# CombineZP image stacker



## msscha (Jan 4, 2014)

I can really see the difference on the last pic. Very cool. My daughter loves taking pictures, too, so maybe I have an additional excuse to look into a new camera and some software!


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

If she wants to try pictures on a microscope, there are cameras designed specifically to mount on them, which might be cheaper than using a DSLR. In fact, I think you can buy a camera that IS an inspection microscope, fairly cheaply ($50, if I recall correctly, versus about $1200 for my Edmund Trinoc).

I have two Nikon DSLRs. The older one is a D70, which is an incredibly heavy camera. Microscopes have trouble staying in focus with that beast on their backs, and the camera does not allow real time focusing on its tiny screen.

The D5100 is lighter and has a better screen for this task. It is also a decent video camera, and the CombineZP software says it can use video as a source for the image stack. You could probably go a step cheaper with one of the D3000 cameras. Canon and a few other brands out there offer excellent products as well. 

With a DSLR camera, the lenses come off and you can put on the relatively cheap ($15) T-mount adapter. Then you buy tubes to fit the eyepieces of the instrument you are adapting to. My microscopes use one size tube, and my telescopes use a larger size. This software supposedly can also stack astronomy photos, something I've tried before with other stackers but with no success.


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