www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

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): Here is result: Here is a close up of an empty pupae of Large White that I kept from this year when mine I was rearing hached: White-Shouldered House Moth Mouth: And finally, White-Shouldered House Moth wing scales: 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.

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

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

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.
Close up of the proboscis: 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.

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

Cheers

Lee

Lee Hurrell wrote: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?