Swift SW380T (Review) + Raspberry pi = digital microscope
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- A review of the swift compound microscope SW380T, useful for amateur microscopy, and citizen science. A nice start for microbiology and microbial life.
I've attached a Raspberry pi HQ camera (12 Mpx) so it's a kind of "digital microscope" now. It's a (cheap) budget microscope and maybe a good one as first microscope to start this hobby.
I'll look at the standard objectives and a couple new ones (20x and 60x). Show how the condenser aperture diaphragm works and the dark field using 3D printed dark field filters.
I'll show all of this taking a look at moss under the microscope, with quite a lot of microbial "pond life" showing up.
00:00 Introduction
00:56 Standard objectives
01:39 Condenser and filters
04:01 Moss under the microscope
11:17 More objectives (20x 60x)
14:12 Conclusions
darkfield 3D printable filters:
www.thingiverse.com/thing:444...
Disclaimer: I'm not associated with swift and I bought the microscope myself. Those are my thoughts about it.
and obviously, check Microbehunter channel:
/ @microbehunter
Music:
Mozart - Sonata No. 13 In B Flat Major, K.333 - II. Andante Cantabile
Beethoven - Piano Sonata nr.15 in D major op.28 Pastoral - II. Andante
www.chosic.com/ - Věda a technologie
Identifications:
5:35 Diatom
6:02 roundworm/nematode
6:54 amoeba
8:43 ?
9:00 probably a rotifer
10:05 tardigrade
This has been probably one of the best microscope reviews that I've seen for microscopy, plus, I have been really curious about the new pi camera! Thank you so much!
thanks a lot :)
This was the first review I came across. Very detailed and relevant to optical engineering. Thanks
This video was very well done, extremely decent for advice on the technical aspects of the objectives. I just purchased the Swift 350B, will look into a 60x objective for this model. I'm retired from the medical field, miss the time I spent in a micro lab as a student. My grandson is 4.5 years old, ... he'll sit beside me as I inspect the items he finds in our yard.
Thanks for a great video.
That's adorable i love it
Wow. You went nuts with the production quality and it shows. 10/10
Thanks so much for doing a review on this scope, and with a Raspberry Pi. This video encouraged me to make the purchase. :) Thanks so much for capturing the Tardigrade video at 10:06. Really amazing. Can't wait to do the same.
Thanks for all your help Vittorio, The microscope finally arrived and I couldn't be more happy with it!
10:00 Tardigrade, the best microbe there is
Great review! I will definately get the Swift SW380T. Also, awesome waterbear/tardigrade
Amazing video and well done, literally just bought one so cant wait to see things like this!
Same, this video helped me decide to pull the trigger on this microscope
@@thehypercasual385 yes me to but you are shure it's cool ? i got a GH4 .. it's compatible ? i got mac too •_• mmmmmmmm
Me too. Good buy, especially as Amazon are selling this model with 30% discount at present (4/9/21)
Thank u so much man, I bought it but I got no idea of how to use it and I love it !
great review, background music is nice, too
I just got A sw350t, very similar to sw380t, and if my dslr to cmount adapter doesn't work for taking pictures I'll be getting the rpi camera which looks great.
Thanks for the dark field filters
Thanks for posting.
I found you get some great effects if you only partially close the filter tray with a darkfield filter installed.
Minor point, at 1:13, 1:23, 1:30 and 11:56 surely the scale bar for the measurement should be extending across the line, either to the left or to the right?
Very nice review!
5:15 moving thing is a diatome, i guess. Diatome is An organism that makes photosynthesis and covered with silica.
Wonderful video like the style 👍
Thanks. This was useful for a neophyte.
we all started somewhere :)
Amazing video and really enjoyed it. I did notice some specs on the video. Is this the lens or the camera? This microscope looks like a great budget contender. I wonder if this would beat the amscope
it's the lens :)
10:10 tardigrade. It can survive extreme conditions like heat, space drought etc.
yep the coolest thing is NASA actually sent them to space as well they came back after a few weeks I think it was some of them died but quite a majority of them after a few weeks revived them self and continued surviving surprisingly one of them actually laid eggs while they were in space.
