Turn Your Smartphone into a $10 "Microscope"

I just got this e-mail about a way to use a smart phone for macro photography, from Sam Droege, a  bee and dragonfly expert with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which shares land with the Beltsville (Maryland) Agricultural Research Center (BARC).  I worked at BARC as a science writer until I retired in 2011.   Sam was also on the Christmas Bird Counts I participated in there.

It excites me because I’ve been wondering lately if there are inexpensive ways that middle school students could take macro shots of spiders, moths, and other bugs with their smart phones.  

For a while now,  I've had a digital microscope on my Amazon wish list  for my own possible use (SVP DM540(with 16GB) 2.7" LCD Digital Mobile Microscope/Magnifier with Build-in Camera
by SVP

This sells for anywhere from $68.24 to $99 from Amazon.    Now that I looked at this SVP site tonight, I see they have a lot of tempting gadgets like this.  I had gotten interested in digital magnifiers after reading about them somewhere, probably a National Wildlife Federation or Ohio Wildlife magazine.

I was also looking at a $7.99 tripod for cell and smart phones at Staples the other day, with an eye towards bug photography.

But, back to Sam's e-mail to the yahoo group I belong to:

  VA-MD-DE-Bugs] smart phone/field microscope/camera - $10.00 U.S. 

Droege, Sam 

To Bee United,VA-MD-DE-Bugs@yahoogroups.com

  Nov 18 at 8:27 AM 

All:

Someone recently showed me this very inexpensive platform for taking at least reasonable macro pictures with your smart phone

http://petapixel.com/2013/10/19/turn-smartphone-microscope-macro-photography-rig-10/

 

I have seen a number of similar ones, but this strikes me as particularly useful as it is:

1.  Inexpensive.

2.  Creates a stable platform for cell phone and specimen

3.  Allows focusing

4.  Would allow even the potential for primitive focus stacking (see free stacking software called combine-z)

5.  Would work well in combination with CO2 or chilled specimens

6.  Requires very low power to operate

7.  Pieces are readily available

8.  In addition to taking pictures it, in reality, would act as a microscope for identification or work on tagging/marking individuals

9.  Creates entry level possibilities for students and amateurs with no microscope

sam

Sam Droege  sdroege@usgs.gov                    

w  301-497-5840  h  301-390-7759  fax 301-497-5624

USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

BARC-EAST, BLDG 308, RM 124 10300 Balt. Ave., Beltsville, MD  20705

Http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov

Links:

 DIY Smart Phone-Microscope-Macro Photography Rig

Article on photo rig for taking snowflake images

Snowflake Guy's Blog

Sony Palmsized camcorder with 60X Optical Zoom  (When I worked for USDA, we used to mail these to scientists to record videos for our website.  An entomologist used one to send us a video of insects and he liked it, but now says it takes bad stills and says there are probably better models now.  One Amazon reviewer says he'll go with Panasonic or Canon handycams next time.)

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