AmScope 4K 60fps HDMI Color CMOS C-mount Microscope Camera - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: rosak
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2019, 08:02:38 pm
content: Hi,is anyone using AmScope 4K 60fps HDMI Color CMOS C-mount Microscope Camera?https://www.amscope.com/2160p-60fps-hdmi-color-cmos-c-mount-microscope-camera-with-8mp-photo-capture-for-stand-alone-and-pc-imaging.htmlAny good?Does anyone know where to buy it in UK if that's possible at all?Maybe some other recommendations for 3rd eye trinocular microscope camera?I'm currently using Sony A6300 and I'm looking for something better and with autofocus. I've seen some chinese $300 camera footage and it wasn't good.Thanks in advance

author: sn4k3
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2019, 10:04:47 pm
content: I'am.1) Forget about Ethernet, less than 30fps, use usb 3.0 pen to direct record or snap2) Forget about auto exposure, it will set about 100ms, which means about 10fps, you need to set manual exposure to about 15ms to have the 60fps.3) You should not use sharpness or denoise, it will drop fps and the manual exposure is already low to capture low light.4) As manual exposure is low you need to increase brightness and set the right value between lowest and highest zoom.5) Doesn't have auto focus, but with scope it's always focus/sync with eyepiece6) you need 0.5x adaptor under amscope trinocular port7) One downside: Without a mouse, the pointer will always show on middle which is anoying, so you need connect a mouse and move pointer every startup.7) i buy mine from china and upgrade from a 1080p which i got from same seller, if you ask quality wise not worth the upgrade, you win only in resolution at a cost of FPS. The 1080p camera had better response because it's easier to process 1080p than 4K.My 1080p camera:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/fs-(eu)-microscope-1080p-60fps-hdmiusb-camera-0-35x-len-adaptor/msg2804054/#msg28040544K:https://aliexpress.com/item/4000243884703.html+https://aliexpress.com/item/32858009996.html

author: rosak
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 28, 2019, 08:55:38 am
content: Thank you very much sn4k3 for taking time to reply.I have seen your videos of 1080p camera footage and that's why I said it wasn't good.Picture on your 2 videos is blurred outside of center and overall quality is average.If you fancy, check one of my videos:https://youtu.be/EnO_6zCrIckand zoom at 7:41:https://youtu.be/EnO_6zCrIck?t=461I'm quite happy with quality but I'm really struggling to adjust it to focus equally in min and max zoom.Also, every time I turn camera on I have to set camera zoom to 1.5x to get rid of black round margin but I just realised that I need shorter adapter.I'm currently using 1x:https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AmScope-AD-C10-CX-1X-C-mount-Camera-Adapter-for-Microscopes-with-CX-Photo-port/401575251942And I just ordered 0.35x to try:http://www.aliexpress.com/item/CTV-0-35X-0-5X-1X-focus-adjustable-C-mount-adapter-Ring-M38-38mm-for-New/33035823885.htmlI just want to get the same or better quality than Louis Rossmann.Question after reading your post- are the cameras linked by you the same as the AmScope ones? They look identical but are much cheaper ($320 vs $521 and $488 vs $699).

author: sn4k3
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 28, 2019, 05:26:48 pm
content: QuoteThat's not camera fault, my trinocular port is not calibrated or have some defect, does that with every camera, is bad luck of me but i can survive with it.QuoteThe A6300 is much superior camera, so your quality is quite good. Don't expect more than you already have.QuoteIf you have 1.5x zoom to center the image then 0.35x is not what you need, it will reduce zoom in a 1 to 0.35x factor so you will end to do 1.5x+0.65x zoom. In fact i guess you need 1.50x adaptor, not aware of one.Also the lens you buy are very cheap compared to the originals, i also ask about that price diference to the seller i use. He said the cheap ones are made from plastic and some are plastic lens and he use original lens from amscope, so i trust his word and buy from him because i already know thier products and the quality is indeed good. And he support customers, he always reply and solve my problems after buy and complete the transaction (Without buyer protection). Some day i saw the 0.50x adaptor for 20€ that huge diference against 95€.QuoteThey are, amscope itself is a rebrand of a chinesse scope maker, they don't own the production. if you search for the scopes or products from amscope on aliexpress you will find them easy, all the same, with some minor diferences, some use plastic in a not critical place rather than iron to make it a little cheaper. The cameras i link before are the same without the amscope brand, no laser marking.When i get back to home i can record a video with my new 4K camera to show you the quality. Don't have one at the moment... But one the product page they have a video snap, not great to check because is a record of a record but quality match.QuoteHe don't use amscope cameras, at least sometime ago, not sure about now.

author: rosak
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 28, 2019, 06:47:25 pm
content: QuoteI think I just realised that, I just need to figure out how to properly adjust, change adapter etc.QuoteI thought that maybe a shorter one will give me bigger field of view but I was wrong..Quotewell... I thought I'm buying from AmScope, the 1x one I have actually came from California but I know that everything these days can be knock off..QuoteThat's what I thought. Microscope I have looks exactly the same as AmScope but was about $300 cheaper.QuotePlease do, I'll be very thankful. Doesn't have to be today or tomorrow, no rush at all. I'll hold on with purchase anyway, will try to get the best result with what I have now.QuoteNo, he uses some discontinued one.

