What is the current state of the art professional digital microphotography setup available to image gemstones?
I photograph gemstones and want to know what is the most advanced digital microphotography system available to photograph these most challenging subjects for highest quality. I’m currently using a Nikon Coolpix camera attached to one of the oculars of a Leica microscope. Major drawbacks include great difficulty in critical focusing of tiny blemishes/nicks on stones because focusing is done on 1.5 inch grainy LCD screen on camera. Another drawback is unidirectional lighting coming from bolt on light source on microscope stage-I think I need 360 degree diffused lighting as otherwise some portions of stone are dark with current light setup. I have experimented with other light sources, like pipe type illuminators, but they are too strong and create hotspots in the stones. What is ideal light source–I think it must be diffused and 360 degree surrounding the stone. I’m looking for a dedicated system ideally where camera, scope and light system are made by same manufacturer.
I have had great success with using an inexpensive digital camera and a printers loupe.
It is really just a matter of the optics.
For a light source, I would suggest a light diffuser and 360 degree lighting. With a diffuser, you can vary the intensity of the light without losing the lighting angle.
BTW, I was shooting coins, not gemstones but I did manage to get coins to fill the entire viewable area of a 4MP shot with just the camera and a 10X loupe. it picked out flaws in the coin that were not seen with the naked eye.
For the right price, you could have an all in one system built for you. It would be quite interesting to build one.
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