Cheap webcam into USB microscope (DIY)

Diegojavbau

Air-Valve Autobot!
I need to re-shape and polish my needle , so I build a USB microscope with a cheap webcam to help me to polish and sharpen the needle again.
This could be very useful for some of you people so I show you how

This is the webcam and the leds that I will use
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Taking apart the camera
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Cut the cap (lens) of the led to make the light more smooth and wide

The camera use 5v , so one 100ohms resistor is soldered to every led.
An acrylic disc is made to work as a light diffuser and focus adjustment , glued to the lens
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The original plastic ring is used to make a led holder (cant be attached to the plastic ring because is a movile piece)
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Light ring test
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Diffuser disc test
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A soda cap is used as spacer (fits perfect)
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All glued together
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A plastic paint can cap is used as a main body of the microscope
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Model finished
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How my needle look with the bare eye
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How I see it with the DIY microscope

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I try to make it simple and short , any information that you need fell free to ask me here .
 
That is one very poorly looking needle, hope you get it fixed.
Great tutorial, very informative!!
 
thats awesome Diego, I did something similar a few years back and took this pic :
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of course mine was a whole lot easier, All I did was take of the front lens of the webcam and stick it on my homemade (I prefer handcrafted :beguiled: ) astronomical telescope, which you use to focus the image.

SO - my question - how did you focus your image for the microscope?
 
Diego you should be ashamed owning such a ridiculous needle, that is just airbrushing blasphemy, lol

But you are forgiven because your little creation is awesome, I will be pressing the Mods and sending threatening letters to Mitch until they make you our "Official Resident Forum Macgyver", lol

Excellent initiative.
 
Wow. Obviously your creativity doesn't end with art work. Very cool. Although my ignorance of all things electronic means I'd just be wrecking a perfectly good webcam if I tried that. lol. I can change batteries, and splice wires. Although even splicing wires can be risky on my part... When I'd take pics of my polished needles or nozzles, I set up my "little" point 'n' shoot camera on a small, cheap tripod from Walmart, put it in "close up" mode, set the timer for 5 seconds, and hold a magnifying glass in front of the camera. 1 out of every 5 to 10 tries, you'll actually get a decent pic. My "standard" was that I knew the needle was polished enough when the camera could no longer get it in focus. lol. (btw- I think your needle needs a bit of TLC ;-)
 
Yes , the needle is a mess , but I don't notice that until see it magnified , I just see it short and I thought that was broken

@flycatchr : turning the acrylic disc is the way to adjust the focus
 
aha, and the acrylic disk is attached to the lens and the lens being close to the ccd chip makes it a microscope? :)
 
aha, and the acrylic disk is attached to the lens and the lens being close to the ccd chip makes it a microscope? :)

The focus of the webcam can be regulated by turning the lens (is mounted in some kind of screw), changing the distance between the ccd and the lens ( most or all of the webcams use this sistem)
What make it a microscope is the capability of the webcam to make focus on zero distance (you can focus even touching the lens) , this way you can make extreme macro images
 
The focus of the webcam can be regulated by turning the lens (is mounted in some kind of screw), changing the distance between the ccd and the lens ( most or all of the webcams use this sistem)
What make it a microscope is the capability of the webcam to make focus on zero distance (you can focus even touching the lens) , this way you can make extreme macro images
sounds brilliant :)
 
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