Celestron Handheld Digital Microscope Pro

[VAB2013]

Today I had a great conversation with a Technical Support Representative at Celestron. As soon as I told him I had questions about viewing and taking photos of Lincoln cents, the nice gentleman told me that he is also a coin collector! He answered all of my questions and even emailed me a couple of coin pics he snapped at his desk while we were talking! Of course, I emailed him back at Celestron with information about the LCF and asked him to come join us! Made my day

As some of you know, Tracy (duecetoseven) has been helping me research digital microscopes and we both narrowed it down to the Celestron Handheld Digital Microscope Pro as the best product at the best price.

A few days ago, I asked Maineman if it was okay... if Celestron or one of their distributors, might be willing to offer members of the forum an incentive, a small discount or free shipping maybe... Well the awesome Tech Support person said he would forward my information to their Sales and Marketing Division! So... not counting our chicken's before they hatch, but what an awesome guy!

There's so much information to share about this... but attached are the two pics. Two of my main concerns were... will the microscope take a full coin photo and can you turn the LED lights completely off and just use natural light and the answer is yes and yes.

The stand has to be turned to one side just a tad and placed on about a 1" thick book but that will lift the stand up enough to get a full coin photo (Canadian cent is with the stand done this way and the LED lights turned completely off, just natural light) The Lincoln cent photo is with the LED lights on, and of course the microscope will zoom in more for close ups.

I was going to wait and post this after I heard back from Celestron, but so many of you have been asking about where to find a good digital microscope and I didn't want to wait... and you go buy something else without checking into this one!

Here are a few links... feel free to ask questions, if I don't know the answer, I certainly know who to call Thank you Celestron!!!

https://www.celestron.com/products/handheld-digital-microscope-pro

https://www.celestron.com/blogs/team-celestron

No idea which microscope was used to take the photo of the Amazon Rainforest Blue Morpho Dragonfly but it is so awesome looking I wanted you to see it!

[makecents]

Very cool Viv!! It's nice to find someone who actually wants to help!

[VAB2013]

Thank you Jon! I am very impressed with the quality of the product, the professionalism of the company, the reviews are great, sample photos I have seen are very good, the microscope has a 2 year warranty, US Seller, great customer service and tech support!

[jfines69]

That's cool... Thanks for the info Vivien!!!

[uglycent]

Celestron was the first scope I used, it worked quite well and had good software to support its use. I also have Veho Discovery that also works well and has adjustable light settings. The largest problem I found was stabilization for quality images with the stand and alternate light sources. Also I have tremors which makes anything hand held or controlled a mess for me to work with. Fortunately now I have an Amscope that takes great images but only can get 90 percent full coin images.

[VAB2013]

Celestron was the first scope I used, it worked quite well and had good software to support its use. I also have Veho Discovery that also works well and has adjustable light settings. The largest problem I found was stabilization for quality images with the stand and alternate light sources. Also I have tremors which makes anything hand held or controlled a mess for me to work with. Fortunately now I have an Amscope that takes great images but only can get 90 percent full coin images.

Thank you for this info Anthony! You are bringing up some of the very same issues I discussed with Celestron. One is the way the photo is taken, which is a clicker on the USB cable. That helps keep the microscope still while clicking a photo, and I believe there is also a delay setting for that also. The other thing is being able to take a full coin photo. It was explained to me that where the microscope connects to the stand, that will loosen up and you can swivel the scope to one side or another which moves it away from the existing platform. So with it set on a sturdy surface (like a hardback book) that lifts the entire thing up about an inch, that allows enough depth to take a full coin photo of a Lincoln cent. (or a Canadian cent which happens to be the example). Another great feature is the ability to adjust the LED lights and actually turn them completely off. The Technical Support person did not have any other type of external lighting at his desk, just the normal lighting of an office, and that Canadian coin came out true color and clear.

Edit: I believe there is also a delay setting for that also.
Not sure so I sent an email to Celestron to find out, will let you all know what they say.

[Petespockets55]

Thanks Vivien for working on this.
I like the fact that it is American made and the images look good and are "normal".
My last scope (a competitor) had soft ware that was not updated when the new Windows came out so it is useless now. That is why I have a make do system I concocted to use my cell phone.
You may have answered this but does it have the ability to edit and add noted to images it has taken?
Looking forward learning more from them.

[jfines69]

Thanks Vivien for working on this.
I like the fact that it is American made and the images look good and are "normal".
My last scope (a competitor) had soft ware that was not updated when the new Windows came out so it is useless now. That is why I have a make do system I concocted to use my cell phone.
You may have answered this but does it have the ability to edit and add noted to images it has taken?
Looking forward learning more from them.

Did you try runnig the software in a different windows mode such as XP??? Some times that does the trick!!!

[jfines69]

That is a nice little microscope/camera... 5 mp is fairly good for most images... Wish they had a trillion mp camera then I could really over anal eyes With a longer post that would be able to adjust out far enough for a full coin image with out having to turn it around set on a book or hold it... Could even set it up to use a loupe for super magnification!!!

[TJ1952]

Great information Viv! Hmmm, I may have to upgrade my scope now. I'll have to start saving my penny's.

[duece2seven]

Great news, Viv! I will add more later but I can tell this will work very well with some tweaking. Lighting is the key. As for editing, there are several free programs that will allow you to edit in post. For the money this will be hard to beat. Good news! Take care.

Tracy

[VAB2013]

Thanks Vivien for working on this.
I like the fact that it is American made and the images look good and are "normal".
My last scope (a competitor) had soft ware that was not updated when the new Windows came out so it is useless now. That is why I have a make do system I concocted to use my cell phone.
You may have answered this but does it have the ability to edit and add noted to images it has taken?
Looking forward learning more from them.

You are welcome Cliff! Tracy was so nice to help and I have learned a lot from him! Some cell phones take good photos and your photos are very good!

The software does allow you to add notes to the images, and it's compatible with Mac and Windows XP and greater (Windows 7 and 10)

Thank you for asking!

[VAB2013]

That is a nice little microscope/camera... 5 mp is fairly good for most images... Wish they had a trillion mp camera then I could really over anal eyes With a longer post that would be able to adjust out far enough for a full coin image with out having to turn it around set on a book or hold it... Could even set it up to use a loupe for super magnification!!!

Thank you Jim! You know, we have all gone to many extremes to create the best photos we can with the different scopes we have. I think with what all we know, and very little tweaking, this microscope will create very nice images! The Celestron Handheld Digital Microscope Pro has 20x to 200x powers which is a lot more than what we need!

[VAB2013]

Great information Viv! Hmmm, I may have to upgrade my scope now. I'll have to start saving my penny's.

Thank you Tom! I am anxious to get one myself and start putting it to good use! You know how much heartache I have been dealing with with what I am currently using. It literally takes me forever to get a half way decent pic, it will be nice to be able to snap and go look at more Lincoln's!

[VAB2013]

Great news, Viv! I will add more later but I can tell this will work very well with some tweaking. Lighting is the key. As for editing, there are several free programs that will allow you to edit in post. For the money this will be hard to beat. Good news! Take care.

Tracy

Hello Tracy! Thank you so much for helping me with this research! I know you are very busy, and your knowledge on this subject is greatly appreciated! We may need your assistance on lighting techniques and software editing! Take care too! Thank you!