Exploring the Microscopic World of Trichome Photography

[Absorber]

Digital scope

Been watching this one. Almost bought it on Black Friday. I've seen it drop to 175$usd

Well fek it i just ordered "This One" the blue version with the HDMI instead of the red VGA version .
I'll let you know how it goes

 

[gwhunran]

Hey Growmies,

Thanks for the invite, Rob! I'm tagging @gwhunran as well – he does awesome trichome photography. I think also @Emilya Green.

All of these photos are from my Redmi Note 10 Pro phone w/ awesome macro lens. I bought the phone for its camera . I also sometimes use my Celestron 5 MP digital microscope (tried a cheaper one and it was very poor quality in comparison).

All are from my Hawaii outdoor greenhouse grow.

Stark white trichomes of Double Black Label CBG. I grew and cloned one pheno, but unfortunately she was semi-autoflowering, so I gave up.

Another shot of the DBL CBG. I think the inset was from the Celestron microscope.

This is my legacy CBG pheno, from a Colorado breeder. She comes in around 12% CBG, with no measurable THC or CBD. Super resistant to all bud rot and leaf mold. The resin isn't sticky... it's sort of powdery.

Another shot of my legacy CBG pheno. March '23.

My legacy CBG pheno. False color image, June '23.

"Three calyxes" (false color). Humboldt Dream, 2022.

Green Mountain Grape, purple bud pheno. March '23. She suffered a lot from bud rot. I gave up on this strain.

Blueberry. April '23.

HI-BISCUS. Impressive with high resin production, strong odor at harvest, and zero bud rot. April '23.

HI-BISCUS at harvest. May '23.

Blueberry. June '23.

Thank you CBD for the tag. I'm not in the same league as most here. I use a little Nikon Coolpix mostly set to auto focus. I've never owned a smart phone. I mostly depend on taking the pics at the camera's highest resolution and just edit them, to get the tric pics. Sometimes it works out okay. I also have one of the little usb microscopes others have shown but have a hard time getting good results with it.
I was fortunate to get a little training in micro repair on circuit boards during my time in the Navy. We used stereoscopic microscopes on a boom stand. At the time ours didn't have the camera attached but there were training microscopes that did. I've priced them from time to time since and they're usually in the $500-$600 range with the right magnification, camera, led lighting, and boom stand. i will buy one sometime, but it'll have to be when I come into some extra money.
The boom stand type is critical. It'll let you put bigger stuff under it, and be able to focus on a small spot, not necessary for tric shots but handy for other work.

 

[Absorber]

Thank you CBD for the tag. I'm not in the same league as most here. I use a little Nikon Coolpix mostly set to auto focus. I've never owned a smart phone. I mostly depend on taking the pics at the camera's highest resolution and just edit them, to get the tric pics. Sometimes it works out okay. I also have one of the little usb microscopes others have shown but have a hard time getting good results with it.
I was fortunate to get a little training in micro repair on circuit boards during my time in the Navy. We used stereoscopic microscopes on a boom stand. At the time ours didn't have the camera attached but there were training microscopes that did. I've priced them from time to time since and they're usually in the $500-$600 range with the right magnification, camera, led lighting, and boom stand. i will buy one sometime, but it'll have to be when I come into some extra money.
The boom stand type is critical. It'll let you put bigger stuff under it, and be able to focus on a small spot, not necessary for tric shots but handy for other work.

Like the one I linked just above your comment? Or a bit different

 

[Justin Goody]

whats your microscope look like?

Just like the one @Trala has pictured.

Works ok on the provided stand but having a steady hand for the really close up pics is helpful.

I’m sure more expensive proper microscopes are better but considering how much use it gets, this one is perfect. And very portable

 

[gwhunran]

This is the kind of thing I've been looking at. They seem to have gone up since I last looked a few years ago. Doesn't even include the camera.

Amazon.com

 

[gwhunran]

Like the one I linked just above your comment? Or a bit different

The one you linked might be perfect for buds and tric shots. The price is much better for sure. I was looking at microscopes with cameras (trinocular), as that was what I had experience with. I would love to have one, but I can see that expensive piece of gear just sitting around 99% of the time.
It would probably be over $800 by the time a camera was purchased.

 

[Absorber]

The one you linked might be perfect for buds and tric shots. The price is much better for sure. I was looking at microscopes with cameras (trinocular), as that was what I had experience with. I would love to have one, but I can see that expensive piece of gear just sitting around 99% of the time.
It would probably be over $800 by the time a camera was purchased.

I'll let you all know how it goes

 

[Bill284]

Just a couple more pics

 

[Lady Cannafan]

I took a minute to do this one today while I was trimming.
Nikon D7100
Reinke macro lens with a Raynox M-250 clip on macro lens (as posted earlier)
Tripod
Remote shutter release
3 images stacked and merged

Trichomes 1-25.jpg

• Lady Cannafan
• Jan 25, 2024

 

[Papa OG]

I took a minute to do this one today while I was trimming.
Nikon D7100
Reinke macro lens with a Raynox M-250 clip on macro lens (as posted earlier)
Tripod
Remote shutter release
3 images stacked and merged

Trichomes 1-25.jpg

• Lady Cannafan
• Jan 25, 2024

Beautiful crisp picture. My old canon use to shoot like that. Until I dropped it. FML

Now I just use my phone, and while it's adequate. It doesn't shoot like that!

 

[Papa OG]

This right here is amazing! Love staring at your picture

 

[Lady Cannafan]

I use one of these doobers to hold my flower or leaf. Then I adjust the camera front facing it. I just move things back and forth until I have the area I want lit. The second one (I have two) I tape the small LED light to it and point it toward the subject.
I do not know what this thing is called, it is a multipurpose helper.

 

[Lady Cannafan]

This right here is amazing! Love staring at your picture

Thank you! I love looking at trichome fields. It's a gathering of the goodies all dancing and singing together.

 

[Papa OG]

I use one of these doobers to hold my flower or leaf. Then I adjust the camera front facing it. I just move things back and forth until I have the area I want lit. The second one (I have two) I tape the small LED light to it and point it toward the subject.
I do not know what this thing is called, it is a multipurpose helper.

That's referred to as an extra set of hands. My best friend!

I use them when I make jewelry, never thought about it holding my nugget. Great idea.

They'd be great to hold my doob while I work also, lean in for a hit. Go back to work

 

[Justin Goody]

Some pics I’ve posted here over the past few years -same cheap WiFi microscope, the white dots you see on the trichome tips are the led lights on the microscope itself.

 

[Lady Cannafan]

Some pics I’ve posted here over the past few years -same cheap WiFi microscope, the white dots you see on the trichome tips are the led lights on the microscope itself.

That last one is purty.

 

[Papa OG]

I knew I had one of them cheap scopes laying around. Forgot all about it! Here's a tour of the misfits in the garden!

 

[gwhunran]

I use one of these doobers to hold my flower or leaf. Then I adjust the camera front facing it. I just move things back and forth until I have the area I want lit. The second one (I have two) I tape the small LED light to it and point it toward the subject.
I do not know what this thing is called, it is a multipurpose helper.

Do your search in soldering tools and something like it should show up.

 

[Virgin Ground]

Great pics everyone!

I love seeing this thread come to life.

 

[Lady Cannafan]

Do your search in soldering tools and something like it should show up.

I typed it into amazon as "helping hand tool clamp" and some of them came up.