Digital Microscopes, Computer Microscopes and Cameras for Microscopy

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Digital Microscopes & Cameras

A digital microscope is any type of microscope that comes equipped with a camera, digital and analog outputs, and software to view and process images on a computer. Often these are trinocular microscopes with binocular optics and a third optical port for attaching the camera.

Many microscope manufacturers today offer complete microscopy imaging solutions that consist of a digital camera, camera adapter, and image-processing software. Third-party imaging solutions are also available, as is stand-alone software for processing images. Many digital microscope systems offer a USB or Firewire digital output for connection to a computer and a composite or S-video analog output for connection to a TV or analog recorder.

Microscope camera systems fall under three different categories:

Consumer digital cameras. Popular cameras in this category include the Nikon Coolpix and Sony Cybershot with adapters.

CCD cameras. CCD cameras dedicated to microscopy include the Sony iCY-SHOT, Scion CFW, PixeLink and Moticam camera systems.

Video cameras. Video cameras dedicated to microscopy include the Moticam and Hitachi KPD series cameras. Increasingly, CCD video cameras are used.