Features:

  • Mount this 10 megapixel Swiftcam onto your microscope's trinocular port or regular eyetube to record full-color pictures and videos
  • Reduction lens ensures that the camera displays an accurate field of view to the microscope's magnifications
  • Versatile mounting system -- the reduction lens will fit a 23.2mm ocular port or tube, included adapters fit 30mm and 30.5mm tube sizes
  • 10 megapixel camera
  • CD software for Windows, Mac, and Linux
I am an amature

I rate this product at 5 stars. That does not mean that there were no problems. There were two disappointments about this purchase. Neither of the disappointments have to do with the performance of the camera. They have to do with the software packaging that drives the camera. I am a software engineer by trade. These sorts of things scream at me. First of all, almost NO laptops sold these days have an optical drive. For me and I imagine most people with up-to-date equipment the CD included was utterly useless. The second disappointment was that on the paperwork that comes with the camera there is no website listed and no directions describing how to download the software. After finding the website for the company there were no explicit instructions on how to find the needed software. I finally found it by guesswork and instinct. It took two days. I imagine the people making these decisions are brilliant engineers who don't realize they need to hire a marketing expert, and then listen to the expert they hire. This is a process that should have only taken minutes. Had someone on one of my teams presented me with such sloppy work I would have seriously considered firing them. Ease of set up and use should not be an afterthought, even if you expect that your primary audience are scientists or advanced amature geeks. Just because the engineers at Swiftcam know how the system works doesn't mean that information is psychically transmitted to your customers. Now that all the negative stuff is out of the way, once I found the software needed setting up the camera with my Swift SW350T microscope was a breeze. The image, even using the 100x objective, is wonderfully clear and the software, although it has a rather clunky UI, is easy to use and relatively intuitive. For my amature level this camera provides a very big "bang for the buck" and has helped me do soil analysis of my bonsai trees so that I can improve the overall biological health of the bonsai planting medium I use and hence grow better trees. Further, by connecting the camera to my Linux laptop I can couple my 55" 4K TV screen as an external monitor. The view is amazing. There has been more than once that friends have come over and we spent the evening making slides and putting viewing them on the "Big Screen" as it were. In fact one evening we were looking at a slide of live microbes from a soil sample and enjoyed watching the mitosis process of a particular specimen in real time. Loads of fun.

Simple to set up, good images

We got this camera and Swift microscope as a package deal, for homeschooling and doing biology at co-op. Though a different brand had been recommended, we went with Swift partly because reviews of the other brand's camera indicated it was a little lacking (at 5MP). So far, after looking at hair, yarn strands, insect parts, cheek cells and various other things, we are quite happy with the purchase. The software was easy to install, the camera attached to the microscope intuitively and simply, the computer recognized the camera immediately, and the kids (both old and young) love being able to see on the computer screen what is seen through the lenses without any perceptible degradation of resolution.

This is a great starter camera

This camera, 5MP, far exceeded my expectations, and my standards are rather high. I chose 5MP because resolution of microscopes aren't that high. Any higher resolution will not give me any more detail, but will create needlessly larger image files. A true professional cameras of this sort is in thousands of dollars range, so my expectations were rather low. To my GOOD surprise, the camera is made of very sturdy material, likely milled or die cast aluminum. Sleeves are metal, again, likely a milled aluminum tubing. I was expecting plastic. Nope. Good metal. Images are crisp or shall I say as crisp as I can see from ocular lens myself. Software is easy to use. Installed quickly and needed no fiddling around. That's a surprise, too. Color is good, and I use calibrated LCD monitors with >100% RGB coverage. Since microscopy is my hobby, I don't see why I would want anything more. I will also be using this camera for electronics repair in combination with stereo scopes. Will be very nice to have this and having image projected on large LCD panel while I work on tiny SMD components. I am very happy with this product.

A Good Photo Option for Small Laboratories

I have used this camera on two of my microscopes (an Olympus stereo and a Bristoline compound) with very good results. I would have given the picture quality a 4.5 as it really provides a very usable image on both scopes, but could be a bit sharper. The software is very easy to use and provides an amazing number of options to adjust the image without the need for any other photo software. The camera has a very nice build and is rock solid. I use the 30mm adapter (included) for the stereoscope and the standard tube for the compound. Both systems are provide a precise fit without any wobble or focusing issues. It probably would not be considered a research quality instrument, but for most applications in laboratories and teaching, it works just fine and is well worth the price.

Good CCD camera for the price

I used this CCD camera with my Nikon e100 microscope. It is easy to use and takes good quality images. The software is intuitive and functional. Several adapters allow use of the CCD with different size eyepiece receptacles. I'm happy with the purchase, received the camera promptly, and would recommend it to others. Photos appended: renal glomerulus, Balantidum coli parasite, Trichuris egg, Trypanosoma parasites, Difiliaria immitis parasites -- all 1000X.

Great camera!

Considering the price, portability, quality, and ease of use, this is a fantastic camera. Company is very responsive also! I had some software compatibility problems (my computer is not able to update to the new apple software so it was completely my issue). They provided me with an older compatible version of their software and were extremely helpful. Software is very easy to use!

Software was easy to use

The camera was recognize after opening the software. Picture quality is good, but default file format is bit map which makes the files large; not a problem since I normally post process and save the final images in jpg. I will need a 0.5x Barlow lens to match my x10 eye pieces. Overall I am pleased with the camera.

Swiftcam 16 Megapixel Camera for Microscope

So far I've used my product for a short time and it seems to be working really well. I don't have anything to compare it to and I am happy so far with it and recommend it for your own use.

Can’t go wrong for the money

As a replacement to my 3000$ microscope camera, this far exceeded my expectations in terms of interface, software ease of use, and picture quality. I use an Apple btw and it’s more difficult to find software for this OS.

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