Photographing Gems with a Microscope

Sourcing a Microscope Photo-adaptor

Since purchasing my new (used) microscope in early January, it has taken over a month to source all the components to attach my digital SLR to the microscope. The main problem is the microscope's photo-port: it has no tube and the opening is a non-standard 27mm wide, which is just over an inch.

Trial and Error

I Googled "aluminum tube"and came up with a company, Online Metals.com, that sells tubes of various shapes, size, and materials at specific cut lengths. I purchased a 1"OD (outside diameter) and .91" ID (inside diameter).

The tube arrived with very rough ends, sharp enough to cut skin. I took my jewelry files and smoothed out the ends. It fit very well into the photo port.

For the next two weeks, I searched for an adapter that would fit the tube. Most were between the $50 to $80 range, but I finally found one for $25 from a small online surplus store, called Surplus Shed.

When I tried to fit the tube into this adaptor, the opening was too small, even though the published specs were for a 1" tube. Crap.

My next purchase was a "T" or telescope to camera adaptor suited specifically for my camera, the Sony NEX-5N. I found one for an amazing $5.50 on eBay! It arrived a week later, but it did not fit my camera. I was really bummed. I complained to the seller, and he replied that he would refund me my money if I returned the item. As postage to Hong Kong with tracking is around $25, I retorted that if he didn't refund my money plus shipping, I would report him to eBay. The threat worked. FYI, if an eBay seller makes a mistake with your order and it costs more than the item to return, insist on a full refund without returning the item. And always ask for a full refund (cost of item + original shipping).

Burned once twice shy, I found another adapter closer to home from Amazon.

Sony NEX-5N to T2 adaptor

I still needed a tube to fit into the photo port but came up with nothing. Just as I was about to give up and spend $500 on a specialized microscope adaptor, my husband found a microscope adaptor on eBay that had a .965" tube with a male T-connector. PERFECT.

Meade T2 Microscope Adaptor from eBay

Sony NEX with T2 and Microscope Adaptor

Here are the all the components fitted together with my camera. Yeah!

The camera installed into the photo-port of the Bausch and Lomb Stereozoom 7

The Meade tube was a bit wobbly inside the photo-port, so my husband wound Teflon tape around it to tighten the fit. It's just a stop-gap solution for now.

Photos of Gemstones Using Sony Nex and Bausch and Lomb Stereo Zoom 7

Here are my first photos using my new setup:

3 carat Spessartite Garnet

2 karat Oregon Sunstone with copper schiller

close up of copper schiller in oregon sunstone

Close-up of the copper schiller

30 karat Rutile Quartz

Close-up of Rutile Quartz

2 karat Tsavorite Garnet

Close-up of the Tsavorite Garnet

Focusing problems

Although the above photos are quite sharp, my attempt at a darker stone was quite poor.

5 karat Sapphire

Fingerprint inclusions in the Sapphire. Fuzzy from camera-shake

Compared to the other stones, the sapphire is quite dark and the exposure time was very long (2 seconds). I attribute the camera shake to the fans running my computer, the cold light source, and my external hard drive, which are in close proximity to the microscope. I will need to relocate the microscope away from all these devices and to a rock-steady surface.