Olympus MIC-D User manual

OLYMPUS '
Quick Start Guide

Learn more about your MIC-D, down-load free software and explore
vast image libraries at the Olympus MIC-D website.
Focus
Control
Knob
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_ ..
. _-
- -_ ..
._ --
-Rotation
Ann
Slide
MIC ·O Oblique Illumination Mode
LED illuminator
~ /j C~anrr£1
~ -' (Wires
illuminator
Head
Diffusion
FlIler- ~
Condenser
Lens---
Stage Glass
Body
Housing
Focus ing"""':
Lens-
Reflected"'-
Light
Port
Zoom
Handle-
Ellipt iCally . nd Ci~u lllrty Pol.,.tzod Li9 h tW .~ ••
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Abs orpti on Spo<:lta 01Human Visual P ig me n ~
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Detailed software installation instructions may also be found at the MIC-D Website

Quick Start Guide
In the lab or in the field, the Olympus MI C-D por table digita l microscope
captures still and moving images instantly. This Quick Start Guide will
int roduce you to the MIC-D's i nnovat ive design and spectacular imaging
capabilities, so
yo u'll be up and taking p ictur es in no time.
MIC-D Pa
rts Explained
MIC-D
Software Introduction
Choos ingYour Specimen
MIC-D
Basic Controls
Illumination Technique
Image Capture Window
Still Imagesand Mov
ies
Time Lapse Movies
Sav ingImages
Library Window
- ViewingCaptured Images
Image
Process ingWindow
Line Drawingand Annotation
Image Manipulation and Adjustme
nts
Polarized Light Kit
2-3
4-5
6
7
B-9
10-11
12-13
14
15-1B
19
20
21-22
23

2
Get To Know The M C-D
Lamp Head "-
Light Diffuser~
Stage '\.
Optical Zoom
Control
'\.
Magnification
Indicator
Base
Tilting
Lamp Arm
/
(
Focus Control
/
Light Intensity
Control
/

3
....._ Lamp /;I e a d ~~
The Lamp Head contains an extremely bright white L. E.D. This device is brighter than an
ordinary bulb and uses less power. The Lamp Head rotates slightly to allow fine tuning to
the illumination angle. Make sure th
at it is rotated all the way clockwise for Transmitt ed
Light work (Brightfield) and all the way co unte r clockwise for Re fl ected Li ght work.
....._ Li ght Diffuser __
The Li ght Diffuser can be pushed in and pulled out. Keep the Diffuser a ll the way in
during Transmitted
Li ght Illumination, and a ll the way out for Re fl ected Li ght
Ill umination. Vary as ne eded for Oblique and Darkfield settings.
....._I ilting Lamp Arm
Adjustments to the angle of the L amp Arm are the key to the differ en t illumination
techniques. Use the live image to guide adjustments. The Arm should be set to the
vertical position for Transmitted
Lig ht, to 11 o'clock for Ob lique Ill umination and to about
10:30 f or Darkfield. The arm should be rotated all the way counter clockwise for the
Reflect
ed Li ght Setting.
...... Gliding Stage __
The Gliding Stage is the platform to place specimens or samples for observation. The MIC-
D's Stage glides 5mm in any horizontal direction,
and can be ro tat ed 360 degrees. Use
the Gliding Stage to adjust the specimen position. Reme
mbe r t hat up, down and rotational
movements are inverted.
_ -.Lo oom Control
The MIC-D boasts an all glass optical zoo m l en s to enable continuous magnification
changes. The magnification range is an amazing 22x to 255x.
_ -I 'vlagnification Indicator
Use the Magnification Scale to read the zoom pow er, by aligning the scale markings on
the blue
zoom handle to the spot below. Adjust the Magnification Slide Bar in the Image
C
apture software window to match the setting on the MIC-D, in order to calibrate the
scale marking in the live image window and captured image.
....._ Light Intensity. Control
Li ght intensity (and focus) should be initially set with the zoo m at minimum pow er to
prevent under exposure. The
MI C-D's exposure setti ng will then be auto mat ically
adjusted to maintain consistent brightness in
the live image. For Reflected Li ght
Illumin
at ion turn the Lig ht Int en sity Control to maximum.
....._ F. ocus Control
Rotate this knob to bring specimens and samples into clear focus. The MIC-D's lens can
focus on surfaces up to 5mm above the stage.

