I've recently joined hoping to get some help sorting out my "collection". Having had neither the money nor the knowledge, I've accumulated stones using the packrat method of acquisition. I'm older and more knowledgeable now, but still a sucker for a shiny gem. Since my stones are not great for the most part, they are a great source of flaws and inclusions, much to my delight. There is also a fair representation of synthetic stones which can be the devil to figure out. This is where I need help. For example, this is a pretty pink spinel, allegedly from Mogok, which is suspiciously clear except for a small crack and these 2 crystals. Does this ring a bell for anyone? Sorry about the quality of the photos, I just got a new microscope and camera and I'm not very skilled using them yet. Thanks!
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Those types of crystals in the second photo (the two joined ones) are a fairly common sight in natural spinel and sapphire. I usually call them apatite for simplicity's sake. What type of microscope are you using?
My microscope is a Motic GM 171. It's blown me away by the quality and depth of the viewing. I had a little binocular microscope from ages ago that had cost me about 250 canadian. The improvement is immeasurable.
It's also huge with a tremendous field of view.
If I had had my druthers I would have looked for a higher end second hand microscope but not much here in Canada and bringing in an ebay or other second hand microscope from US or UK is expensive with often very little recourse. Parts, accessories and service becomes difficult. Bringing stuff in right now is really slow and annoying with everything closed or slow.
I also got a camera from Motic, 3 megapixel 1/2 inch cmos chip. There is a steeper learning curve for it and the images I've managed to get have been highly forgettable. Since it comes well recommended I expect it's user error rather than equipment failing.
My microscope is a Motic GM 171. It's blown me away by the quality and depth of the viewing. I had a little binocular microscope from ages ago that had cost me about 250 canadian. The improvement is immeasurable.
It's also huge with a tremendous field of view.
If I had had my druthers I would have looked for a higher end second hand microscope but not much here in Canada and bringing in an ebay or other second hand microscope from US or UK is expensive with often very little recourse. Parts, accessories and service becomes difficult. Bringing stuff in right now is really slow and annoying with everything closed or slow.
I also got a camera from Motic, 3 megapixel 1/2 inch cmos chip. There is a steeper learning curve for it and the images I've managed to get have been highly forgettable. Since it comes well recommended I expect it's user error rather than equipment failing.
There's nothing wrong with using a Motic--they have a very solid reputation as an affordable-but-professional option. And if you ever want to replace the head later the base has a standard 76mm holder so you have a ton of options.
I think that is most people's first reaction when going from a compound microscope or a low-end stereo to a nice stereo--the erect image, high depth of field, long working distance, wide field of view and true 3D view come together to make a really amazing view. It can be addictive!
I will say, I've had a lot more luck using dslrs for gem/mineral photography than dedicated microscope cameras, though I have only tried three microscope cameras and not for all that long. Great-looking pictures do get taken on microscope cameras but they're typically optimized for things other than taking great-looking pictures. DSLRs can be harder to hook up to your microscope, though, depending on the system. I am not sure if Motic has a dedicated solution for that.
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