I very recently purchased this scope and so far, I’m happy with it, but also know next to nothing, so this has been a very valuable review. I also just signed up for Dr. Elaine Ingham’s Soil Foodweb School to learn about microbiology of the soil. This unit seems to fulfill all the criteria she sets out in one of her videos. the scope she recommended didn’t seem to be available in Canada, and the US $ exchange made me opt for this unit. Thanks for a great review.
obviously if you didn't check it yet, microbe hunter is an amazing channel for microscopy.
@@v_saggiomo it was his review that convinced me to purchase the unit :-)
Have you finished the soil lab program?
@@Ray.5446. just about to start FC4, the microscopy section… but I took a month off to build my greenhouse and get it closed in before the snow flies… mission accomplished… and not a snowflake in site for some time yet… bad climate news.
@@garthwunsch you're living my dream right now. I can't wait to build a greenhouse.
Very big thanks !!!
Are you able to view video on a screen as you work the microscope? I just bought the sw380t and don't have a Pi, would you be able to link how to use or set it up? I've seen links for the camera module, I just don't know which pi and how to use it.
Located in Canada here, I have been having a hard time figuring out what would be the next step up from the readily available SWIFT SW380T and where I could find other options?
Great video, please do more! Btw you, forgot to add the dark field filter prints to the description, they would be greatly appreciated
you're right, totally forgot about that :D now the link is in the description
thanks for the heads up
@@v_saggiomo Awesome! Thank you bröther
bought from eBay official store, more cost-effective, www.ebay.com/itm/304084210900
@@v_saggiomo hi, can i see blood cells with this one with high focus? Great rewiew! Thank you
@@kosesangon4296 I'm pretty sure you can. 5-10 microns are definitely achievable on this
Which website did you suggest buying the objectives ? ThankYou for the concise video !
I usually go for aliexpress, and then check there which one I need www.aliexpress.com/store/712881
I really loved your video. I decided to purchase the Swift SW350T (as far as I could tell the only difference was the shape and ergonomics, not the optics).
I wanted to ask you some questions:
1. Did you have to use (or have tried to) any C/CS mount reduction optics?
2. which model of Raspberry Pi are you using, and with which software?
3. did you record the video we are seeing directly on the Pi?
I loved the footage, especially the smoothness and resolution, and would love to be able to connect the microscope to our living room LG TV to explore samples together with family :)
I suppose the ideal setup would be to have the Pi output Full HD video over HDMI. For sure the type / speed of Pi makes the difference regarding frame rate (unless the Pi camera is optimized to directly go to the GPU for overlay / preview).
Lovely music choice too!
Thanks again
thanks :)
1) I didn't tried any reduction on the CS mount.
2) standard pi 4 (2gb ram), and just the standard "raspistill" and "raspivid" for recording pictures and videos on the raspi
3) yup :)
definitely doable, at the end of the day, a display is just an hdmi output from the raspi
@@v_saggiomo great, thanks for the info!
@@v_saggiomo bought from eBay official store, more cost-effective, www.ebay.com/itm/304084210900
Hi! Excellent video! Some questions. 1) For running the camera under raspivid, I'm currently using the standard pi camera (v2) over an eyepiece on the camera tube of the 380T. And I get a fairly small viewing circle compared to my Pi's screen. How did you get so much FOV able to get a decent sized FOV display using your Pi HQ camera without an eyepiece in between? How are you able to do that? I have to have the 10x eyepiece between the pi cam and the rest of the camera tube just to get the FOV circle on my pi big enough to see anything. How large is your circular view compared to your entire Pi screen? 2) Are you using the screw-on camera tube (that came with the 380T) connected to the tube port on the 380T? And your camera is connected directly to that tube with the camera's own C-CS mount? And no eyepiece? (So, it's just the pi camera's sensor and the microscope's objective?) 3) I'm also wondering how you're able to get the finished video to not be rectangular and not round when it displays on CZcams?. Something you do in raspivid? or some other method or program? Or is it because the camera's sensor is only picking up a portion of the FOV through that tube? Thanks!
