TIS Microscope Camera versus Other C-Mount Cameras

The microscope camera DFK MKU130-10x22 is, to our knowledge, the only camera currently on the market that can be mounted on nearly all microscopes and that can capture the complete field of view, as seen by the observer, without additional optical adapters. The motivation to build this camera came from an oft-posed support question: Why does my C-mount camera only capture a small portion of the image I can see when I look through the ocular? The following images illustrate the situation: [1]

Images from C-mount cameras: [1] Restricted field of view. These cameras require a lens adapter in order to capture a full field of view:

1. The DFK MKU130-10x22 offers full field of view through the ocular without a lens adapter [2]. Historically, a full field of view from a C-mount objective could only be obtained in conjunction with a lens adapter which in turn had to also be correctly matched to the camera's sensor format. The DFK MKU130-10x22 can be used with nearly all optical microscopes to produce the full field of view observed through the ocular without a lens adapter.
2. Costly adapter lenses limit your imaging options. If, at a later time, one chooses to replace the existing camera with a different C-mount camera having a different sensor format, one would have to replace the adapter lens as well.
3. High resolution means lower magnifications, larger FOV and an increased DOF. The microscope camera DFK MKU130-10x22 has sensor resolution of 4128 x 3096 (13 MP). The key advantage of using the highest-possible resolution is that the microscope operator can select a lower microscope magnification thereby allowing for a larger field of view with an increased depth of field.

[1] Download the original images in this post.

[2] For detailed information about the DFK MKU130-10x22, please see the cameras' product page or DFK MKU130-10x22 Microscope Camera Review by J. Piper and M. Torzewski.