High-Definition Video Capture and Editing, using Sony's HDR-HC1 camcorder in Configuration 4.

Detail of the amphid of Hemiplectus muscorum cropped at original resolution from HD video captured with the HDR-HC1 camcorder.

At 600x300 pixels this detail is only one-tenth the area of the original 1920x1080 pixel image!

Note the clearly visible fovea, canalis and fusus with dendrites.

 

HDV camcorders are now available from all major manufacturers for only $800-$1500!

They allow superb quality video to be captured at relatively low cost on any microscope with room for a camera adapter.

We started out with Sony's pioneering consumer HDV model HDR-HC1 which records to regular MiniDV tape.

Recording to tape has the advantage of creating a "master copy" that does not suffer the risk of loss when hard disks crash or files get overwritten.

On the other hand, it requires an extra step (and therefore extra time) to capture recorded video from tape and transfer it to computer.

A full list of parts is given below.

Next > a close-up of what sets this configuration apart from the previous ones.

 

Detailed list of parts:


Combined cost is approximately US$32,000. Optical and camera components are independent of whether you use Mac or PC. All brand names mentioned are registered trademarks of the respective companies listed here.

I. Optics

  1. Olympus BX51 microscope with transmitted light arm, lamphouse, 8-position universal condenser, mechanical stage, 7-position DIC nosepiece and trinocular observation tube with 10x eyepieces.
  2. Objectives: Plan Achromat 2x; Plan Semi-Apochromat 4x, 10x, 20x; Apochromat 40X oil 340nmUV NA1.35-0.65; Plan Apochromat 60x oil NA1.40
  3. DIC optics: HR prism for 20x and 60x objectives;Analyzer; Gout slider adapter; Transmitted DIC prism slider
  4. Drawing attachment (essential for annotating clips as you record - click here to see why).
  5. Simple magnification changer 1x/1.25x/1.6x/2x.
  6. 1x video adapter + C-mount camera adapter
  7. 0.5x CCD camera adapter (interchanges with item 6 above)
  8. 0.35x CCD camera adapter (interchanges with item 6 above)
  9. Martin Microscopes adapter MM99 for the Sony HDR-HC1


II. High Definition Video camera recorder

  1. Sony HDR-HC1


III. Computer hardware

  1. Macintosh iMac G5 with single 2.0 GHz processor, 2 Gb 400MHz SDRAM, 20-inch widescreen LCD, internal 250 Gb SATA 7200 rpm hard drive, 8x SuperDrive DVD/CD-RW, keyboard and wireless mouse


IV. Computer software

  1. MacOS X Tiger
  2. Apple Final Cut Studio (including most importantly Apple Final Cut Pro 5.1 and Apple Compressor 2)
  3. Apple QuickTime Player 7.1.2
    4.