Actually, I figured it all out. I just got myself the Pi HQ camera, and screwed in onto the camera tube. Since the camera itself didn't have a lens built into it, and therefore, was just a sensor, the objective of the microscope acted as the lens. And it all worked! Got a decent FOV, and although I'm close to being parfocal with the eyepieces in the binocular portion, I need a slightly shorter camera tube for that to happen.
sorry for the late reply, but yes, you lose the parafocal and the FOV is quite small because there is no tube lens in the set-up. But on the bright side, you have higher magnification and a very decent sensor for the price :)
Can you tell me what adapter you used to go from the HQ camera to the tube? Does the camera come with c mount threads out of the box? Thanks again!
yes, the camera comes with c/cs adaptor
Good video!
But how did you connect the camera to the microscope? That would be super interesting to see. I am considering getting this scope but not sure how to mount the camera on it. Would be awesome if you could explain that a bit
it's a raspberry pi with the HQ camera, which has already the CS mount, so you just screw it in the trinocular. But well, you should have a little bit of knowledge on raspberry pi, as it works on linux
Could you please add discription how you attached the raspberry pi camera to the microscope, the attachments needed etc. Thanks for the wonderful video.
the raspberry pi HQ has already a c/cs mount, so you don't need anything else.
Awesome review. Thanks for sharing. Just got mine yesterday. Is there anywhere with a tutorial on how to build the rasberry pi camera?
it's just a standard raspberry with the camera module, so you can check any tutorial for that (czcams.com/video/T8T6S5eFpqE/video.html) and check my previous comments on using raspistill for taking pictures :)
@@v_saggiomo thanks mate. Much appreciated
Thank you very much. I am considering this microscope versed a more expensive one with plan objectives. This one is all I need. My only question now is how many megapixel camera do I need?
I have a 12mpx camera for the raspberry pi (that's because I had one around and it has a C-CS mount which fit the microscope tube). But choosing the camera may be tricky, swift has a usb camera as well, but honestly not sure how good it is. You can even start just with a smartphone microscope adapter and then check the camera later.
@@v_saggiomo Yes I have an I Phone adapter for my older microscope now. I am working on upgrading. Thank you for your kind help.
Great video.
Pra el 40X le pones aceite de inmersión?
That's a fantastic video, thanks for sharing. How do you think this would do for live blood at 40X with your darkfield filter? I'm thinking it doesn't have a powerful enough light to make that work very well??
sizewise I don't think you'll have any problem. 5-10 um are well resolved with the 40x. Not sure about the light, but my guess is that it should be enough as well
@@v_saggiomo Thanks
Hey! this is amazing! Can you make a video about the setup (microscope, raspbery pi, screen) .. I'm a noob in raspbery pi
This is a great video and very informative. I am just starting in microscopy and have this microscope. I have been looking for a good camera. Please can you tell me if you can use the Raspberry pi camera via USB cable on Windows 10 and if you can take good quality still photos.
no, that is not an usb camera :/
Buenos días, no tienes traductor Español
Can the rasberry pi shoot Raw images or just jpeg? Any information is appreciated. Thank you
nice video and good explanations
I would like to know more about the Pi camera setup - seems very smooth and fast compared to the eyepiece cams, even the $500 18 MP ones
by the way, nice shots of diatoms, nematode, amoeba, rotifer, tardigrade, etc.
was that all from one water sample? awesome :-)
it's literally the raspberry pi hq camera (only the sensor) attached on the trinocular. nothing special there :)
Thanks for this. I know you said the x100 is bad but it would have been good to demonstrate a bit more through the video! Nice stuff, i love the thing at 8:38 i hope i'll find the same organism doing the same stuff (sorry for the terms i don't know anything in biology)
for living organisms, using the 100x is practically impossible because of the field of view and the very small focus distance. Maybe for a mounted slide would have been better, but the resolution is still very bad
oh, and for the organisms, don't worry you'll find plenty in any moss/pound water you have around :)
@@v_saggiomo Try a blood smear, perfect application for this objective, maybe stain with methylene blue, very useful and safe stain.
