EEVBlog #1143 - Eakins Microscope Barlow Lenses

[EEVblog]

Check out the amazing increased working distance on the Eakins microscope using a barlow lens to get a larger working area.

Bundle: http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/b7ycSav2
Microscope: http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/eN3Ec5a
Stand: http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bHSXalzm
C Mount Lens Adapters: http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/cMimkzYc
Barlow Lenses: http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bmS9nWbe

[Brumby]

Aside from that erroneous focus hunting, you now have my attention!

For the cost, the image quality, working distance and auto focus capabilities have put this unit at the top of my list.  The limited field of view is a little bit of a concern, but for the most part I don't see it as a big factor in my decision (although I do realise that there will probably be a couple of times when I will grizzle about it).

Do let us know about any progress you have with regards to the capture problem.  Understanding this is perhaps the single most concerning issue for me.  I would hate to get the unit only to find I couldn't integrate it with other equipment and workflows.

[BravoV]

Damn you Dave, now its in my shopping list. 

[smbaker]

I purchased the 0.35X barlow with mine. The working distance is truly huge, more than I need, and seemed to cause some focusing issues. I'm thinking an 0.5X barlow might have been sufficient. I'm excited to watch Dave's video, hopefully he tried both the 0.35X and the 0.5X.

[cdev]

Really good DOF

[Brumby]

I purchased the 0.35X barlow with mine. The working distance is truly huge, more than I need, and seemed to cause some focusing issues. I'm thinking an 0.5X barlow might have been sufficient. I'm excited to watch Dave's video, hopefully he tried both the 0.35X and the 0.5X.

Dave - can you comment on this, please?

[johnlsenchak]

I  didn't   find this video ,  very interesting 

[German_EE]

That's OK, maybe your eyesight is good enough to solder 0201 parts without magnification. The rest of us need kit like this and we're grateful that Dave gas found a microscope system that is so cheap.

[dav888]

Anyone knows if it's possible to run these cameras standalone?
Capturing to SD-card (without the need for a computer)!?

[rrinker]

That's OK, maybe your eyesight is good enough to solder 0201 parts without magnification. The rest of us need kit like this and we're grateful that Dave gas found a microscope system that is so cheap.

 I think even WITH this microscope I'd have problems seeing 0201. However, this may make it possible for me to work with the larger sizes. I already need a magnifier to work with through hole. I definitely have one of these on my future purchase list - it will also come in handy for my other hobby.

[tchicago]

got my 0.5 lense, which gives a lot of room.

I think I noticed that the magnification factor gets larger with the lense, which probably makes sense from the optical geometry standpoint.

Regarding the autofocus - I disabled it on Eakins the first 15 minutes after playing with it, even without the Barlow lense. It kept focusing on the wrong things, so I switched to manual focus using those large black knobs.

One interesting thing I noticed is that this scope does not help much in reading the laser-etched chip markings. I think it is a combination of the is too much light reflected off the black surface of the chip, which becomes a bit glossy at this magnification. And another issue is that the etched area does not diffuse much light when looked at 90 angle.

[aneng]

Bit of a necro-bump but the Aliexpress links no longer work.  Does anyone have updated ones that link to the specific kit mentioned in the first post please ?

[cdev]

Aside from that erroneous focus hunting, you now have my attention!

For the cost, the image quality, working distance and auto focus capabilities have put this unit at the top of my list.  The limited field of view is a little bit of a concern, but for the most part I don't see it as a big factor in my decision (although I do realise that there will probably be a couple of times when I will grizzle about it).

Do let us know about any progress you have with regards to the capture problem.  Understanding this is perhaps the single most concerning issue for me.  I would hate to get the unit only to find I couldn't integrate it with other equipment and workflows.

Capturing HDMI?

I found a cheap no-name device a few months ago that does a really good job of capturing the full rIt seems to be made by esolution HDMI from my Canon digital camera and digitizing it to USB2 at a reasonable 30fps. . The output is very good. It cost around $20.Its a black metal dongle that just says HDMI video capture on it.  its enumerating as a uvc video device made by MACROSILICON

usb 1-3.4.3: Manufacturer: MACROSILICON
 hid-generic 0003:534D:2109.002E: hiddev0,hidraw4: USB HID v1.10 Device [MACROSILICON] on usb-0000:00:12.2-3.4.3/input4
 media: Linux media interface: v0.10
 videodev: Linux video capture interface: v2.00

 uvcvideo: Found UVC 1.00 device <unnamed> (534d:2109)
usbcore: registered new interface driver uvcvideo
USB Video Class driver (1.1.1)

[Andrey_Ak]

Hello!

How did you manage to achieve such a good image brightness without backlight? 
I bought the same 180x lens and a barlow 0.35x lens, but my camera is on a Sony IMX334 sensor.
I can't get good brightness even with the backlight.

https://aliexpress.ru/item/1005004649417325.html

My camera is cheaper, without autofocus, but isn't the Sony IMX334 sensor better than the Sony IMX290?



If I turn off the spot light, the camera will be dark at all. Although the office has very good lighting.

[thm_w]

He has super bright office and camera lighting.
Your ring light is so far away its not going to give much light, you might want to bring the camera closer to the desk.

I assume you already played with the camera image settings?

[Andrey_Ak]

So in Dave's video, I didn't see any additional lighting near the microscope lens at all. And yet it has a very vivid image. In addition to the ring lamp, I have two more spotlights aimed at the focus point of the lens.  The ring lamp is useless, it only gives illumination and reflection of light from the board. And I also have very bright office lighting.

Yes, I've looked at all the camera settings.

[thm_w]

And I also have very bright office lighting.

Unless you have a lux reading, we don't know what that means. From the photo it looks like household lighting, not office lighting.
I don't know what Daves was maybe over 1,400 lux.