Quote:that
ebay add microscope "1.3MP USB digital microscope 25X~200X Magnifier 8LED" did you open it and try it yet, the one direct from hongkong?
reason I ask I think I'd love that to use with my grandfathers collection HOWEVER, my Father is completely paralyzed and has a hard time seeing the small print or even stamps but they still pay helper to come do stamps with him on occasion, he has a large computer screen which he can see, I'm wondering can you just put these stamps under the microscope and see the whole thing on screen or is it a complicated detailed process that would confuse my not so tech savvy parents.
I haven't tried it yet, no - won't get around to it for a while as I leave on a trip to Korea in the morning.
But I have no reason to expect it to be considerably different than the one I used to post the photos - physically the two scopes look very similar, same general shape, same focus ring method. The second photo in the series I posted was taken with the microscope about 3" above the stamp - the
ebay item I posted contains a small stand that will hold the microscope perhaps 2" away from the stamp, so you could sit this on top of a book or a box to get the scope a bit farther away if you don't want it to zoom in quite that close.
The microscope hooks up to the computer with a USB connection. Once you have installed the driver software (a simple task), all you have to do is plug the scope into the USB port and run the viewing software. You get a real-time picture on the screen - as you move the scope over different stamps, or move different stamps under a stationary scope, the image on the screen changes. You can save movies of the image stream or snapshots of single images, if you wish. I find it easier to just hit the PrtSc button to move the entire screen on to the clipboard, and then paste that into image editing software, but that's just me.
They're very easy to use. In all, for as inexpensive as they are, they can only be recommended, if nothing else because it's fun to look at fabrics or skin or dead bugs you find behind the table. Dead bugs especially! ha ha
Ryan
Posted 08/21/2010 10:09 pm
