http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Cheap-scope-components-tp7579847p7579863.html
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> A DSLR and some L-series glass might also do the trick, at somewhat more
> cost than a coolpix, but probably still less than a specialised scientific
> offering. Canon and Nikon both have SDKs if you want to control from the
> computer, although they are pretty messy and would incur a fair bit of pain
> before you got anything working (I had a look at the canon SDK last year,
> and concluded it'd be a ~ 2 week job to get it working nicely). That said,
> the remote control software that they come with isn't half bad, and we used
> one of them extensively as a sighting camera on the side port of one of our
> microscopes. If only they offered monochrome sensors ..., then again with
> 18+ Mpixels you might be able to get away with just binning. Are you
> looking to do fluorescence, or just brightfield/transmitted? The commercial
> DSLRs also tend to have IR blocking filters which make them pretty useless
> in the far red, although there are a couple of outfits which sell modified
> cameras where they've removed the filter. There are also a few tales on
> the web of people removing the bayer mask from a DSLR to get a monochrome
> chip, but you unfortunately have to remove the microlenses first to get
> there. If you have a good light budget, and are prepared to sacrifice one
> camera to experience it might just work.
>
> Best wishes,
> David
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Guy Cox <
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> To:
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> Sent: Sunday, 3 March 2013 8:51 PM
> Subject: Re: Cheap scope components
>
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> Sounds to me like you need a camera rather than a microscope. I recently
> bought a Nikon Coolpix L310 which when set on macro will easily get down to
> 2x2 cm. It has a 21x zoom range and has 14 MP. Cost $149.
>
> Guy
>
>
>
> ---Original Message-----
> From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:
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> On Behalf Of Andrew York
> Sent: Monday, 4 March 2013 2:59 AM
> To:
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> Subject: Cheap scope components
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> I'm looking for some advice about buying or building my own low-mag
> brightfield microscope. I want the following capabilities:
>
> * Brightfield illumination
> * Cheap ccd or cmos camera with as many pixels as possible (>10 MP
> ideally), no eyepieces required, acquiring to a computer.
> * Large field of view, ~2x2 cm
> * Adjustable zoom would be nice, over a moderate range (maybe a factor of
> 4)
> * Resolution limited by camera pixel size rather than aberrations or
> diffraction (if possible)
> * Manual controls, no automation required in the optics
> * Room between the objective and the tube lens for a dichroic, which I
> might want to insert later, for free-space coupling of illumination beams.
>
> Is there an obvious commercial solution that is good and cheap? If not,
> any advice on where to buy the components is appreciated.
>