Testing the Apexel 200X LED Lens: A Microscope for Your Phone

I acquired a request from Apexel to evaluate a telephone accent that connects to microscopes, telescopes, or binoculars. I replied to tell them that I had none of these items of kit however I could be all in favour of reviewing a macro or microscope attachment to cell phones.

The corporate agreed and fairly rapidly shipped the microscope attachment — I’m ready for the macro attachment. The worth tag on these equipment is lower than $40 every.

Full disclosure: A free evaluate unit of the lens was offered for the aim of this evaluate. Though I didn’t pay for the evaluate pattern, the hyperlinks you see on this article should not affiliate hyperlinks.

Apexel 200x LED Microscope Lens

I don’t depend on my telephone’s digicam as my main and even secondary pictures instrument. Sure, I take some footage with it to file one thing or after I should not have a digicam with me. The microscope adaptor intrigued me because it opened the opportunity of utilizing my telephone digicam for one thing I can not do with my Canon R7.

I used to be notified when the 200X LED Microscope Lens was shipped and I adopted its travels over 8,300 miles from China. It arrived in a plastic bag with product packaging inside. The product packaging was barely crushed however didn’t trigger any hurt to the microscope lens or its charging cable. Listed here are the package deal contents.

As you possibly can see, the consumer handbook could be very small and laborious to learn. I scanned its English pages and created a PDF file for simpler studying. After checking that each one the items had been intact, I dealt with the microscope to take an image of it in my hand to present a way of dimension. Right here is that image together with one which reveals the attachment by itself.

The urge to strive it on the telephone was robust, and I began pushing it in opposition to issues close by. Oh, my corduroy pants. How about my shirt? Oh, oh, my furry fingers can be good …

Corduroy pants
Shirt texture
Finger hairs

I rapidly realized that this attachment can be a problem to make use of. It moved on the telephone as I attempted to the touch it to a topic, I needed to zoom in at the least a bit of to cowl the total body, and it favored flat topics. My shaky palms had been part of the issue, however the setup was too unstable for me. I needed to regroup and method it in another way.

Charging the Microscope Lens Mild

The 200X LED Microscope Lens has a tiny built-in LED gentle to light up the topic beneath it. It has a built-in battery that prices with a USB wire. The USB-C finish goes into the lens and the USB-A finish into the pc USB port or a plug-in charger port. You must push it in till it snaps and the ability button activates. The sunshine is crimson whereas it’s charging and turns inexperienced when the battery is absolutely charged.

Battery charging
Battery charged

Missing the Mannequin With CPL

Once they provided to ship a pattern for me to evaluate, I requested for the mannequin that had a round polarizer in-built. Sadly, they despatched a evaluate pattern with out that function. I used to be all in favour of doing a little cross-polarized lighting experiments.

I dug up outdated plastic sheets of polarizers and began searching for cellophane. When positioned between two such filters, cellophane layers create random colours that I wished to {photograph}. We don’t use a lot cellophane today and I needed to open a really outdated package deal of cigarettes going again to 1990 after I give up smoking.

Subsequent, I needed to discover a gentle supply and I lucked out with a big LED lantern. I positioned a paper serviette on the entrance glass to diffuse and scale back the sunshine and commenced experimenting. The thickness of the polarizing plastic made specializing in the cellophane between two sheets nearly not possible. However, I’ve some frames to share, primarily summary creations somewhat than microscopic ones. Click on on thumbnails to see massive photographs.

Discover Some Flat Topics

After these experiments, I wanted to seek out some flat topics like wooden veneer, a leaf, or a compact flash card. If you happen to watch different critiques and their movies, together with these really useful by Apexel you will note that holding the topic in a single hand and making use of the telephone with the microscope attachment on it’s the popular manner of photographing. In case your palms should not as shaky as mine, that’s!

I discovered inserting the topic on a flat floor and inserting the telephone on it. Even then, the motion of the telephone and the microscope was unavoidable. The utmost angle of protection appears to be an space of a couple of quarter inch sq.. After zooming in, it will get smaller. When you have a number of lenses for wide-angle or telephoto pictures, zooming in or out an excessive amount of might change the lens leaving the microscope adaptor out of the image, no pun supposed.

Activate the Mild

Earlier than you interact the lens with the topic, press and maintain the change on the Apexel microscope attachment to activate its tiny ring gentle, then convey the face of the microscope and contact the topic. Whether it is fluffy, like corduroy pants or a fading rose petal, any half that protrudes into the lens cavity will likely be out of focus. There may be virtually no depth of discipline on this microscope attachment.

