Indoor Another Grow!

[Olderfart]

Great idea @Olderfart . I use a led loupe along with a cheap magnifying glass. As I said before these 62 year old eyes suck at looking at trichs

I tried the loupe, and a Carson microscope. Both suffered from the difficulty of holding the damn things still enough, and the microscope added to that the difficulty that the image always moves in the opposite direction that you expect so you have to learn to navigate backwards while fighting to hold the damn thing still enough and focus at the same time. I gave up on both. Checking portions of your living plant was far, far too frustrating and difficult, and there is nothing wrong with my eyes.

What I use now is full camera gear on a macro rail. I get clear images, and I can get them from pretty much any spot I want on the living plant. This gear is way over the top for most users, but I had most of it already, so that is what I came up with.

If I were you, I would get a wifi or usb microscope that will work with my computer/phone/pad, a tripod (they can be had for next to nothing in many used junk stores) and a cheap macro rail to put on it. You can then mount the usb/wifi camera on the rail even if you have to duct tape it there. This setup would allow you to get super clear imagery of any part of your plants any time you want without fighting the problem with camera movement. Going the extra cost of the tripod and rail would add maybe another 20-30 bucks, but it would be the best money you spend on this problem. OTOH, many make these scopes work just fine without supports, so just trying the scope first before going the extra effort would work too. You can always add the tripod and rail later if you need to.

Just my 2 cents of course, but I have been through the hoop on this one. Good luck with it mate.

 

[St. Tom]

I tried the loupe, and a Carson microscope. Both suffered from the difficulty of holding the damn things still enough, and the microscope added to that the difficulty that the image always moves in the opposite direction that you expect so you have to learn to navigate backwards while fighting to hold the damn thing still enough and focus at the same time. I gave up on both. Checking portions of your living plant was far, far too frustrating and difficult, and there is nothing wrong with my eyes.

What I use now is full camera gear on a macro rail. I get clear images, and I can get them from pretty much any spot I want on the living plant. This gear is way over the top for most users, but I had most of it already, so that is what I came up with.

If I were you, I would get a wifi or usb microscope that will work with my computer/phone/pad, a tripod (they can be had for next to nothing in many used junk stores) and a cheap macro rail to put on it. You can then mount the usb/wifi camera on the rail even if you have to duct tape it there. This setup would allow you to get super clear imagery of any part of your plants any time you want without fighting the problem with camera movement. Going the extra cost of the tripod and rail would add maybe another 20-30 bucks, but it would be the best money you spend on this problem.

Just my 2 cents of course, but I have been through the hoop on this one. Good luck with it mate.

great advise as always my hands shake at times but I can manage to get shots with the USB one but a mount would be awesome so I'm just gonna look into a macro rail

 

[St. Tom]

Great idea @Olderfart . I use a led loupe along with a cheap magnifying glass. As I said before these 62-year-old eyes suck at looking at trichs

for some reason bro I thought you were way younger I'm 52 myself and I got into this hobby more later on

 

[Olderfart]

great advise as always my hands shake at times but I can manage to get shots with the USB one but a mount would be awesome so I'm just gonna look into a macro rail

Thanks for the kind words and rep @St. Tom, much appreciated on both.

 

[Olderfart]

for some reason bro I thought you were way younger I'm 52 myself and I got into this hobby more later on

I'm 73, and started this mischief when I was ~71, depending on definition of "start".

 

[Olderfart]

I need one to connect to IPhone 12. Not a bill gates here. Ha

One other thing that I forgot to mention. The way I check trichs is to take multiple images with my camera and then look at them on my laptop. This works far, far better than trying to check trichs while using the camera gear because you can carefully scan the image at whatever magnification you want. Hell, you could even count the trichs if you wanted. The other thing here is that it is the trichs on the calyxes, not the sugar leaves and fans that you need to pay attention to, and that is bloody difficult to do while fussing with the plant. Doing your serious inspection is far more easily done at your computer later.

 

[Olderfart]

great advise as always my hands shake at times but I can manage to get shots with the USB one but a mount would be awesome so I'm just gonna look into a macro rail

This sort of rail is all you need, and happens to be the one I use:

Aluminium Alloy Macro Focusing Rail Slider Macro Long Focusing Close-Up Quick Rlease Plate Slide Rail for DSLR Cameras Close-Up Shooting : Amazon.ca: Electronics

You do not need the ones with lateral or vertical movement. With most of the usb/wifi cameras I have looked at online, they do not have the standard tripod mount thread, so you will have to rig up some sort of attachment. If nothing else comes to mind, you could just tape it to the end of the rail. The key here is that the rail allows you to move it back and forth for focusing which would otherwise have to be accomplished by moving the tripod which can be done but is a serious PIA.

Good luck with it, and apologies to @Jackson for the semi-hijack.

 

[snerval]

@Olderfart Thank you for the great infos.

I have a little smartphone microscope that you clip on the phone, it's very useful but I need a way to stabilize the whole.

What do you think about this kind of gear ?
Maybe it could work :

 

[snerval]

This is the smartphone microscope I use ; very easy to clip at the right spot. Just need to find the right stand

 

[Olderfart]

This is the smartphone microscope I use ; very easy to clip at the right spot. Just need to find the right stand

View attachment 1384985

Those phone microscopes can produce some nice macro shots, but as you found out, they suffer from the same need for support as any other tool providing that kind of magnification.

The rig that you show would likely be an improvement over hand holding, but the phone will not be rigidly held in place, so maintaining focus will, I expect, be almost as much of a bitch as doing it by hand. As soon as you release your hand, the snake support will shift the camera, buggering the focus you achieved by pushing on the camera. This might still be an improvement over complete hand holding, but maybe not by a lot, and the frustration of having to hold focus position manually would not work for me. The key with a tripod and macro rail is that the tripod holds everything steady in approximate focus distance, and by easily and precisely moving the camera back and forth, the macro rail allows you to bring the image into sharp focus and lock it there before taking the picture. The magnifications involved mean that the distance to the subject needs to be really exact in order to focus a sharp image, and they also make taking the picture sensitive to camera shake. In my experience if you want consistent macro shots that don't drive you nuts trying to get right, you have to have a steady support, and a way to adjust the focus precisely. If you go with a macro rail setup, you will be surprised at the increase in ease and quality of results.

Different strokes and all that, but I would go with a tripod from the junk store and the macro rail that I provided a link to or one like it. The phone could be attached at the end of the macro rail with one of these:

Vastar Universal Smartphone Tripod Adapter Cell Phone Holder Mount Adapter, Fits iPhone, Samsung, and All Phones, Rotates Vertical and Horizontal, Adjustable Clamp : Amazon.ca: Electronics

If I were you, I would mount the phone with the lens on the bottom rather than upright. If the entire length of the phone hangs down, it will more often get in the way as you get close enough to be in focus.

OTOH, lots of peeps don't get this fussy about it, and get the job done, so going this far down the macro rabbit hole is not necessary if it ain't yer cuppa. Good luck with it mate, I hope you find a solution that works for you.