Celestron Handheld Digital Microscope Pro

[VAB2013]

I have tried several but Helicon Filter software is the best I've used for the money. It's very good. The software far exceeds my technical capabilities for sure. Ray Parkhurst could explain this much better than me but it basically let's you tweak your pics nine ways from Sunday. I let my license expire recently and the one thing I can't remember is if Helicon Filter also includes focus stacking? Their site doesn't say. If not, I know Helicon Focus does. They also used to offer a free 30-60 day trial but I didn't see that offered any longer. Either way the Filter license is only $10-15 per year or you can spend $50 and get the lifetime license. Here's the link below. Check it out and see what you think.

http://www.heliconsoft.com/helicon-filter-licenses/

Thanks Tracy! Is the Helicon Focus the same as Helicon Stereo? Not a bad price at all!

It does say:

"Helicon Filter is a shareware program. You can evaluate a fully functional trial version for 30 days. Once the trial period is over, a big promotional banner will appear on the screen until you register the program."

...must be the cherry moon
lol.. my font changed and I can't find the right one

[duece2seven]

Thanks Tracy! Is the Helicon Focus the same as Helicon Stereo? Not a bad price at all!

It does say:

"Helicon Filter is a shareware program. You can evaluate a fully functional trial version for 30 days. Once the trial period is over, a big promotional banner will appear on the screen until you register the program."

...must be the cherry moon
lol.. my font changed and I can't find the right one

Help I'm drowning in moonshine! .
I'm not familiar with the Stereo version, Viv. You might PM Ray and see if he knows.

[jfines69]

Thanks Tracy! Is the Helicon Focus the same as Helicon Stereo? Not a bad price at all!

It does say:

"Helicon Filter is a shareware program. You can evaluate a fully functional trial version for 30 days. Once the trial period is over, a big promotional banner will appear on the screen until you register the program."

...must be the cherry moon
lol.. my font changed and I can't find the right one

It changed because of the copy and paste operation... The standard font size is close to 3... You can adjust that above in the drop down menu window that states Size... I am typing with the Size 3!!!

[jfines69]

I use the Helicon Focus software... Since I am no photographer it is easier for me to get fairly decent pics without needing to take 100s of pics to get 1 good 1... Using the stacking I can take only 3 images and get a fairly good pic... The more I stack the more details show up and with enough images converting to a 3D pic is easy!!!

[VAB2013]

I use the Helicon Focus software... Since I am no photographer it is easier for me to get fairly decent pics without needing to take 100s of pics to get 1 good 1... Using the stacking I can take only 3 images and get a fairly good pic... The more I stack the more details show up and with enough images converting to a 3D pic is easy!!!

Thank you Jim, that answered my question! So Helicon Focus has stacking.

[ray_parkhurst]

Thanks for moving this to the Coin Photography subforum. I had missed it earlier.

For editing, I use Canon's Digital Photo Professional. It's a free download. Go to:

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/cameras/support-dslr/eos-rebel-xs?tab=drivers#Z7_MQH8HIC0L88RB0AMD0F1Q42K25

Select the "Drivers and Downloads" tab, and select Digital Photo Professional for download. It's a fairly powerful program that gives you superb and fairly intuitive control of the histogram, white balance, and cropping.

Helicon Focus is used for 2D focus stacking, and once you have completed the 2D stack, you have the option of working with the images in 3D using the included Helicon 3D.

[VAB2013]

Thanks for moving this to the Coin Photography subforum. I had missed it earlier.

For editing, I use Canon's Digital Photo Professional. It's a free download. Go to:

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/cameras/support-dslr/eos-rebel-xs?tab=drivers#Z7_MQH8HIC0L88RB0AMD0F1Q42K25

Select the "Drivers and Downloads" tab, and select Digital Photo Professional for download. It's a fairly powerful program that gives you superb and fairly intuitive control of the histogram, white balance, and cropping.

Helicon Focus is used for 2D focus stacking, and once you have completed the 2D stack, you have the option of working with the images in 3D using the included Helicon 3D.

