Microscope hacked with Camera module

Digital Microscopes are expensive. That's just one reason why we love this video showing how to hack a digital microscope with a Raspberry Pi and Camera Module.

Created by The Post Apocalyptic Inventor (TPAI), the Digital Microscope hack puts a Camera Module inside a high-quality microscope.

The result is a low-cost, but high-quality digital microscope that enables you to view (and record) the microscopic world.

Digital Microscope Camera Module hack

"USB microscopes are often very cheap to buy," says the maker, "but they are often poorly made and offer very low-resolution and low-quality video."

"On the other hand, there are so-called digital microscopes that come with a camera and display. Or professional lenses that have been upgraded."

"In this video, I am attempting a DIY Approach," says TPAI. "Buying a scope for very little money that has a reasonable build quality and upgrading that to a digital model using a Raspberry Pi computer and a Camera Module."

TPAI buys a second-hand kit for €5. "I guess it would have cost around €150 in today's money," says TPAI. The kit also comes with slides and specimens.

The Raspberry Pi is placed inside a case and mounted to the rear of the stand.

The maker then puts electrical insulation tape over the eyepiece tube and cuts a hole in it to contain the Camera Module. More insulation tape is used to cover the Camera Module and block out any light.

It's a remarkably simple approach to attaching the Camera Module to a microscope. But sometimes it's the simple ideas that work the best.

The result is much cheaper and much better than many digital microscopes costing ten times the price.