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C-Mounts, CS Mounts and Image Sensors

A c-mount adapter for your microscope without a lens in it, is merely a connector for your camera. What you'll get is a "direct image" on the monitor screen, which is more magnification than what is seen in the eyepieces due to the inherent magnification with image sensors and microscopes. While this arrangement is fine for some users, others require an image on the monitor that looks more like the Field Of View, or FOV, that is seen in the microscope eyetubes.

To compensate for too much mag or to match more closely the microscope FOV, one can use c-mounts with reduction lenses in order to adjust the field of view seen on the monitor. The reduction lens you require will depend on the chip size of your camera so if your camera has a 1/2" image sensor, you'll want the 0.45X c-mount. See the table at right for other adapter suggestions. Some users will want a selection of reduction lenses to accommodate different situations or specimens as they are relatively.

As one can see, image sensors in cameras are actually quite small. The smaller the sensor, the more inherent magnification. The larger the sensor, the better the resolution with less magnification.

As image resolution is most desirable in all microscopy applications, 1/4" chips are just not well suited for microscopy while the 1/2" and 2/3" chip cameras strike a better balance between magnification, resolution and the size of the virtual image that the camera is seeing which appears much like a flashlight beam.

Meiji Techno C-Mount Adapters with reductions lenses are easily removed from the optical path by simply removing the black colored lens piece and re-attaching the camera to the tube directly when higher on-screen magnification is needed. Click HERE to try our On-Screen Magnification Calculator Page to see how different combinations of objectives, auxilliary lenses, c-mounts, camera chip size and monitor size effect the magnification seen on the screen.

C-Mounts and CS-Mounts

For those wanting to use Meiji C-Mounts on their old microscope, here are the dimensions you need to know:

CCD or CMOS Cameras with the one-inch threaded aperture are an industry standard.

Meiji Techno cameras have "CS" mounts so they can also accommodate "C" mounts when a spacer is first threaded onto the camera providing the additional 5mm per the "C"-Mount specification as shown above.

The V-5MM is included with all the CK Series Analog Video Cameras that Meiji sells and supports. The adverse result that can happen when a spacer is not installed is the phenomenon known as "vignetting".

New cameras come into the market each month. As a microscope manufacturer, it is a never ending task to keep informed with the new and discontinued models of cameras. Meiji Techno is committed to developing camera adapters for the most viable makes, models and form factors.