Great information Ray, thank you very much! We are gathering as much information as we can because everyone's needs are different. Your professional advice is greatly appreciated!!!

[ray_parkhurst]

I went ahead and bought one of these to test. Most of the ones I've seen are not worth the trouble but it seems you guys are getting good results so I will put some effort into this one. Will be interesting to see what it can do.

[VAB2013]

I went ahead and bought one of these to test. Most of the ones I've seen are not worth the trouble but it seems you guys are getting good results so I will put some effort into this one. Will be interesting to see what it can do.

You have already ordered the Celestron Handheld Pro?

[ray_parkhurst]

Yes, from Amazon. Should arrive next week.

[VAB2013]

Yes, from Amazon. Should arrive next week.

This is so great! I didn't even ask... very big smile on this girls' face Ray, thank you so much! Well folks, the Celestron Handheld Digital Microscope Pro will soon be in the hands of a photography expert! Can't ask for anything better than that!

[ray_parkhurst]

I got my Celestron USB scope yesterday, and tested it out a bit last night and today. I am not done with the evaluation but wanted to give some first impressions before going further:

- The scope plugged in and worked first time upon running the program. No issues with installation. I'm running Win7 Pro
- The minimum magnification is just a bit too low to frame a full Lincoln Cent. It's a shame the post on the stand is not a bit taller, as that would allow a full Cent to be framed
- The focus adjust knob is very stiff. I don't know why, as it doesn't need to be. I'm going to try to loosen it up.
- Because of the way the optics work, it operates in 2 ranges: Low mag from slightly smaller than a Cent to about 1/2 of a Cent; High mag starting at slightly smaller than the date and going down to a wide MM shot.
- The "dead zone" magnification range is an important one...it includes the "money shot" of the full date and MM. I think this can be improved with some modifications and I will try to do this.
- The scope claims "full 5MP sensor" but I don't believe it. I took shots in 5MP, 3MP, 2MP, and 1.3MP modes. I find the best resolution in the 3MP mode.
- The software gives no control over exposure, white balance, etc. It's very simple to use, but does not allow best performance to be adjusted. It told me there was a "new" driver and program, but it just pointed to the same one that came with the scope
- Lighting is VERY blue, so much so that it's impossible to do a simple white balance adjustment after shooting. This basically means the lights are not useable for imaging with true color. I was able to do some level of adjustment after the fact but it's not particularly accurate
- The software over-sharpens the image. This is somewhat expected due to the relatively low resolution, but it limits the ability to focus stack
- The limited resolution makes 3D rendering almost impossible (see example below)

Here is a an image at max magnification without any adjustments:



Same image with some level of WB compensation:



Here is a 6-image stack of the same view:



Here is the same stacked image, rendered in 3D. The high level of noise shows the resolution is not sufficient for 3D rendering:



Now, this is not a huge problem, as I was not expecting the scope to be able to do 3D rendering, but I was hoping it could!

Here is the lowest magnification available in the "high" range I described above:



My next steps are:

Remove the clear plastic shield limiting working distance. This should allow a wider range of magnification, hopefully allowing the "money shot" to be framed.
Remove the LED lights and replace with a diffuser
Possibly cut the end of the body to give more lighting flexibility

[TJ1952]

WoW!! That is sweetness!! Brilliant pics Ray!!

[VAB2013]

Thank you very much Ray! It is so cool that you are testing the Celestron Handheld Pro! Your images look great, there's certainly hope for us amateurs! I think your next steps will be even more exciting!

[ray_parkhurst]

I tried shooting with my usual Jansjo LED lights, and it became quickly obvious that the scope is heavily-optimized for white balance using the on-board LEDs. These LEDs have low R and very high B, so the R channel is cranked up and B is suppressed. When trying to use a Jansjo, which is a "warm" LED with lots of R, the R channel is driven to saturation. I must conclude it's not possible to white balance using the Jansjos. The best you can do is using the internal LEDs and adjust white balance manually with a gray reference, then use those settings to adjust levels on each image. That's what I did with the images above.