@@v_saggiomo I tried it since (acquired it) and it get what you mean
How are you getting the video from the Pi? What setup or configs are you using?
with basic "raspivid" on the shell
hi can u share the lens u r using on the pi hq camera! thanks!!!
Not using any lens, just the sensor. Hypotetically you should use something like a 0.5x lens in the tube as the sensor is too small
Does anyone have a tutorial on how to attach one of these cameras to the microscope?
what would happen if you would place something under the microscope that doesnt let light through, like a shiver of rock, crystal, or a butterfly wing and illuminate it from above.
Even though these tiny crawling and swimming microorganisms are fascinating from a scientific point of view, me as an artist, want to create beauty; stunning pictures that i can use as they are, or use them as part of a collage, for example. Colour and sharpness of the images is now of the essence....would this microscope be useful in this endeavour?
I was thinking about this one or amscope, but german amazon only sells the Swift. Is there a different between the two?
they are practically the same :)
Also links for the 60x plan objectives, please. Thank you.
that's more difficult as the links on AliExpress changes every time. But if you just go on AliExpress you'll find a lot of different objectives. As long as the working distance is good, and they are 160/ then they should work
Interesting! What is the thread size for the objective? RMS or different?
just a standard RMS
@@v_saggiomo Thank you!
hey i have another question, how did you get the darkfield to work, i have printed out the same file as you included but its either way to bright or for some reason the patch stop (circular thing in the middle of the filter) takes away light and makes it completely invisible or black.
for darkfield you need to open all the diaphragm
@@v_saggiomo so i actually have done that already, but i figured out the problem, there was a loose screw in the condenser that i needed to tighten and now its working perfectly, thanks again for your time, i really do appreciate all your help!
I purchased the SW380T 6 weeks ago. For the price I am quite pleased with it. As the review states, the oil objective is not very useful. The view is not great and the oil is problematic. I will be getting a plan 60x objective in the near future to replace the oil lens. I agree that the condenser has good qualities especially being able to restrict the aperture. It took me awhile to find where to put filters as the filter holder isn't mentioned in the "manual" that comes with the scope. This microscope does the job for me. I look mostly at fungi spores and other reproductive features. I would say it's only drawback is that lack of accessories by Swift, and product support.
I also want to look at mushroom spores. How has it been going? I am about to purchase one of these!
To BoomerShroomer: The SW308T works pretty good for examining spores. I use the 40x objective with either the 10x or 25x oculars. At first I took photos with my iPhone, then I got Swift’s 16 megapixel camera that mates to the trinocular tube. Great system! The software allows me to accurately measure the spores.
@@2btpatch cool thank you! I just purchased one yesterday!
Wow, talk about being good at reviewing. Something you said when you changed the lenses (?) is that you said "planned and 60". What is "planned"? Also if I order one of these what do I need the filters for again? And the camera; I don't want to use a rasp. pie. Is there any good camera I can buy, attach it to the microscope, and then connect it to my computer with some software that is good enough. Love to see some answers and good work!
"plan" lens, they have less distortion. 60 is 60x objective. there are plenty of usb cameras for microscopes, but never tried them :/
@@v_saggiomo Thank you for the reply. I got the microscope today and I would like to ask you for some help to find certain things. To make it easy can you link me to (maybe) Amazon so I can find a:
1. Dark filter.
2. 60x plan lens. Any other lens you recommend?
3. A good camera. I bought one, but need to return it. It does not work and does not fit. Hm...
Thank you again for a good video.
