# camera to fit a microscope **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 8, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camera-to-fit-a-microscope/813825 "2018-05-08T20:11:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camera-to-fit-a-microscope/813825/1 "2018-05-08T20:11:59Z")
To further my quest to display single cell pond critters on my TV screen, I’m considering a camera mounted on my microscope. This is different than my recent thread on advice on digital microscopes. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=854135](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=854135) Can I get some thoughts on a suitable set up to put a camera on my eyepiece on my microscope and have it displayed on my TV? I assume cameras now a days hook directly into a TV and display what they see…do they? If I can get a camera to hook to my TV, then I would like to have it image and show video of what’s under my microscope. Of course, advice on that set up too would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camera-to-fit-a-microscope/813825/2 "2018-05-08T20:17:43Z")
crude!..GQ or IMHO…? I thought I put it in IMHO, but here it is in GQ…maybe it fits either place. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camera-to-fit-a-microscope/813825/3 "2018-05-08T20:23:40Z")
**Moderator Action** > [@Sigene](#): > > crude!..GQ or IMHO…? I thought I put it in IMHO, but here it is in GQ…maybe it fits either place. IMHO will allow others to give their opinions and experiences with different cameras, so that will probably be more helpful. And you asked for advice. I’ll move this to IMHO for you. Moving thread from GQ to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camera-to-fit-a-microscope/813825/4 "2018-05-08T20:28:41Z")
You can buy adapters to connect a digital SLR to certain microscopes. For example, here are some adapters to connect Canon SLRs. [Shop by Category | eBay](http://www.ebay.com/bhp/canon-microscope-adapter). There are various adapters for different SLRs and different microscopes. Most digital SLRs will let you output the video image directly to your TV with the appropriate HDMI cable. I suspect that you may be disappointed in the resulting image but I don’t have direct experience. I used to sell equipment to people doing microphotography on film. They generally wanted the finest grain film they could use on the subject to get good detail. I would assume today you would need good resolution to crop images and enlarge your images as needed while preserving adequate detail. The output to the TV will be no better than your TV can display, which is probably only 1080i or 4K. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/camera-to-fit-a-microscope/813825/5 "2018-05-08T20:48:26Z")
Look for a “Digital Eyepiece.” You need make sure the barrel diameter is the same, but microscopes are pretty standard. I have one for my Stereozoom, and it works really well - I can look through one eye to find what I want to capture, and then grab and image over USB from the eyepiece.