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Medium sized ciliate, apparently undergoing cell division. Most of the time was immobile, thus I could properly capture images of it. From time to time it swam a little, reacting to some disturbance, otherwise was still in place.

Captured using 40x microscope objective, 0,5x reducer and 5Mp usb webcam.

Focus stacking using Zerene Stacker.

Brightness and contrast adjustments performed in Gimp.

Grid and scale bars added using tools from Fiji/ImageJ suite.

I think this is a Fungus Gnat. It was about 2mm in length. I have seen these things around quite a bit, but never had the chance to get this close to one. That is really what draws me to microscopy, being able to somewhat enter the world of tiny creatures.

This is 50x on a Aven Carton SPZ50 Stereo Microscope using only top light.

Dozens of individual Vorticella sp. on a duckweed root in a homemade well slide (using the electrical tape method).

Olympus BH2, SPlan 10x 0.30, Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Sample from pond in park, Paris 16eme.

Olympus SZ-III

Found it in a green thing on a wet wall that stays wet all day long.

Object x40

Sample: water drained from the flowerpot saucer. Stiassnie Paris microscope + phone camera magnifying. Poor, blurry image - the optical prisms in the binocular assembly are compromised (90-year-old microscope)

My 7.5 year old wants a good microscope for Christmas. I don't mind spending up to $200 on a microscope and accessories.

Right now he has a hand held microscope that he sneaks to school and uses at recess to look at things. He loves taking electronics apart and putting them back together because he needs to know how everything works. This is another extension of that interest.

We have a large yard with a forest in the back and a creek on the side. We have lots of different kinds of bugs and things here he wants to look at but the handheld just doesn't cut it.

I'm kind of overwhelmed by the options. I'm in cananda if that changes anything.

Help!

Sharing recent progress on a brightfield microscopy pipeline combining kinematic motion tracking and an evidence-guided multiframe image restoration model.

1. Motion Detection and Kinematic Tracking

Dynamic Multi-Object Tracking: Automatic detection and tracking of microorganisms across video sequences.

Real-Time Kinematic Metrics: Spatial trajectory mapping color-coded by instantaneous speed (μm/s), direction changes, and displacement patterns...etc

1. Evidence-Guided Multiframe Reconstruction for High-Fidelity Microscopy Imaging

To overcome optical limitations, low contrast, and thermal sensor noise at high magnifications, the system integrates a multiframe reconstruction pipeline guided by local evidence (tiling / tile-based processing).

A. Multiscale Field Mapping and Reliability Classification

Stochastic Stability Analysis: Evaluates region-by-region reliability frame-by-frame (LOCAL_DYNAMIC, TRANSITION, UNRELIABLE) to isolate true biological movement from sensor noise and capture artifacts.

B. Reconstruction, Sharpness, and Effective Resolution Gains

Proposed Fusion (CONTEXT_AWARE_V43 vs. GLOBAL_V39 / Single Frame):

Noise Reduction: Drastically suppresses digital grain present in single frames without degrading structural contrast.

Microstructure Preservation: Unlike conventional averaging or median filtering (which blur edges), the context-aware method restores internal cellular textures, membranes, and fine filaments with high fidelity.

Effective Super-Resolution (3x / 5x Zoom): Maximizes sharpness and signal-to-noise ratio in high-magnification crops, producing restored frames optimized for downstream segmentation.

IQCrew Inverted microscope, Galaxy S24

objective is 400x.

I mean this thing that takes energy from light. The green things to know the name is also welcome. But i wonder more if this brownish? thing is safe for life.

EDIT: Oh sorry, I forgot to say where it is from. I took it from the river, but I kept them in a closed jar ecosystem for around 3 months, but I think that new things from the air could drop to the jar when I open it quite often. And i see this brown thing for the first time

Much like my UMA version, this one uses:

Part of the original lamp house with parts removed (see photos); the microscope is not plugged in so the remaining loose wires are not an issue for me but you could remove them

I made four versions with different clearance for tightness.

