Daily Nature Fix: Home-Made iPhone Microscope Rig & Hunting Tardigrades. (Original Photos)
Hi folks. I'm a builder. And a hobbyist. And a hobbyist builder. A few years ago, I really wanted to mess around with super macro photo stuff, but wasn't up for buying a really expensive lens for our camera as I didn't know if that interest would last. (they come and go) My solution was to build a rig that would nearly turn my cell phone into a microscope.
That's a fruit fly. I mean the super tiny ones; D. melanogaster. It's blurry and isn't perfect, but the photo was taken with my old iPhone 4s. I was pretty happy with the results. Lets take a look at the rig:
In a nutshell, it's two levels of acrylic plexiglass suspended on bolts. See that little circle thing between the bolts? That's a lens that I took out of a laser pointer and secured into a hole that was drilled on the top layer of plexi. You set your phone on this top piece with it's camera looking through the lens. Then, the second layer of plexiglass is where you'd put your specimen. The wing nuts there are used to move the specimen up and down, which brings it in and out of focus. You can also put a light under both layers pointing up if you need to illuminate things better.
^^^This is a single puffy seed thing from a dandelion. You know, the things you blow away?
The real driving force behind me building this rig was too look for water bears in the backyard. They're also known more scientifically as tardigrades. These things are extremophiles, which means they're almost indestructible. Water bears are pretty much the toughest animals on earth and they can nearly be found anywhere that has moss or lichens. Anyway, after a bit of searching for these microscopic critters, I did find one. At least...... I think so.
I think the grayish colored thing is a water bear. I'm not sure what the smaller yellow thing is. I'm just going to assume its a super tiny octopus. lol
Thanks for reading! I try to post a nature-themed Daily Nature Fix blog every day. Please upvote if you enjoyed it and resteem if you found it especially interesting! Be sure to follow me @customnature so you'll never miss out on your nature fix! See you tomorrow. - Adam
*** These daily blogs showcase the natural world. It is all original content using photos, stories, and experiences from my own travels. ***
How terribly clever! And great photos, too. I'm impressed!
Awesome pictures! I like how you can see the fruit fly's individual eyes! And the "yellow thing" looks to be some sort of mite.
Thanks! Yeah, you're probably right. I still like the idea of a microscopic octopus though! lol
This is very perfect and puffy is amazing.
Wow outstanding your photography really nice .Resteemit done dear
Woah, thanks! Much appreciated!
Well the rig is still useful. You built it well enough
That's awesome!!! Might have to build one myself!!
Do it! As you can, it's not a very complicated build. lol It took me all of about 30 minutes to make.
From what I’ve seen, definitely looks like a water bear. Reminds me that I picked up a sub $20 USB microscope a while back and never used it. Thanks for reminding me of a forgotten interest.
I bought one of those too! I will say this rig worked a bit better for magnification though. Plus, I read somewhere that you could stack the laser lenses to double magnification.
Pretty cool little project, I use a $50 lens attachment for my macros.
Very cool! I too want to get into some macro, talked to Joleen about my options and prices awhile back...maybe someday.
Seems like nothing is cheap for anything that interests me. haha
Ok this is the coolest hobby build i've seen to date! can you make me one?!? I know what you mean about interests coming and going and not wanting to spend a lot just to try it once, lol. Do you still use it?
I haven't really used it in the last 2 or 3 years, really. I'll trade ya for it! Have any succulent pots??
Ive got all the succulent pots you could need - AND succulents to go with! I'm always in for an artist trade :D
My wife makes little air plant and succulent terrariums and sells them at shows from time to time. I'm always on the lookout for cool containers for her. Lets do this!
Ok, how can we make this happen? I live in what seems like succulent capital of the world, so if she's in need of plants, I've got you covered there, too. Succulents for SBD or SP, maybe? :P Ask your wife if she's heard of Dick Wright. He started hybridizing echeverias since the 50s and now does aloes, too. He made Raindrops and Afterglow, just to name a few of the more popular ones. If its in the E. Gibbaflora family, chances are Dick Wright created it. Anyways...his nursery is in my town. If she's looking for really special/unique/rare specimens, let me know!
Well, lets swap microscope for pots first. Ideally, she likes to get the plants not long before a show so that she doesn't have a ton of live things to take care of, but I'll definitely have her look up some of that information you just laid out. But yeah, as far as the trade goes, why don't you shoot me an email so we don't have to share private info out in the open. The addy is CustomNaturePA at gmail. At breakfast earlier today, I told her about the possible trade and she's excited!