Post by 150FromFundy on Jan 24, 2014 17:42:31 GMT -5
I recently bought a piece of Adamite from The Rock Shed. This piece was purchased more as an affordable short wave fluorescent mineral than a prized specimen that commanded limited shelf space.
This is Adamite on Limonite from the Ojuela Mine in Mapimi, Mexico.
Where things get really cool is having a look at some of the “micro” minerals and crystals that are hiding in the cavities of this rock under a digital microscope. My digital microscope is basically an illuminated tube camera. The zoom is imprecise, but these photos are taken somewhere between 10X and 100X. All these photos are zooms of the above rock. The Adamite is the green material. The other colours will take a little more research.
Adamite on Limonite + Unknowns
Darryl.
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Hey Mel!
I wanted to take the time to show you my set up because you should have one of these. This is a Celstron Digital Microscope which is basically a tube camera on a small tripod. The camera gets its power from your USB port and the images are visible on the computer screen. The software allows you to capture images, or make a movie. The software will also allow you draw on top of the digital image to make “micro” measurements of crystals, or bugs!
The drawbacks on this model are:
(1) the illumination creates too much flash back to photograph shiny surfaces like cabochons, and
(2) the focus is a little “clunky” for fine adjustments necessary when you are highly magnified.
Last time I looked these were in the $60 to $70 range, so purchasing one shouldn’t be the end of your retirement plans.
Cheers.
Darryl.