: Olympus Digital Microscope - 21-270x Magnification with USB image transfer. Cool!

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© techrevu/ernest lilley 2002
Editor: Ernest Lilley

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 1) Olympus MIC-D Digital Microscope 2) viewer software
3) Butterfly Wing 4) Oblique light view of a fingerprint
images © 2002 Olympus
Title: Olympus MIC-D
Reviewer: Ernest Lilley
Date: 12/10 Rating:
MSRP $995.99 / Buy From Olympus
Product Website: Olympus MIC-D  / Specs
Summary: We saw this at Comdex a few weeks ago, and were blown away by the superb images and wide range of imaging modes. With it's own bright white LED light source and automatic exposure adjustment it's a snap to use. Even though it provides only VGA resolution, it provides magnifications from 21x to 270x and opens a digital window into the fascinating world of the small, and thanks to its USB connectivity, it's a world you can share with everyone. The product website has a number of lessons that carefully work you through more different types of microscopy than I knew existed, all arranged in easy to follow directions. Though  pricey for the home, it's just-under-a grand price tag, sturdy construction, and the ability for everyone to gather around the onscreen image make it perfect for the classroom.

When I was growing up, I had a 100x microscope and loved exploring the tiny worlds inside drops of lake water, and anything else I could fit under the lens. It frustrated me that I had no idea what I was looking at, and no way to show anyone. I would love to see Olympus host a site where people could share images and answer questions about what they are seeing. The MIC-D is a totally cool tool for the digital school, and I envy the kids who get to try them out.
  Specs (from product website)
  • Item Description: Style Inverted microscope with movable arm
  • Imaging device 300,000-pixcel CMOS color digital camera.
  • Device size: 5.4mm(H) X 4mm(V)
  • Resolution level: 310K-pixel VGA (640 X 480pixel)
  • Zoom ratio: 12.86 (0.7 to 9X)
  • Observation field: 6.75 X 5 to 0.54 X 0.4 (mm)
  • Illuminator: Fixed condenser, W.D.30mm
  • Built-in sliding frost filter for light intensity adjustment
  • Movable arm for switching transmitted-light illumination, oblique-light illumination, and reflected-light illumination
  • Light source: White LED
  • Focusing mechanism: Lens height adjustment
  • Stage: Gliding stage.
  • Movement range diameter: 5mm
  • Withstanding load: 500g
  • Data Input: USB
  • Rated voltage & power consumption: 5V, 0.4A
  • Weight: 1.6kg
  • Power supply: Supplied from USB cable
  • Operating environment: Indoor use
  • Altitude: Max. 2000 meters
  • Temperature: 5 to 40 °C
  • Humidity: 80% up to 31°C(88°F), decreasing linearly through 70% at 34°C, 60% at 37°C, to 50% at 40°C.
  • Pollution degree: 2(in accordance with IEC60664)
  • Overvoltage category: II (in accordance with IEC60664)
  • Classification of electrical equipment: class III (1*)
    (1*) Must be connected to a SELV (Safety Extra-Low Voltage) circuit.
    Only a PC complying with the IEC606950 standard can be connected to this product. Olympus cannnot guarantee the safety if other PC is connected. The SELV circuit refers to a secondary circuit protected so that the difference in potentials between any two points that can be accessed by a person is not hazardous level when the circuit is normal or failed only in one position.

Software Specifications

  • Operating system: Microsoft® Windows® 98 (SE) / Microsoft® Windows® 2000 / Microsoft® Windows® Me / Microsoft® Windows® XP
  • Supported languages: English, Japanese, French, and German
  • Recommended PC Computer: IBM PC/AT compatible
  • CPU: Intel® Pentium® II 200MHz or faster Intel Pentium III 500MHz or faster CPU and 128MB of RAM will be recommended.
  • RAM: 64MB or more
  • Hard disk space: Minimum 300MB
  • I/O device: UBS port, CD-ROM drive
  • Display monitor: 800X600 pixel resolution with 16-bit color or better
  • USB controllers:Universal Host Controller (Interface)
  • Image size: 640 X 480 (VGA), 320 X 240 (QVGA)
  • Still image capturing Data saving format: JPEG, BMP, TIFF Number restricted depending on disk capacity
  • Movie capturing Data saving format: AVI, MPEG (MPEG1) Number restricted depending on disk capacity
  • Time-lapse capturing (Intermittent movie)
  • Maximum interval: 60 minutes
  • Minimum interval: 1 second
  • Library Thumbnail, zoom-up, image comparison,
  • Movie playback, printing
  • Format conversion Not supported MPEG into AVI
  • Image processing Digital zooming, size modification, trimming
  • Rotation, flip horizontal/vertical Rotation by 90 degrees
  • Text embedding
  • Scale and information display
  • White/black balance Point/area specification
  • Color adjustment Hue, saturation, intensity, RGB, contrast and tone
  • Printing
  • Help Text and graphic-based help
  • Sample images 15 still images (JPEG)