@@v_saggiomo Okay, I found some plan 60x and a camera. All I need is a black filter. I have no 3d printer. Can you show me where I can find one of those filters in a store, please?
@@adriansun2999 not sure, as I've just 3D printed a bunch. However you can easily make them yourself with cardboard (or other dark material), see for example here czcams.com/video/Pku4T8s-0lg/video.html
I'm glad to see that your scope, set at 40x, is just as crappy as my SW380T.
Vittorio, Does 1x ocular lens exist? Do they manufacture 1x? Why would anyone (universities?) use 1x? Thanks!
because of the larger field of view. There is always a trade off, the higher the magnification the smaller the field of view. And sometimes you want to see as much as possible of the slide but without losing resolution
I am so tempted to get this model but have read quite a few reviews that talk about the poor quality of assembly and alignment. Do you have any thoughts on this?
Thanks for the video, just subscribed :)
well, if you have money, get a microscope with a Köhler illumination. The swift is a honest microscope, but the quality control, especially on the alignment of the illumination is not the best. It's ok, and you can align the light source manually (check one of the previous comments).
@@v_saggiomo Thank you for the quick reply. I was thinking of investing in the Euromex BioBlue EVO trinocular that has Kohler, quite a bit more expensive but a well respected manufacturer with quality reviews.
@@Bhodisatvas indeed, if you can go for that, and think that you'll go on in microscopy, then just go for it. The Köhler illumination is already a great step forward from simple LED illumination
I bought SW380B from SWIFT official eBay store,more cost-effective. item number:284341037644
more cost-effective to buy SWIFT SW380B in the official eBay store. Link www.ebay.com/itm/284341037644
good, a specimen is shown at various magnifications for comparison purposes
Finally somebody gets it. Yes 🤣
Is this microscope parfocal? I can’t see anything at the 40x obj.
if you didn't change the objectives, yes it is parafocal. Naturally with high magnification you need higher amount of light
Its a pity the Camera that can be bought with the SW380 can only manage 14 FPS. That can be real issue when trying to film things that move around fast.
What kind of lens are you using to connect the raspberry camera to the Triocular ? Please can you post a link ?
it's the HQ camera, so it has a C-CS mount that can be screwed directly on the trinocular. So there is no physical lens. A reduction lens would be useful as right now the field of view is too small, but so far I didn't bother
@@v_saggiomo many thanks
@@v_saggiomo can/will you perhaps put a video out about how you set this up, connected it and what software if any you either are using to capture, or installed on the pi? This looks super rad, and I have a pi0w and pi3 sitting around :)
hi there, I just use the standard HQ camera, and for programs I use just raspistill or Raspivid from command line. www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/raspbian/applications/camera.md
for raspistill you need to use the parameter "-k" so that you can see and focus and then press "enter" when you want to capture the image
@@v_saggiomo Thanks for the reply. I wonder what other programs one might beable to leverage with this camera setup on a pi. Such as stacking.
How did you make the raspberry pi camera?
it's a standard HQ camera for raspberry, so just attach the module on the board and that's it
What is the diameter of the darkfield filters?
I used those ones: www.thingiverse.com/thing:4446434 and don't remember by hard the size, but it should be findable online
Why did you buy Plan objectives? You mixed Plan and achromatic objectives
I've multiple project going on at the same time. So the objectives are kind of exchangeable between different projects.
hi!. Can we record a video with the camera of the microscope?
yes it's a raspberry pi camera, so you can use that for recording videos as well
Ciao Vittorio, come ti trovi con il 380t dopo questo tempo?
funziona ancora :) nessun problema.
