Say Cheese! Taking Photos of a Microscope Sample

The trinocular microscope is specially built to allow a camera to look into a third eyepiece so that pictures can be taken of the sample on the microscope slide. Some microscopes can even be attached to a monitor via a ccd camera so that people can view a live video of the sample on the screen. The science of taking pictures of a microscope slide specimen is called photomicrography and it is said to have been developed by Canadian inventor Reginald Aubrey Fessenden.

Stereo microscopes, stereoscopes, as they are sometimes called, have two eyepieces for both eyes, and each ocular tube has a corresponding objective looking at the specimen. The compound light microscope has only one objective to focus on the microscope slide and one or two eyepieces. Some models have two eyepieces (binocular microscopes) so that the image can be viewed with both eyes, but the important thing to remember is the number of objective lenses simultaneously used (two for stereoscope, one for compound). The trinocular microscope has another ocular above the eyepieces where a camera can be affixed. This third eye, or ocular port, is what puts the “tri” in trinocular. Remember that a monocular microscope has only one eyetube and a binocular microscope has two eyetubes.

A photomicrograph prepared using a compound light microscope or a stereoscope is called a light micrograph. And studying the samples from the pictures taken of them from the trinocular microscope lens is called photomicroscopy. Taking pictures of the samples on the microscope slide is especially important in the field of forensic science. One example of how photomicrography is helpful to forensics is the way trace evidence can be recorded by taking a photo of the evidence while looking at it under the trinocular microscope. Biologists also rely on photomicrography to take pictures of the cells, proteins or microorganism that they are studying.

One could also take pictures of the sample on your slide without having to buy a trinocular microscope, too. A student or child can use an ordinary box camera and a tight sleeve to connect the lens of the camera to the ocular and prevent additional light from interfering with the view of the camera.

So it would still be possible to make a record of the sample being viewed under the microscope that has no trinocular port. This would be an easy photomicrography activity that students and children can do with the help of an adult. Here’s what you need to do: With the help of an adult, build a small box made of wood that is roughly six inches wide and nine inches long. In the center of one end, cut out a hole that is only big enough for the ocular of your compound microscope to fit in. This hole should be covered or lined with felt so as not to scratch your eyepiece and also to prevent stray light from coming in. On the other end, cut out a small square that measures roughly three and a half inches on all sides. Line or cover this square with some felt as well. To prevent light from reflecting inside the box, paint the insides of it a dull black.

Now, you have to get out of your house or your class room and buy a piece of frosted glass from the hardware store. Make sure that the glass measures five inches on all sides. While you’re at it, get some cut film from a camera store. These should be four by five in size and would come in a light-tight container. Keep them in the container until they would be needed.

Place the object you want to look under the microscope on the microscope stage and attach the box you have made over the ocular. You can place a stack of books under the box to keep it in place. On the other end of the box, place your frosted glass so that it covers the square that you have cut out. After this, turn out all the lights in the room save that from your microscope and adjust your specimen so that you could see a contrasting image from the frosted glass. Adjust the light if you need to have more contrast between the blacks and whites. Now turn off the stage light and replace the frosted glass with a piece of cut film. There are different times of exposure for different kinds of film, so try these steps out until you find the best exposure time for what you have.

You could develop the cut film you have exposed or take them to the photo store.

With simple objects such as these, it would be easy to take pictures of the sample mounted on a microscope slide without having to buy a trinocular microscope beforehand. Try keeping records of your samples and writing down you observations with their labels.

If the student or parent has the budget, it is much preferred to purchase a new trinocular microscope that has the dedicated microphotography port to fit a camera. The student can find several types of cameras to fit this port, but the best, simpliest, and cheapest tend to be the USB microscope cameras that simply plug into your laptop computer.