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So I recently bought a DSLR to microscope reduction so that I could attach my Nikon D3200 to it. However when I take the pictures with my Nikon camera there seems to be a radial blur on the photos, visible as strong light sphere radiating from the centre of the image.

I took some photos with the camera that came with the microscope, and then my DSLR, and put them side to side so that you can see the difference:

microscope and dslr side-by-side

Here are some more photos showing the same issue.

I am not using any intermediate optics between the DSLR and objective lens, my setup is:

DSLR -> adaptor ring to microscope tube -> microscope tube -> objective lens

My question is: How do I get rid of that blurry radial gradient on my photos?

Is there any optical magic lens I could buy or can I get rid of that in Photoshop or Lightroom?

The reason I want to use a DSLR is that the microscope camera has a lower resolution (2 Mpx)

What I've tried so far without any result:

  • Cleaning any optics on the microscope
  • Changing microscope lamp and putting the blue filter glass (that comes with the microscope)
  • Switching camera's: I replicated the error with a Canon DSLR.
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  • \$\begingroup\$ What kind of finish does the interior of the adapter ring tube have? Is it highly reflective? \$\endgroup\$
    – Michael C
    Commented Dec 14, 2019 at 16:15
  • \$\begingroup\$ Have you tried changing the intensity of the microscope lamp, or stopping down the lamp aperture? \$\endgroup\$
    – xiota
    Commented Dec 14, 2019 at 16:16
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    \$\begingroup\$ Is this Wikipedia article helpful - Köhler illumination? \$\endgroup\$
    – xiota
    Commented Dec 14, 2019 at 17:51
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    \$\begingroup\$ This article might br helpful. Seems an adapter with eyepiece would give better results. Tips on How to Take Better Pictures with a Microscope - Photomicrography \$\endgroup\$
    – xiota
    Commented Dec 14, 2019 at 23:50
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Jefeter_7 Great to hear that you found a solution to your problem. To help people in the future with a similar problem, could you please write an answer to your question detailing what steps you took? I see you've written some thoughts in the comments, but these are not meant for answers, you don't get any credit for them, cannot be improved by others, etc... Thank you very much in advance! \$\endgroup\$
    – Saaru Lindestøkke
    Commented Jan 7, 2020 at 12:50

1 Answer 1

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After some time I managed to find a solution, though, I do not know exactly why it works.

The microscope I am using comes with small 2Mpx camera with it, and, lens that are to be attached to the camera and fitted onto the microscope. The radial blur disappeared after I took the fixed lens from the microscope camera, and fitted it onto my DSLR, using custom 3D printed adaptor T-ring.

Graphically this is how it looks: Sketch of connecting DSLR to the microscope using dedicated lens.

After assembly: Microscope camera lens fitted on DSLR.

Stl and f3d files for 3D printing the ring are available here. Though, my case was very special, that is to say, I had to do a lot of guesswork in post-processing to make the ring work. So you may want to tweak the model for your equipment, even design it all from scratch.

A tip for you to try if you are dealing with similar problems is to try something called Köhler Illumination. Köhler Illumination is a technique for adjusting the light source and apperture of the microscope in order to achieve the best light possible. In my particular case, setting up Köhler helped a lot, though it did not solve problem completely. Tips on setting up Köhler Illumination and microphothography in general.

Note: Since I am using lens that came packed in with the microscope, the DSLR does not automatically apply the lens correction to the image. For this problem I found using Photoshop lens correction feature very useful.

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