4
MIC-D Software
Image Capture
Window
.-
.-
Library
Window
Image Processing
Window
ki l

5
MIC-D Software
The MIC-D Software enables you to view, capture, process and
annotate images in three simple windows.
Io-_Image Capture Window
Capture and save still and moving images viewed in the Live
Image Window with the simple click of a mouse button. You can
view all of your captured images in
the tile bar below the live
window. The scale bar, light intensity and image format may also
be adjusted here.
Io-_ Li bra r. y. Window
The Library Window is where you can view your captured
images as thumbnails or in
full size. Still images may be
displayed side by side for comparison purposes. Moving images
may also viewed here.
Io-_Image P- rocessing Window
Annotation, color and brightness adjustments are performed in
this window. Digital zooming as well as white and black
balancing functions are available for selection.

6
Choose Your 5 ecimen or Sam ~le
With the MIC-D 's inv erted lens design, you can image just about any sample,
regardless of its shape or whether light can pass through it- thanks to the Reflected
Light capacity. Micros cope slide preparations and thin, translucent specimens can
be
viewed in Brightfield ,Oblique or Darkfield . Use Oblique Illumination to
highl ight structural details and Darkfield for low contrast specimens. Oblique
Illumination will shade rises and depressions in your specimen orsample. Darkfield
can be used to emphasize color . Use Refle cted Light for anything large and opaque.
Don't
forget that for field work you can use the MIC-D anywhere you can take a
laptop computer.
Tr an smitt ed
Light
!Brightfield!
Oarkfield
Reflected
Light
Obliq
ue Illumin ation

7
MIC-D Basic Controls
Let's start by getting familiar with the basic hardware controls . Keep an
eye on the
Live Image Window as you manipulate the MIC-D controls .
Make sure that the Light Diffuser is pushed in, the Illumination Arm is in
the vertical position and the lamp head is rotated fully clockwise . Turn
the MIC-D's light source on and increase the light intensity by turning the
control clockwise, about one half as far as it will go . The MIC-D will
automatically make adjustments tothe light intensity after it is initially set.
Turn the Optical Zoom Control to a minimum setting. The Optical Zoom
Control enables the user to physically adjust the position of the
microscope's
lens to obtain magnification powers from 22x to 255x!
Bring the specimen into focus in the Live Image Window by rotating the
Focus Control Knob. Make any final adjustments to the light intensity.
Notice that the Gliding Stage Moves freely in any direction. Moving the
Gliding Stage instead ofthe specimen or sample will allow you to scroll
the image smoothly, even at high magnification . When you have found
an interesting deta il, center it in the Live Image Window and zoom in.
Continue to
make adjustments to the focus as needed.

8
Illumination Techni9 _ue _
There are four different i ll umination techniques that you can use to
view your specimen or sample
Transmitted Li ght
Use thistechnique to viewconventional microscope slidesor especially
thin specimens.
This technique is also known as 'Brightfield'.
1. Rotate the Illumination Arm fully clockwise to the vertical position.
.Rotate the
Lamp Head fully counter clockwise.
3. Push in the Light Diffuser
Obli que and Darkfield Illumination
Use either of these techniques on any transmitted light specimen or
sample to emphasize contrast.
Use Oblique Illumination to highlight
structural detail by shadowing the 'hills' and 'valleys'.
Use Darkfield
to create a black background and to emphasize specimen color.
1. Rotate the Lamp Head counter-clockwise.
2. Pull out the Light Diffuser.Adjustments to the light diff-
user position may be required.
3. Slowly rotate the Illumination Arm counter-clockwise:
-
For Oblique Illumination rotate the arm until the back-
ground just begins to darken. Three dimensional details
should displaya shadowing effect.
-
For Darkfield Illumination rotate the Illum ination Arm
further counter-clockwise. Stop when the background
turns black.
Best results are achieved at high
magnification.

9
Illumination Techni 9 _ue _
4. Make an y final adjustments to the Illumination Arm and Lamp
Head angle so that the background appears evenly lit.
R efl ected Li ght
Use the Reflected Light Illumination setting to view opaque specimens
and sample s- Le. acircuit board ora frog 's skin.
•
Rotate the Illumination Arm fully counter-clockwise .
2. Rotate the Lamp Head fully clockwise.
3. Pull out the Light Diffuser and turn the Light Intensity Control
all the way up.

