Video With Discovery Scope Camera Adapter

Imagine being face-to-face with a grasshopper -- watching it eat one of your garden plants with a hundred glints in its compound eye as its mandibles munch the jucy morsel. Imagine watching a water tiger capture a tadpole with its piercing jaws. Now, stop imagining and start videotaping! With Discoveryscope Camera Adapter you can easily set up to videotape the wonders of small life in a kitchen, living room ... or classroom.

Many modern camcorders have a 'macro' or 'close focus' setting. Most of these will focus in the range suitable to the Discovery Scope Camera Adapter. Use the standard-thread mounting screw of the Adapter to attach it to of one of these camcorders and you are ready to apply Discovery Scope's features to the world of video imaging. Set the camera lens to "Macro" or "Close-Focus", and use the Discovery Scope focusing tube to move your subject into focus. With one Sony camcorder we use, we find the camera will focus with the subject about 2.5-6 cm. from the lens in 'macro' mode. The field of view is about 4 cm. across. This gives us great views of pond samples, spiders, flowers, etc. When using the viewing chambers, it is important to keep the front surface of the chamber at right angles to the line of view. This minimizes reflections back into the camera.

For higher magnifications using a camcorder we use a couple of options:
Close-up lenses: We use screw-on close-up lenses in +1, +2, and +4 diopter magnifications in the manner similar to the way they are used with 35mm photography. This doesn't give ideal magnifications with all camcorder lens systems, so you will have to experiment by holding the closeup lenses in front of the camcorder lens and messing with the focus and focal length. (Try both automatic focus and manual focus, and change the focal length of the lens from W to T). With some camcorders that do not focus especially close, this is the only way to magnify the subject sufficiently for Discovery Scope Camera Adapter use.You may have to buy a set of close-up lenses with the same thread size as your camcorder lens, or you might purchase a step-up adapter with two sets of threads - one used to screw the adapter on to the camcorder lens, and the other thread to accept closeup lenses from your 35mm camera. (Take your camcorder and close-up lenses to a camera dealer, who should be able to find the appropriate threaded step-up adapter). Alternatively, you can do what we do -- carefully tape the close-up lens on to the camcorder lens, keeping the tape to the edges.
Reverse a lense!: Try this trick for creating higher magnification macro-imaging with your camcorder - it works extremely well with most of the cameras we have tried. Before purchasing any hardware, try this: 1) remove your normal (50mm) lens from your 35mm camera, and set the aperture to wide open; 2) with your hand or tape, hold the still camera lens in reverse position, in front of your camcorder lens; 3) set the camcorder lens to maximum telephoto; and 4) while viewing through the camcorder, bring the whole system up close to an object such as the page of a book. Typically, this system will focus about 3-7 cm. away from the outer lens element (the back element of your 50mm still camera lens) and the field of view will be about .5 to 2 cm. across. This is ideal for macro imaging with Discovery Scope Camera Adapter!! If this works, you may wish to purchase a step-up adapter, a threaded adapter ring that will screw on to the end of your camcorder lens and allow you to screw a reversed lens on to the camcorder.Lens reverse rings can be purchased at many camera dealers. You may also need a step-up adapter in the system.Take your lens and camcorder to the dealer when ordering.

Several video camera manufacturers make small video cameras (CCD - charge couple device) for surveillance and similar applications. (Link to surveillance camera information at Sony, Panasonic, JVC, etc.). These CCD cameras are not camcorders, since they do not carry a videotape recording system, but they do make excellent imaging systems for macro-level video photography (or, macro-videography, as it is also called).You can use any surveillance camera, whether black and white or color, but we strongly recommend a reasonable-quality color camera for best results (price range, about $300-$1200). These cameras accept a threaded device called a C-mount adapter. You can buy a C-mount adapter suitable to the brand of 35mm camera you use. This C-mount adapter screws into the video camera and accepts bayonet-mount lenses. In our work, we use C-mount adapters for both Nikon and Olympus, because we like to use lenses of both types. We use the same lens magnification systems that we use for 35mm still photography, and we get excellent results. The Camera Adapter focus tube allows us to quickly move the subject into clear focus while we observe on a television monitor.

Hook up to Monitor Directly or Through VCR
You will need to have the video signal from the camera in to the television/monitor. You can do this directly with a patch cord, or you can use two patch cords, one from the camera to a VCR (input), and the second from the VCR (output) into the television/monitor.With this latter setup, you can videotape any scenes you are viewing by simply starting up the VCR on "record".

Using Video In Teaching
A class set of Discovery Scopes and a central video unit make a great teaching set up, allowing you to project student discoveries to the class for discussion. With a large monitor, the entire class can view the subject. You can videotape the behavior of living organisms to be studied later from the tape. Frame by frame analysis is possible using 4 or 5 head VCRs. You can also have students include a video presentation as part of their course work or special projects. For other ideas on teaching with Discovery Scope, check out our Activity Corner.

Other uses for the CCD Camera
The purchase of a CCD surveillance camera (also called a CCTV for closed-circuit television) is easily rationalized with successful Discovery Scope Adapter applications, but you will also find it useful for many other applications in a classroom. We attach the camera to a copy stand in order to show dissections, book plates, drawings, and demonstrations to the entire class. We place a microscope on the same copy stand and position the CCD video camera above the microscope optical system. In this way, we can project live images of microlife to a classroom audience. (Later on, we'll be posting information on inexpensive and simple ways to set up for micro-videography, so check back to this site. If you are interested in microphotography and microvideography you'll probably also want to check out the British Amateur Microscopists Society by linking to Micscape Magazine.