Through the microscope

[Dave McCormick]

Well I got a USB microscope for christmas. It can only zoom x400, and I have been testing it. It can record video, but the video is a bit laggy while recording, but the output is quite good. The quality is not very sharp, but good enough. There is also a way of recording the size of an area of what you zoomed in on, so you get exact measurements.

I had some dead butterflies I got from a butterfly farm last year and decided to run a test as well as a white shouldered house moth I caught and released afterwards. Here are the results:

Giant Owl Butterfly

This is area on the wing that I zoomed in on (red square):

Owl Butterfly

Here is result:

Owl Butterfly Wing Scales

Here is a close up of an empty pupae of Large White that I kept from this year when mine I was rearing hached:

Large White Pupae Empty, (Close up)

White-Shouldered House Moth Mouth:

WSHM Head

And finally, White-Shouldered House Moth wing scales:

WSHM (Wings folded area)

I have about 60 december moth eggs and I am going to use this to record them hatching in about March when they are ready to hatch.

[Markulous]

Fascinating stuff and not half bad results - look forward to further microscopic events!

[Padfield]

400x is quite enough for most purposes and will open a whole new world to you. I've been into microscopy since I was a child and still use my microscope regularly, but unlike you, when I want to take picture I have to point my camera down the eyepiece! Now I think of it, I've still got all the slides I made in my childhood. I must take them back to CH and get some photos of them. Thanks for the reminder, Dave!!

Look forward to seeing more of yours in due course.

Guy

[Dave McCormick]

Well here is two more. Both of the proboscis of a Narrow-Green Banded Swallowtail. (Since this microscope does not have anywhere to place your subject, may need to get something to get the best out of what I am viewing as it uses LEDs to change the brightness of the subject.

Proboscis close

Close up of the proboscis:

Proboscis x400 Magnification

All I need to do now is get some blank slides

but unlike you, when I want to take picture I have to point my camera down the eyepiece

Yeah, that was me for ages, I had two microscopes in past, one that used a tv screen to view subjects and other was just a normal one that zoomed about 300-400 or so. If you ever do get some photos of your subjects Guy, be nice to see some.

[Lee Hurrell]

Good work Dave, that's next year's 'Up Close and Personal' sewn up then!

Cheers

Lee

[Dave McCormick]

Good work Dave, that's next year's 'Up Close and Personal' sewn up then!

Cheers

Lee

Well I could do that, but wouldn't it be cheating?