In order to compare three microscope cameras,
Microscope World used the same microscope system and objective lenses to capture all images. The images below were captured using a
metallurgical microscope with a 20x, 50x and 100x objective lens. The three microscope cameras used for comparison are shown below and include:
- 1.3 mega pixel camera (Moticam 1SP with a 1/3" CMOS chip)
- 3.2 mega pixel camera (DCM3.1 with a 1/2" CMOS chip)
- 5 mega pixel camera (DMC5.1 with a 1/2.5" CMOS chip)
All images were captured using the HRM300 metallurgical microscope system.
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| 1.3mp Moticam 1SP camera, 20x objective. |
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| 3.2mp DCM3.1 camera, 20x objective. |
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| 5mp DCM5.1 camera, 20x objective. |
The clarity of the images when using the 20x objective (which is producing about 200x total magnification based on the
c-mount adapter used), do not vary greatly.
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| 1.3mp Moticam 1SP camera, 50x objective. |
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| 3.2mp DCM3.1 camera, 50x objective. |
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| 5mp DCM5.1 camera, 50x objective. |
As the magnification increases to 50x (about 500x magnification total), the image sensor size becomes more important as far as light is concerned. Notice that the 1.3mp camera starts to look a bit darker than the 3.2mp and 5mp microscope camera images.
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| 1.3mp Moticam 1SP camera, 100x objective. |
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| 3.2mp DCM3.1 camera, 100x objective. |
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| 5mp DCM5.1 camera, 100x objective. |
When using the 100x objective (about 1000x total magnification), the 1.3mp camera produces the darkest image, with less color. The details on this image are still fairly clear. However, the details on the 3.2 and 5mp camera images are a bit more crisp.
