I have a 25 year old Nikon Microphot SA microscope and a new Nikon D3100 camera. It was the very best of its day and better than almost anything now. The microscope has two openings for photographic equipment as well as a binocular viewer. The front photo opening (EG1) has some sort of bayonet mount that does not fit my Nikon camera. The back opening (EG2) has a chimney mount which means it is just a wide tube with a thumb screw at the top that a smaller tube can fit in and be held in place by the thumb screw. The front opening would be best because it actually has bayonet mount for some sort of photo equipment but neither Nikon nor anyone else knows what adapter would fit. Nikon referred me to Martinmicroscope.com and they don't know either.

My camera (without lens of course) can sit on EG1 and takes beautiful pics but only a matter of time before it gets knocked off since it doesn't attach - just the metal of the front of the camera sitting on the stainless steel mount. If I cannot use the preferred front mount what would I use with a T-Mount to slide into the chimney mount in EG2? Front (EG1) bayonet mount of unknown type. I have answers for you, but you may not like them. The openings are called 'ports'. The front port is a 'CCTV port'. It is only for direct projection on video cameras, like the Nikon DXM.

I believe you can get C and E mount adapters for it, for non-Nikon cameras. It's got too short a projection distance to attach a 35mm camera or DSLR, focus is only about 25mm from the port. And the direct path is only a 20mm circle. You could have an adapter made for a micro four thirds camera.

Mar 13, 2011 I have a 25 year old Nikon Microphot SA microscope and a new Nikon D3100 camera. It was the very best of its day and better than almost anything now. Download Whatsapp Messenger For Htc Snap S521.

You don't get 'beautiful pictures', because you're not in the plane of focus, and you have to focus the scope outside the parfocal (ports and eyepieces all in focus at the same time) range. And you get too much vibration from the camera's mirror and shutter mechanism.

The CCTV port is only built to be used by cameras that don't have shutters or mirrors and don't vibrate. The back port is the 'photo port'. It's a standard Nikon 'Y mount'. The focal point for that port is actually inside the chimney.

Take a peek down the chimney, I'll wait. Do you see that hole at the bottom of the port. That accepts a 'projection eyepiece', such as a 2x, 2.5x, 4x, or 10x Nikon CF-PL. The CF-PL eyepiece is probably the wrong series for your scope, it's what my Nikon Optiphot needs. More on that in a minute. For a DX camera, you can get by with a 2.5x, but the 2x is really better.

Avoid the 4x (for medium format) and 10x (for 4x5). They won't focus on a 35mm adapter properly.

And they have too much 'empty' magnification. Once you install the projection eyepiece, there's a piece that goes between that port and the camera, called a photography adapter or 'leaf shutter' unit. It has a tube that slides into the chimney, a box with a leaf shutter and a focusing eyepiece, controls (or a control box, connected with a cable), and a mount on top for the camera. The current unit is the FX-III, with a U-III or H-III camera unit.

Those are expensive, and don't show up on the used market often. I use an old Nikon UFX-II. The main box has a leaf shutter, a powered viewing prism, and a focusing eyepiece.

I don't use the focusing eyepiece, I focus with liveview. The controls are on an external unit, punch in the ISO, and it picks a shutter speed. Sometimes, I have to compensate, its built in exposure meter is a bit iffy. I normally use the camera on bulb • trip the camera shutter with a cable release.

• wait a couple of seconds for the vibration to die down. • trip the UFX shutter from the control panel. • after the UFX shutter closes, release the camera shutter. If you buy a UFX, HFX, or AFX, make sure you get both the control unit and the leaf shutter unit, and that they match.

There's a lot of separated UFX, AFX, and HFX systems out there. I paid $60 for my UFX-II on the bay of E, the number one source in the whole world for Nikon microscope gear. The 2.5x projection eyepiece cost about $150. The 4x that I don't use much cost $60.