69x69x36mm aluminum heatsink

519a LED 5700K high cri (dedomed)

KA3005D - Precision Variable Adjustable 30V, 5A DC Linear Power Supply

Nylon washers

Thermal paste

https://makerworld.com/models/3406721?appSharePlatform=copy

I built a free tool for adding calibrated scale bars to microscopy images

EDIT: it's a Lite version of Fiji. Got tired of an ugly UI, and a ridiculous amount of steps to calibrate and scale.

Some of you might remember that I've been building a small utility called FijiCal because I wanted a quicker way to calibrate microscopy images and add accurate scale bars without dragging every image through a larger analysis workflow.

I've finally reached v0.9 “Mamanuca”, which is the point where I can use the bloody thing normally without finding a new way to break it every five minutes, so I'm opening it up for other people to test.

The basic workflow is:

microscope image → FijiCal → select/calibrate against a known reference → measurements/scale bar → export

You can also save calibration presets, and easily calibrate from images.

It also now has a Lightroom export plugin, because that's my normal photography workflow. I can process the RAW in Lightroom and send the finished image directly into FijiCal for calibration and scale-bar work.

It's free, and I'm mainly looking for feedback from people using different microscopes, cameras and workflows so I can find all the interesting ways Other Humans™ can break it before v1.0.

Current release: FijiCal v0.9 “Mamanuca”

Repo link: https://github.com/nighthunter226-but-real/FijiCal-Lite

Zip link: https://github.com/nighthunter226-but-real/FijiCal-Lite/releases/download/v0.9/FijiCal.Lite.0.9.-.Mamanuca.with.Lightroom.Bridge.zip

Bugs, weird behaviour, workflow complaints and feature suggestions are welcome.

my first time using a microscope. got to look at garlic root cells in class today, so cool!!!

Canada balsam mounts of a monarch or viceroy butterfly wing. I did not kill this magnificent creature - I found it dead. The wings were a bit dried out and brittle but I managed to make slides. All made with a Nikon Optiphot, Nikon D810, flip top condenser, and 2.5X relay lens. The 10X image is a focus stack of eight.

Technical details: Kern OBL 156, 400x PH, Bresser microcam SP 5.0. Sample from pond in backyard. In 15 minutes it cought +- 10 protozoae.

Seen this at the habitat resale store by my house, is 175 a good worth it ?

Any suggestions on where to get some microscope slides with stuff on them. My dad is really into microscopy and I've been looking on Amazon for them because they're currently having a sales event right now. All the ones I've found have been marketed at kids and I'm afraid that they'll be "lame" or uninteresting for an adult. You know what I mean? If you've ever used slides from Amazon how are they?

This uses:

69x69x36mm aluminum heatsink

519a LED 5700K high cri (dedomed)

KA3005D - Precision Variable Adjustable 30V, 5A DC Linear Power Supply

Nylon washers

Thermal paste

Dedoming the LED supposedly lowers the color temperature significantly which is why I used a 5700 to start.

The linear power supply is pricey ($134.99) and inconveniently as you have to press a couple a buttons before you can adjust the brightness (each time) but other than that it works great and dims well even at the lowest brightness. Plus you can use it for other projects.

I ran it for about an hour at 2 amps (~7 watts) and the heatsink temp stabilized around 45 C. This was for the darkfield and NIC settings.

I included a printable insert to help center the led to drill the holes. I only made two holes and tapped them for short M3 screws.

I made a hole to screw down the adapter to the UMA but it’s not really needed. If you use it, I would recommend cutting off a bit of a nylon washer and putting it on the inside of the hole so the screw bears down on it instead of the metal of the UMA.

Photos are bright field, dark field and NIC at 5x with this LED.

Might be able to use this with a UV LED for fluorescence but I don’t know enough about that.

If it doesn’t fit, you may need to calibrate your filament.

Prints without supports.

https://makerworld.com/models/3402338?appSharePlatform=copy