A leaf, reveals darkish edges as a result of not zoomed in
Shamrock leaf
Dried rose bud
Drying leaf
Drying leaf
Wooden veneer
Inkjet print
Small brush
Compact flash card
1 / 4

Recommendations for Enchancment

Just a few adjustments might make this attachment simpler to make use of:

  • I’m not positive if that is potential, but when the attachment had been a bit of thinner it will not want to the touch the topic
  • A skinny sheet of rubber on the flat facet that touches the lenses on the telephone will make it steadier on the telephone
  • Ditto for a extra rubbery clip that rests on the telephone floor and a bit of bigger floor of the clip touching the telephone glass
  • A locking mechanism as soon as the correct place is obtained on the telephone. I attempted a rubber band however that didn’t work
  • A built-in polarizer on all fashions

Abstract

  • Apexel 200X LED Microscope Lens is an fascinating accent if you wish to see issues up shut, very shut
  • Upon receiving your lens, plug it in to cost the battery to have its tiny ring gentle prepared
  • Place the microscope lens in entrance of your telephone’s customary digicam lens and heart it though I attempted it with the telephoto lens and it really works to yield totally different sorts of photographs
  • If you happen to see darkish corners, that you must zoom in on the telephone display which is able to enhance the magnification
  • If you happen to zoom in or out an excessive amount of, your telephone might shift to a different lens and you’ll lose the picture by means of the 200X microscope lens
  • Attempt to use flat or close-to-flat topics if you need sharp images
  • Contact the Apexel lens to the topic to focus
  • Mud off the topic, every bit of mud might look gigantic
  • Attempt the attachment with and with out the telephone case to see which one provides you higher focusing
  • Steadier palms than mine will scale back a number of the issues I skilled

A Second Pair of Eyes and Arms

After I completed working with the microscope attachment, I requested my pal Dennis to present it a strive. He’s a extremely achieved photographer and an excellent drawback solver basically. His engineering background and extremely expert palms earned him the nickname, MacGyver!

What follows are his observations — in his personal phrases — and images he offered. And you’ll see his work on his Web page. I’ll put a hyperlink to one in all my favorite photos of Dennis, you possibly can transfer round from there.

Preliminary Observations With Flat Topics

Having had the good thing about Cemal’s expertise with the microscope attachment, I knew to have care when utilizing the gadget on my telephone because the lens is liable to misalignment. My first captures utilizing the Apexel 200x Smartphone Microscope had been flat topics at hand, fabric, pores and skin, and impossibly small print, and grew to incorporate element from cash and stamps and different objects in my workshop akin to sandpaper and carbide noticed tip. I additionally discovered that the telephone grip I take advantage of presents a fantastic benefit in holding the telephone regular and in addition as a stand for photographing skinny topics on a flat floor.

Carbide noticed tip
Coarse sand paper
Coin element 1
Coin element 2
Curtain cloth with further backlight
Stamp element 1
Stamp element 2

Three-Dimensional Topics

Three-dimensional topics pose challenges as a result of very shallow depth of discipline, making it tough to seize part of the topic that has an curiosity. Nonetheless, the out-of-focus elements of the picture have a clean tender look. Whereas close by parts are tender, sufficient of the character of the topic is displayed. Had these exams occurred at one other time of 12 months, there can be many pure topics to strive with the microscope adapter.

Christmas cactus 1
Christmas cactus 2
Christmas cactus 3
Dried vegetation
Primrose petals
Primrose stamen 1
Primrose stamen 2
Primrose stamen 3
Rasp tooth 1
Rasp tooth 2

Magnification Exams

One element was readily obvious; the magnified picture was not near 200X magnification. For a greater appreciation of the achievable magnification, I captured photographs of a machinist’s scale and located the magnification is managed by the zoom setting of the smartphone digicam. I set the digicam at a digicam zoom setting of 1.0X there’s some nook vignetting of the picture on the display. Adjusting the magnification to 1.2X eliminates the vignette. The picture of the millimeter scale that was photographed was displayed on the display and the dimensions was positioned on prime of it to indicate a magnification of roughly 10X. No measurement of the next captures at 2.0x, 2.9X 5.1X, and 9.5X digicam zoom settings. The pictures right here present a visible comparability of the magnification.

Attachment with digicam grip
Scale 1x
Scale 1-3x
Magnification
Scale 2x
Scale 2-9x
Scale 5-1x
Scale 9-5x

Abstract

The Apexel 200x Smartphone Microscope is on no account a scientific instrument, nor would you anticipate it to be on the low marketed value. It’s a novelty lens, and in case you have topics which can be flat this generally is a enjoyable attachment to make use of.

Nonetheless, in case you have endurance and desire a problem, this will also be a enjoyable attachment to make use of in capturing three-dimensional topics, holding in thoughts that for this quantity of magnification, the photographs exhibit a razor-thin depth of discipline, and at greater magnifications, positioning the topic correctly will take loads of endurance and observe.

Cemal’s suggestion of a skinny rubber backing on the lens element and a bigger, extra tactile foot on the clip element can be desired enhancements.


Concerning the writer: A. Cemal Ekin is a photographer based mostly in Warwick, Rhode Island who has been taking pictures for roughly 60 years. The opinions expressed on this article are solely these of the writer. Ekin retired as a professor of promoting emeritus from Windfall School in 2012 after 36 years of service there. Go to his web site here. This text was additionally revealed here.

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