10
MIC-D Software
I.ooo- Image Capture Window
Li ve Image Window
Ca pture Image, Sav e Image and Tim e Lapse Tabs
La
st Captu re d Image
Image Captu
re
Re cord Movie
Set Sca le
Man
ua l Expo su re
Se tting
'SaveTo' Directory
Resolution Adj
us tment
Sti ll Image Format
S
el ected
Image
(c ir cle d)
Captured Im
age s
Film
St rip
MovingI
mage
Format
Er a se S elected Capt u red
Image Double C
lick on the
Li ve Im age Wi ndow to
goto
Full Scree nMode!

11
MIC-D Software
I....-. Image Capture Window
The Image Capture Window iswhere you 'take' or 'capture' still and moving
images viewed in
the Live Image Window. Capturing images is as simple as
clicking on
the Image Capture button (ol to capture aphoto, or clicking
on
the Record Movie button ;;. to record a movie - one click to start
recording and another to finish. After you click to finish recording the
computer will take amoment to load the new movie.
The last image that was captured
will be displayed in the Last Image
Captured Window.
Other images captured in the same session are
displayed in the
Film Strip at the bottom of the screen.
J
In the bottom right corner of the Live Image Window there is a Scale Bar.
This needs to be adjusted to match
the optical zoom level of the
microscope. To do this, first read the zoom level from the scale below the
Optical Zoom Control of the microscope,then set the Slide Bar in the Image
Capture Window to
the same value. The software will adjust the Scale bar
in
the Live Image Window.
The MIC-D Software
will automatically set the camera exposure setting to
match
the zoom level when 'Auto-Exposure' is selected. De-select 'Auto
Exposure' to adjust
the exposure manually using the slide bar.
C!J Ad "MU !, " ' ~
~ lIIlI . __
To save images, first give them aname and then select a fold er to save them
to. It is re
commended that you do not use the default Library Folder.
Instead, create aspecial folder for MIC-D images on your hard drive.
llll IIlIEl 1IIIIlII ~
. ~ 1lllII· 1IIIIlII ·
The format and resolution of captured still and moving images may also be
changed.
Still images can be saved in either ]pEG, TIFF or BMP formats.
Moving Images may be saved in either
MPEG or AVI formats.

12
MIC-D Software
.....-. ........ ne Lapse Movie Recording
Time Lapse
Mov ie Recording
Tab
Record
Mo vie-
Start/Stop
Timelapse:
Select On
/Off
Integral Select-
Seconds
Integral Select-
Mi nutes
Numb er Of Frames
Select

13
MIC-D Software
..... _I,ime Lapse Movies Explained
Time Lapse Movies are 'fast-motion' movies, where amoving image sequence is
created by rapidly playing back several still images that are taken in sequence
over aperiod of time. Each individual still image comprises asingle frame of the
finished movie. Time Lapse Movies appear faster than life because the time
between each frame of the finished movie when it is played back is shorter than
the time that passed between each frame being captured. The amount of time
that passes between the capture of each still image is called the integral, and it
can be measured in minutes or seconds. The longer the integral, the speedier
the movie will appear. So, to make arelatively short, fast motion movie of a
process
that takes avery long time, like root growth, an integral of many minutes
should be chosen. To make amovie of a relatively fast process, such as salt
crystals dissolving in cool water, an integral of a few
seconds should be chosen.
,--_ Iim Lapse Movie Record Tab
Click on this tab to pull up the Time Lapse Movie Recording Window
,--_ l ime Lapse Select On/Of
When this button is blue, the Time Lapse function is off, and pressing the Record
Movie will record a normal video sequence in real time. Click on this button to
turn
the Time Lapse function on. The button will turn red. Clicking on the button
again will exit Time Lapse Mode.
....._Integral Select,Minutes
Use this pull-down menu to select an integral measured in minutes. For instance,
if this integral is set to
'2', then one frame will be captured every two minutes.
,--_ Integral Select,Seconds
Use this pull-down menu to select an integral measured in seconds. Ifthe minutes
integral is also set, then add the selected number of seconds to the minutes. For
instance, if 2 is displayed under minutes and 25 is displayed under seconds, then
one frame will be captured every 2 minutes and 25 seconds.
..... _ N u m b e ~ Of Frames Select
Enter the number of frames that you want to be included in your movie here.
Entering more frames will create longer movies with larger file sizes. The length of
the finished movie is displayed here also.
You may stop arecording at any time.

