PAXcam
digital cameras have standard C-mount threads for easy
connection to readily available optical couplers manufactured
for specific microscopes. PAXcam has couplers that are
designed for:
- Olympus,
Nikon, Leica, Zeiss, Meiji, Unitron, AO, B&L, and
most other microscope brands.
- Upright
microscopes with a trinocular head, inverted microscopes, metallographs
with side ports, or stereozoom microscopes with phototubes.
- Microscopes
that do not have a photoport or trinocular head, or older
scopes that are no longer manufactured. C-mount couplers
can be adapted for use through the eyepiece of the microscope
to obtain high-resolution digital images.
 If
you are replacing an older C-mount video camera with the
latest PAXcam digital imaging technology, chances are you
can reuse the C-mount coupler that is currently on your
microscope. If you need to purchase one, however, MIS can
supply the appropriate digital camera adapter for your
microscope and application, as part of the PAXcam solution.
Optical
couplers for C-mount cameras may be configured with different
magnification factors. For the PAXcam, C-mount magnifications
will typically range from 0.5x to a 1.0x coupler. Magnification
through the eyepieces of the microscope is not affected,
but the coupler will magnify the image going to the camera
to different degrees. As you might expect, the higher the
magnification factor in the coupler, the smaller (more
highly magnified) is the field of view through the camera.
The 0.5x coupler for a ½” chip camera, for
instance, gives a field of view that most closely resembles
that seen through the microscope eyepieces, which is desirable
in most applications. However, if you are typically photographing
very small objects at high magnification, you may opt for
a higher magnification factor in your coupler to view the
objects in more detail or to allow more accurate measurement or image
analysis of small distances because more object-related
pixels are captured in your final image.
There
are times when a C-mount coupler can be too low in magnification
for the camera being used. In these cases, the cone of
light coming through the coupler does not fill the imaging
sensor in the camera because it is not magnified enough,
and vignetting of the image occurs (the corners are cut
off in black, or in extreme cases a your field of view
is a circle with black borders). If you are seeing vignetting
in your pictures, try switching to an optical coupler that
is a step higher in magnification.
MIS
will work with you to provide the best solution for your
imaging needs, and will outfit your system with the digital
microscope camera adapter that is right for you. |
