. Ideally I wanted something that I could get a photo through my binocular microscope. Whilst browsing Amazon (yes I know, the epitome of mass consumerism and capitalism) I found that there are now a range of USB cameras specifically intended to poke down the end of a microscope. Sounded ideal, and at £49.99 it seemed reasonable so I bought one. I got this one by Bresser.

It arrived next day, and with a few specimens still loitering from Thursday I had a chance to try it. Absolute wank. Couldn't get anything in focus, field of view (ironically) microscopic, unuseable. Back in box and returned to Amazon for full refund with no fuss.

I've then gone and bought this for £15 ....

I thought it would be just a newer version of what I had, just with higher mag and a higher resolution image. Well you get what you pay for, and this is also absolute shite.

So I'm back to square one. I think I'll just get one of these and try using my phone!

Ultimately I know I need to spend a fair whack on a more professional compound microscope with a proper photographic attachment, but whilst I'm working and juggling priorities it's just not worth the outlay for now.

In the meantime, using my cellotaped up crapstick, I got these images ...

This was tapped from gorse at Huncote Embankment on 13/02/2020. Using the Barkfly Recording Scheme key, it comes out as Trichopsocus brincki - which is apparently scarce, can found all year round 'in the south' and likely to be beaten from evergreens, like gorse. Sweet.