author: sn4k3
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 29, 2019, 12:11:41 am
content: QuoteYour camera is a very good one, Sony Alphas are goodQuoteThats correct, if you have a black margin at 1x a wider fov will have bigger black margin. At least that work like that to me, when i used same adaptor = 0.35x with the 4k camera i had the black margin but when put the 0.5x it fixed the fov and image ocupied the whole area.QuoteWill do, on day 5 to 6 will post the video

author: rosak
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2020, 09:50:08 am
content: Thank you so much sn4k3 for that video.It looks very good for me. I wouldn't say it's much better than my A6300 (by the way, I made another video in meantimehttps://youtu.be/6uzjLK29tIM) but I'd prefer to have dedicated camera mounted on microscope and be able to use Sony as second camera.As for you comments:QuoteIt will be connected directly to monitor via HDMI only for preview, recordings will be saved to SD and then processed in Adobe Premiere Pro.QuoteLooking at my videos you can clearly see that exposure is the problem but I think I have to learn how to fix it in post processing software.QuoteThe one you linked is very expensive but I'll buy it as per your advice.QuoteThat's ridiculous, I hope they will sort it with software update, otherwise I'll have 4th mouse on my bench (PC, laptop, NVR)QuoteThat makes sense but as I said, I will not stream so I think that saving a raw video and then processing it using external software will solve these problems.Please let me know if you have any other comments/advises as if not I will order the one from your link.Again, thanks a lot.

author: sn4k3
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2020, 04:05:10 pm
content: Quote from: rosak on January 04, 2020, 09:50:08 amI see your point, using A6300 for the scope only is a waste. Give it a good use and record yourself working.Quote from: rosak on January 04, 2020, 09:50:08 amI don't think SD can handle live 4K recording at good frame rate, i can test with a good card but i have my doubts, maybe 20-30fps like ethernetGo for USB pen or HDMI capture.What i use:https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32944638370.htmlQuote from: rosak on January 04, 2020, 09:50:08 amYou can't fix exposure on software, that's the hold time sensor is exposed to light. So for example, auto-exposure was set to 100ms in my case, that mean each frame take 100ms to be captured, 1000ms / 100ms = 10 FPS = Very slow and buggy image. So i have set manual exposure to 16ms (1000 / 16 = 62.5 FPS), still have to take in account the pre-process effects and write time which will affect FPS and drop a bit, if you use Sharpness and denoise that will drop your FPS. But don't care about that, those things can be pos-fixed in software with filters.Exposure will affect the brightness of your image, more exposure more light = more brightness. With 16ms and gain set to 80% when i zoom to max you barely can see the image, that's why i try to find the best balance of brightness vs zoom with a fixed exposure.Your image is not bad, maybe it need a bit of saturation and color balance, but exposure wise seens ok.PS: When you see my image go darker and reflections off on same zoom, that's my polarized led ring and not filters or pre-processes.Quote from: rosak on January 04, 2020, 09:50:08 am2x or 3x the cost of the others, price not reduced in last 2 years, i guess quality is different from the others but can't tell for sure. I prefer buy good than regret cheap alternatives and end buy the good one and lose money. Also this is a lifetime article, with good care you don't need to replace, so one time buy.Quote from: rosak on January 04, 2020, 09:50:08 amI would not expect that, you can't upgrade firmware and i guess they won't too.The pointer is small, after a while your eye will ignore, and to say the true you will always work with eyepiece instead of LCD, also if you record video you always need a mouse. I use a Wireless mouse to fix this. But pointer will never show on recordings.The other 1080p camera had this better, pointer always hidden if nothing connected to USB.Quote from: rosak on January 04, 2020, 09:50:08 amThe inbuilt software already have some controls, video is not RAW. When i say about processing i mean is hard for the camera keep the fixed 60FPS while recording even with 14ms - 16ms. My final video after record is about 48.55 FPS. Upscaled to 60FPS on youtube. That's maybe because auto color balance, i guess if i set it to manual i would get better FPS at a cost of colors balance. If you work on same PCB with same color pattern, eg: green pcb you can set it to manual or ROI it before record.Quote from: rosak on January 04, 2020, 09:50:08 amThey have another model of this camera with WiFi, but again frame rate will suck, it's another thing to stress camera and as hardware it can fail in future. So go for the base model, less options less trouble.Ethernet/sdcard/wifi are all useless for record or live stream, 30FPS not usable when you can have 60FPS for free, they can only fit still photos, nothing more. It's a shame a GB Ethernet can't handle 4K at 60fps.The pc and inbuilt software is one of the best i have seen, just like previous model.The camera will always be in sync with scope zoom if you set eyepieces knob to neutral position (+0 focus)

author: jfiresto
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2020, 09:25:32 pm
content: Quote from: sn4k3 on January 04, 2020, 04:05:10 pmI see your point, but the useful lifetime might end when you replace the camera with a later one that has a larger image sensor.I was looking at around $600 for a good relay lens for a compact camera, but found it was much cheaper and easier to buy another camera and a mount that matched the microscope: a micro four thirds camera, an inexpensive thread adapter and an optic-less, 1X adapter.

author: sn4k3
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 11, 2020, 05:04:31 pm
content: Have done a real video recently, can check the quality better:

author: dreamcat4
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2020, 09:52:17 pm
content: Quote from: sn4k3 on January 04, 2020, 04:05:10 pmYes it depends entirely which camera you have chosen.... Perhaps there is a potential here for open source software in 2 different projects being developed currently. It might be worth following their progress:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/eakins-auto-focus-microscope-camera/https://github.com/manoharan-lab/camera-controllerQuote from: sn4k3 on January 04, 2020, 04:05:10 pmThank you for explaining this... was affected by this too. Seeing a similar behaviour with the zoom range (not full covered in focus, only partial range) and wondering why.BTW @rosak does not the auto focus feature inside your sony a6300 not compensate for that issue?