There was some talk about this microscope about two years ago. It prompted
me to buy one. In my opinion it is not a viable alternative to high quality
digital macro cameras; I was quite disappointed. It might be good for
casual observation but the image is too poor for anything else.




At 04:27 PM 9/3/2002 +0200, you wrote:
>To all shells maniacs,
>I know that the good tool for micro digital picture exist. It is an Intel
>product. It is disign for children as a didactic toy and I think it is what
>we need too, to take numeric pics.You can find some info about it on the
>Intel site (http://www.intel.com) it is named : "QX3 digital microscope". I
>never tried this tool becose I did not found it in France. So if somebody
>catch any info about it, and where and how I can by this tool, I am
>interested.
>
>Roger Le Béon from the "Côte d'Azur".
>[log in to unmask]
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Patty Jansen" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 12:50 AM
>Subject: digital pictures of microshells
>
>
> > Yes John (and others),
> >
> > This can be a magnificent way of taking pictures of microshells
> >
> > Since discovering this, about two months back, I have taken literally
> > hundreds of pictures of microshells, some of which will be published in
>the
> > upcoming issue of Australasian Shell News.
> >
> > The method is very simple. Because digital cameras, even the more
>expensive
> > models, come with very limited (pathetic?) optics, you cheat and use the
> > optics of the microscope instead. Because the digital camera has such a
> > narrow lens, you can actually hold it right up to the eyepiece of the
> > microscope. Then you wriggle around until you get a good view of the shell
> > on the screen and simply press the button. Of course you have to turn the
> > flash off, and also the more light you can get on your subject the better.
> > I actually make sure the shell is in full unfiltered sunlight, and place a
> > piece of white paper to reflect the light back onto the 'shadow' side. It
> > also helps to turn off the automatic light meter to allow you to take
> > pictures at the maximum  f-stop for better depth-of-field. I use the
> > automatic focusing feature without any problems. Just make sure the
> > microscope is in focus (i.e., the eyepiece that you are actually going to
> > take the picture through). For the background, I made a piece of black
> > 'blue-tack' by mixing some ink with it. It still looks rather tacky, but
> > because it is all dark and contrasts with the shell, it is easily replaced
> > by a background colour of your choice in a graphics editing package. I
> > found this much easier than trying to achieve a completely black
>background
> > in the photograph by trying to balance a 2mm shell on top of a pin, in the
> > right position without any of the pin showing (AARGHHH, I don't have
> > patience for that!)
> >
> > regards
> >
> > Patty
> >
> >
> > Dr. Patty Jansen
> >
> > Bookshop: http://www.booksofnature.com
> > Publishing and info site: http://www.capricornica.com
> >
> > Books of Nature
> > P.O. Box 345
> > Lindfield NSW 2070
> > Australia
> >
> > phone/fax: 02 9415 8098 international: +61 2 9415 8098
> >
> > E-mail: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]