Trinocular microscopes for cameras

A trinocular microscope has the usual two eyepieces plus a third, vertical tube on top of the head that takes a camera, so you can look and record at the same time. Compound models with the tube are the Bresser Researcher in trinocular form, the Bresser Bioscience, the Bresser Science TFM-301 and TRM-301, the Levenhuk 500T and 740T, the Levenhuk MED 10T and the Euromex EcoBlue EC.1153. For solid objects there's the Euromex StereoBlue SB.1903, a 7x to 45x zoom, and the Bresser Science ETD-201. The cameras that fit them are the Bresser MikroCam SF, SP, PRO and II.

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How the third tube works

A prism inside the head divides the light between the eyepieces and the camera port. On some heads the split is fixed (the StereoBlue sends half each way) and on others a lever diverts all of it to the camera for the brightest photo. The camera screws into a C-mount, a standard 1 inch thread, through a short adapter matched to the tube, so check whether yours is 23.2 mm or 30.5 mm.

Choosing the camera

The MikroCam SF plugs into a Windows computer over USB and comes in Full HD, 5 MP and UHD versions. The MikroCam PRO feeds a monitor or smartboard over HDMI with no computer involved. The MikroCam II's 20 MP version has a 1 inch sensor that records roughly the field you see through the eyepiece, where smaller sensors capture half or less. Our camera guide covers sensor size.

Trinocular FAQs

Do I need a trinocular head to photograph slides?

No. A phone adapter or an eyepiece camera such as the MikrOkular fits a binocular model. The third tube matters when you want to view and record at once, or the camera is too heavy for an eyepiece tube.