@@v_saggiomo grazie mille, lo comprerò anche io allora👍🏻
Please,tell me where can i get 60x, i cant find
aliexpress
Where can I get the c mount adapter for the pi HQ camera?
it comes with the microscope. Or if you use other microscopes, and you have a 3D printer, you can 3D print it :)
@@v_saggiomo I got a few printers, you got the Thingiverse link by chance? Pretty please 🙂
@@OfficialNetDevil it really depends on where do you want to attach it. This is a C/CS to din (so it should be good for different scopes) www.thingiverse.com/thing:4539212
@@v_saggiomo I wanna attach it to the back/single monocular eyepiece.
then it should be fine. they should be DIN
10:32 it's a tardigrade
Very good review! Glory to God in his tinyest!
Zelda map spotted :D
Questipn: why raspberry pi and not a normal camera made by swift?
versatility of not having a computer nearby :) (and probably cheaper?)
do you need a camera to look through the telescope or can you see it with your own eyes.
this is a trinocular version, so you have the binocular to look with your eyes, and also a third port where to attach the camera. So, both :)
@@v_saggiomo thanks :D
and does than mean they look almost the same through a camera or just looking through it?
np :)
no, usually the camera has a bigger magnification because a smaller field of view.
Minute 9:06 I think he found a tartigrade
what size is the diameter filter?
32 mm
@@v_saggiomo thank you for the fast reply .. what is the thread for this microscope? is it DNS?
@@KuwPhotographer it's the standard RMS
6:50 cute amoeba
that's what I though as well, but isn't too fast for being an amoeba? the video is in real time
@@v_saggiomo you're right but its movement style is same as amoeba, i think its just a fast amoeba boi
But should i buy it? Is i worth the money? Can i see bloodcells etc?
that really depends on you, on how much money you want to spend, and what do you need it for. It's an honest microscope for the price, but the illumination is not the best
@@v_saggiomo Im a total noob. Its a jungle on amazon. What can i get for 500$? Any brand?! Sorry to use u like a customer support :D
@@Arthur-fs3vd for the price is a good starting microscope :)
are you still here ?
i need help with the rasberry pi stuff
like what i need to buy to use the camera
like what lens
stil here, but a comment is not enough to explain how a raspberry pi works :D. Any camera module (without any lens) will work
3:10 What tf is this? I'm going to get a phobia. 6:00 oh god...I think I don't need a microscope anymore.
and those are things in water.... you should see what's in dust....
Por qué en 40X no logro ver nada? 😅
no, the 40x is not an immersion objective. Do you see black? try to open the diaphragm or increase the light
@@v_saggiomo ahora si pude ver con aceite de inmersión pero es muy cerca de el lente, sabe cómo ajustar el X100?
the X100 is an oil objective and there you need to use oil@@aetherdaniela
it is difficult to use, you need to be very close to the sample, and make very small adjustment. easier to check some video: czcams.com/video/baFTRZN_fQU/video.html @@aetherdaniela
non ho ben capito l'utilizzo dell'olio...
L'olio serve per gli obbiettivi 100x, elimina l'aria tra l'obbiettivo e il vetro.
@@v_saggiomo grazie per la risposta! Era più una sonda per vedere se eri attivo 😅 sono interessato a questo modello di microscopio e mi sto chiedendo se è possibile "aumentare" l'ingrandimento cambiando le lenti, se si trovano, se il costo non è esorbitante etc. Sono totalmente inesperto e mi sta prendendo una "brutta" fissazione... Figurati che sono partito per un microscopio da saldatura solo per osservare i micro minerali presenti nelle venature di sassi e rocce e adesso voglio osservare e imparare tutte queste forme di vita microbiche. Ora però mi sta tintinnando in testa di poter un giorno osservare anche qualcosa di più piccolo. Aiutami che ne sto uscendo pazzo
@@Rasenna1 dipende molto da cosa vuoi vedere, questo è perfetto per 50um o in su. per risoluzioni maggiori ti serve un micorscopio ben piu' costoso di questo
No field diaphragm…..
what you see on 10x and what i see on 10x is completely different. why??? i can't even see bacterias! :(
the camera add another 2x. but anyway, with 10x is impossible to see bacteria, you need at least a 40x with good illumination (preferably deark field)
didn't ask