Digital Reflex on microscope

From: Fulvio Malfatto (f.malfatto_at_fmal.com)
Date: 06/23/04 

Date: 23 Jun 2004 02:45:35 -0700

I'm very happy with my digital SLR Nikon D100, and now I would like to
use it also to whit my Optika SZM2 microscope (stereo trinocular 7-45x
zoom - 10x23 oculars).
[ http://www.optikamicroscopes.com ]

I buyed the scope adapter, the M-ring, and everything if fine at
mechanical level, but the photos are very poor.
My problem are these :
1) The 1.5x focal lenght done by digital CCD brings me to a too high
magnification, so I can't have the same field I see in oculars, but a
smaller one.
2) Focusing is very difficult, and is different from the one I choose
on oculars : the third eye requires a totally different adjustment, so
I loose the utility of the third eye. ( I tried every possible tuning
of the scope adapter and moved the camera as far as possible from
ocular. Parfocality is correct if I look, but not when I shoot)
3) The light is so low also when I use fiber illuminators, that I
can't see the item in the eyepiece of the camera, so focusing is done
by doing multiples photos at different positions.

I normally shoot my photos whit camera well fixed on the microscope,
and controlling it from pc by the nikon capture software, so i'm sure
to avoid any vibration or shooting problems (mirror lock-up is
applied), but in few months i never had a good photo : out of
focus,color diffraction, etc.
Then a friend of mine came with his coolpix 990, just put it on
already focused ocular, and shooted : he had a quite nice shoot, whit
a good DOF and surprisingly well focused, in few word, the same thing
my eye sees in oculars. How it is possible ?

So I ask to some expert : where am I wrong ? I am very disappointed I
can't couple a such expensive set of tools.
The photocamera is the best one I ever had, I use it in macro with
Nikkor 60 mm and is really great up to 2x.

Also the microscope is quite good, it is not as expensive as the
camera is, but is very effective in the normal use. How can I test it
to be sure it is able to do the job?
If I change the third eye ocular from 10x to 5x (better would be 6.6x)
can I have the same field on camera ?

Is there any thing I can do to improve my photos?
Any suggestion is welcome.
Thanks in advance
Fulvio

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