14
MIC-D Software
....... Sav.ing Images
Click on the 'Save Image Tab' to save a captured still or moving image. First,
select afolder to save your images to. Remember that images in the Default
Folder risk being erased when the software is closed or
opened . You should save
your images to a special folder that you create, such as 'My MIC-D Photos' on
your Hard Drive. The small downward pointing arrow on the right side of the
'Folder Select/Browse' bar opens up a directory so that you can browse for a pre-
existing folder. Don't forget to give your images a name in the 'Image Name' bar.
Use a name
that will help you identify the image if you don't have it open, such
as 'Tomato Seed,
SOx Mag.' Finally, select the format that you want to save the
image in. Use either ]PEG,
BMP or TIFF for still images and AVI or MPEG for
moving images (including time-lapse movies). Don't forget to click on the 'Save'
button after you have entered your settings.
Save Image Tab
Folder
Select/Browse
Image
Name
Image Format
Se lect
Click To
Save

15
MIC-D Software
L....- Li brar¥ Window
Delete Image
Scroll Buttons
-Up/
Dow n
Se lected Image Information
-Date
-Time
-Resolution
-S ize
-Location
Save Image to Album
Saved Image Name
Se lected Image(s)
Display
se lected image(s) Full Sc reen
Image Processing
Display Movie
Print Image
Upload
Image(s)
SI I ()fII I d Saved Album Location
e ect mage s or p oa
Up load Album Location Saved Image Format

16
MIC-D Software
....._ Selected Images
Click on an Image Thumbnail to select it. Movie Thumbnails wi ll be displayed with
a movie icon in the bottom ri ght h and corner. Hold down the shift key while
clicking on several Thumbnails to select multiple sti ll images for si de by si de
comparison. Bri ng the images into fu ll view by clicking on the 'Display Selected
Im ages' button, or by double clicking on a single image.
....._ Display Selected Images Full Screen
Use this button to display selected Image Thumbnails in the full screen mode.
Selected Image Thumbnails are surroun
ded by a turquoise bor de r.
....._Image P. rocessing
Click on this button to go to the Image Processing Window. The selec ted Image
Thumbnail wi
ll appear in the Processing Window only.
....._ Display Movie
Click on this button to play a selected movie, or just double click on the Movie
Thumbnail.
....._ P. rint Image __
Click here to print a selected image.
....._ Delete Image __
Click here to delete a selec ted image or movie. A confirmation win dow will p op
up asking you if you are sure th at you want to del et e the image or movie.
....._ Scroll Buttons
Use these buttons to scroll through selected images. If images exist th at are out of
view the Scroll Buttons w
ill be lit.
....._ Selected Image Information
If a sti ll Image Thumbnail is selected, information ab out that image wi ll be dis-
la ed here. The d at e, time, resolution, image fil e size and location are displayed.
....._ Upload Ibum Location
Locate the file containing the images that you would like to upload to the Library
Window here. Ifyou
do n't recall the location of the album you can use the browse
function on the right hand si de of the text bar.
....._ Select Image for Upload
After you have selected an album in the 'Upload Album Folder Directory', you can
select single images for upload here.

17
MIC-D Software
,,----,Upload Image_
After you have selected an image or album for upload, click here to import them
into the
Li brary Window.
"---_Saved Image Location
Select and locate a file or album to where you want to save selected images. It is
recomm
end ed that you do not use the Default M IC -D Software folde r, as images
risk bein erased when the program is closed or
ope ned.
__ Saved Image Name
Don't forget to name your images and movies. It helps to give imagesdescriptive
names, such as 'Earthworm, 22x mag' for locating saved images at a lat
er date.
__ Image Eor rn at
Different formats are available for sti ll and moving images. St ill images may be
saved in JPEG, BMP or TIF F. Moving images may be saved in MPEG or AVI.
"---_ Save Image __
Finally, click on the 'Save Image' button to save a selected sti ll or moving image
to
the folder selected in the 'Saved Image Folder' Director y.

18
MIC-D Software
L....- Eull Screen Window
•
I
Double clicking on an image
thumbnail
will bring it up in
full screen mode. Alterna-
tively, click on an image
once
so that it is highlighted and
click on the 'display selected
image' button. Movies play-
back is also in
the full screen
mode .
L....- Image Comparison Window
Holding down the shift key
and clicking on two or more
thumbnails allows several
images to be selected.
Once
the images are selected click
on
the 'Display Selected
Images' button to view
the
images side by side. This is a
great way
to compare shots
O · IO '@ OO '" ~ ~ ~ ~ ' C!l 1iO i! '" "'"" &ll that are captured using dif-
Sll IlllEl (I l-d lIferent illumination tech-
.
nlques.