I am just outside York and have been out for two days trying to get some newt pictures. It’s too warm and they are much too fast for me. I have seen them but they rush down a crack in the ground before I can get a picture.
Pleated Ink Caps, Little Japanese Umbrellas. Coprinus plicatilis.
Here it is printing.
The finished spore print.
The top surface at 250x.
The gills and spores at 250x.
Spores at 500x. the images look satisfactory to me. Depth of field is fine and the four little LED lights are variable in intensity and do a more than adequate job. I would like to compare these with a £400.00p model. They are only a webcam with a lens in front. If you click and Ctrl+ you will see the limitations.
Here it is. I ordered it from Amazon as a GooseWhite Hooke 5Mpx 10x-500x Pro USB camera. The stand was included so is a tiny bit of ruler as if you calibrate it every time you focus you can measure straight lines point to point, arcs and angles. I haven’t read the 24 pages of instructions but it does lots of other things. It will record up to 11hs of video. I don’t think it will timelapse but with eleven hours to play with I can remove frames to suit. I had a bit of trouble loading the software but as long as your reader will accept 2” CDs then it works fine if you plug the microscope in first. The software is available to download if your CD drive says no. The image size is 2592px x 1944px at 300px/in so impressive. Image quality seems to fall off fast at the edges but that may be my fault. I suspect that at 50x – 100x it may be better.
I’m happy with it, a good buy at £83.00p delivered. It seems very well made. A mixture of metal and quality plastic. USB microscopes start at about an eighth the price of this one but I couldn’t find any good sample images from the cheaper ones.
I’ll try to find something interesting to look at. I did have a frog yesterday, I carried it back to the van from the ditch it lives in and popped it on a bit of front surfaced mirror for some close ups. The kettle boiled and whilst I was making tea it hopped off. Took me two hours to find it, I returned it to it’s ditch. I’d lost interest by then and my tea had gone cold.
Have fun.
Sorry to laugh at your misfortunes, Adrian, but the image of the frog in your mini-van hopping off as you made your tea tickled my funny bone. Then, there's the image to you trying to it - two-for-one! What was Alf and Co. doing while that was going on, eh? I'm glad the newts were AWOL, as we got those magical images of the fungi and the very beautiful spore printings in their place. Thanks! McGregor
ReplyDeleteMcGregor, the frog seemed quite happy. It may have thought I was French and about to cook it. It had got in a bag that holds the long lens.
DeleteThe newts are a fair way away. I seem to remember they shed their tails like lizards so don't want to carry one for half an hour. It is cooling down for the weekend so I should be able to get some pictures.
One dog is forever catching mice, baby rabbits and other mammals. She brings them home unharmed And lets them go. The other dog is frightened of them and frogs so sits on the dashboard whining till I've found them. Chaos it is here at times.
The Pleated Ink Cap is a very delicate and beautiful fungus
You go to great of trouble to give great photos, long may it last.
ReplyDeletepeter
Peter, I just love gadgets. I have wanted a microscope for years. This seems acceptable. I'll find out when the bloggers with posh Olympus and Zeiss gear post pictures.
DeleteThe Supereyes is a great little spy camera. :) It does create some great close-ups.
ReplyDeleteMersad
Mersad Donko Photography
Mersad, I'll play with it but so far it is much better than I expected. For some reason although it is USB it doesn't work in real time. There is a second delay. I wonder if it is just to protect similar products that are used for keyhole surgery and micro soldering which are priced in the thousands of pounds.
DeleteAh, I love the mushrooms and the gadgets, brilliant photos.
ReplyDeleteBob, the mushroom is hallucinogenic but very pretty in a kaleidoscopic way. The new toy works well.
DeleteI used to catch newts with a worm on a piece of string when I was a child. No harm came to the news ts, and it was great fun. I love newts.
ReplyDeleteFrances, I am like a born again Greenpeace. I was going to drag one out with a stick but the wee imp on my shoulder whispered no.
DeleteI can see you didn't give a thought to the poor worm.
you care more for the detail than I do ;O)
ReplyDeleteR. Mac, I am a landscape snapper by preference but do love seeing what my eye can't.
DeleteWe have an expression. ' The devil is in the detail.' Nonsense to me. I just love macro and micro.
Newts! - always make me think of Gussie Fink-Nottle (P.G. Wodehouse character)... I'm not sure I've ever seen any IRL. No doubt mushrooms are easier to catch!
ReplyDeleteMonica, much easier.
DeleteImpressive new toy. Again, I like the spore print. What do you plan to take with the new toy
ReplyDeleteDouglas, insects. I want to do some tie lapse of butterfly eggs hatching but that will have to wait for next year.
DeleteLooks like an interesting new toy Adrian, can't wait to see what 'mischief' you're going to get up to with it?...[;o)
ReplyDeleteTrevor, I will think of something silly. It may even be entertaining.
DeleteI can see you having fun with your Supereyes.
ReplyDeleteThe only time I've had newts stay still close up has been at night.
John, I am impressed with it so far.
DeleteI can get these newts as I did last year. They are fast though.
More new toys!! what will it be next! Anyway, glad you photographed the fungi. brilliant shots.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I don't know what will be next. Fungi are easy to shoot but the ground was very wet and so was I when I'd finished.
DeleteMost of us never think about spores from the mushroom. You've shown the spores in detail. I know how small they are so nice one!
ReplyDeleteRed, I think they would be better back lit next time it rains I'll make a small LED lightbox. I have plenty of LEDs. Different colours as well.
DeleteGlad you are happy with your new toy. No doubt a lot of us will enjoy what you do with it. I enjoyed the tale of the escapee frog.
ReplyDeletePauline, I'll do frogs outside in future.
DeleteIt's a grand little toy.
It really is a grand little toy as you say. A kindred gadget man. We were born in the right age.
ReplyDeleteGraham, they are good for what they are. I am still trying to master it. I've been making a small LED lightbox for it out of a toilet roll, a bit of white supermarket bag and sticky backed plastic. That shows what age I was born in.
DeleteWhat marvels these mushrooms.
ReplyDeleteMaria, I like them.
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