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I apologize the video jumps around a bit. The Carson Zorb was able to refocus relatively quickly in spite of all of the movement. The first image is hair, the second is the fibers of a hat, and the third is the pad of a finger (note the sweat glands are visible). Better images are possible if one takes the time to manually focus the microscope's camera (I did not), but the short video gives a general idea of its magnification capabilities. For $38.80, this digital microscope does an impressive job.
As a side note, I had been worried about installing the Carson Zorb Digital Microscope on my iMAC due to a few of the other reviews, but installation was simple and all I had to do after installation was click on the Digital Viewer icon and then click on the words "Digital Viewer" within the "Webcam List" box. After that, I was able to take multiple pictures and was impressed with the quality of the images and how easy it is to focus the camera. Still have to see how this little device holds up over time, but for now I am very happy with the product's quality and user-friendliness.
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Carson Optical does not support Mac computers in any realistic way. They claim to support the Mac OS but that simply isn't true. Their products can be made to run in a more or less lame way on Macs but it isn't pretty. Their models MM-480 and MM-640 use a Sonix Quicktime component (SN9C201) which has long been known to crash iTunes 10 Google something like "iTunes 10" and "Sonix" for numerous posts and an Apple technical bulletin on the subject. And though iTunes 10 has been out for almost a year as of this writing Sonix hasn't addressed the problem. Despite this Carson continues to claim that these products are suitable for Macs. They even offer a Snow Leopard driver which is how I decided that their stuff must be okay to run on my Macbook Pro. What a surprise to find that their Snow Leopard driver installs a component that's toxic to iTunes 10 and known to be so. How many Snow Leopard systems can there be out there that aren't running iTunes 10?Furthermore, their latest model, MM-740, which is 'plug and play' and so doesn't need the Sonix QT component is still not a proper Mac device. While they supply a decent imaging app for Windows machines they supply none at all for your Mac. Instead they expect Mac users to run the microscope in the Mac app Photo Booth which is a kind of toy application for taking quick snaps and has no image adjustments whatsoever unless you count the goofy false color and funhouse mirror distortions it offers which are of course of no use in microscopy at all. It may be that there are other Mac image programs that would work better but Carson isn't suggesting any and they'd have to be found, tested and purchased separately.
After I bought an MM-480 I got in touch with Carson about the Sonix problem. Their technical representative said he'd never heard of it and that he'd research the problem. He got back to me a couple of hours later after consulting their "software guy" and the only advice he could offer was to revert to an older version of iTunes. Let's see...toy microscope or iTunes 10? Which would you choose?
All that said the hardware is decent and I have worked out an acceptable (to me) workaround. This won't be something the most casual Mac user will want to do but others might. Basically the problem with the Sonix QT component is that Carson's installer puts it in the root library so it's always loaded and ready to crash iTunes. The fix is to put it where it's only running when you're using your microscope but not at any other time. Here's how that's done.
1.Make a new user. I named mine Zorb.
2.Make a new folder in the new user library called "QuickTime"
3.Run the Carson installer
4.Move the Sonix component from the root "QuickTime" folder where the installer will put it to the new user "QuickTime" folder you just made.
5.Now when you switch to the new user the Sonix component will be active and you can use your microscope. When you're done using it put any pictures or movies you've made in the 'Public" folder and switch back to your usual user. The Sonix component doesn't exist in that user so it won't bother iTunes and your snaps and movies are there in the new user's public folder and available to be used within your normal user any way you want.
So, that's it. Carson makes decent hardware but if they're not willing to go to the trouble of making their stuff work on Macs in a way that's comparable in terms of performance and features to the way they work on Windows computers they need to stop implying that they do and clearly warn their Mac customers that they'll be getting an inferior product. I've gone to the trouble of writing this up in hopes that I can warn off unsuspecting Mac users and because I'm tired of companies that claim to support my computer in order to get my dollars but that are unwilling to either do what it takes to make that true or to be upfront about the problems.
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I would use a video review simply using the CarsonZorb software as I can choose my device, either the Carson Zorb or my computer camera. In fact when I first installed the software, up cam my ugly 80 year old face which is why I'm writing this review.The supplier (Amazon) had the microscope to me in a few days. It was well packed. All I had to do was slip the disk into my laptop and install the software. Actually it did that all by itself.
Two little adapters, plastic cones, were supplied and I was told to select one of them according to the size of the image. I chose the smaller and it will probably be the one I'll be using as this old man could snap it into the microscope but could not unsnap it back out. Anyway, the small one is probably the only one I'll want to use anyway. If I need to get the other out, I'll have my son come over.
I liked the 35X magnification. It is just right for looking at moles, nose hairs and fingernails. I can read small print with the thing like you get on a sales slip when you buy something or try to read the dosage on a bottle of pills. And you can look at the details on coins and bills.
Now, I'm going to get some bugs and other interesting things and play with that. The magnification on my computer screen is amplified and if I need to I'll go to my other computer with its big monitor. I can hardly wait to catch an ant.
Well, better still, one of those Idaho Black Widow spiders.
I captured still images in two ways. I read that someone said they had movement when they clicked the camera button. I had no such problem but I also captured using the MS Snippet Tool. I brought them up into a graphic program and re-sized them with no problem. I could add captions if I wanted to.
Now I'm a retired R & D engineer and I've operated hundreds of microscopes over the years including an SEM. I would not compare them with this little device but I would say you can have a lot of fun with any good microscope no matter how much it costs.
I didn't take any video but all you need to do is click. You can control the length of your video and other parameters. When I get that bug, I'll take a video.
I found the image quality to be about like the hand lens I've carried around for years. However, at my age, I much prefer this small device to my hand lens. It is so much easier to view the image on the computer. That is the main reason I bought the device.
I think this would be a great gift for a child, one who likes bugs. I also think it would also be a nice gift for grandpa who can't read the dosage on a bottle of pain pills.
Did I say its a cute little bugger?
I can hardly wait to show it to my 34 grandchildren and my older great grandchildren. They will be so excited!
WOW! UPDATE
I tried to use the supplied software (free on the Internet) to record a video. I had no trouble recording a still shot but I'm too old and too dumb to figure out how to find a video recording after I save it. When I do, I get an icon instead of a video. I'm sure there is a way to do this but I'm 80-years-old and don't have time for such nonsense.
The software did say there were restrictions.
I simply went to the the Internet and downloaded the FREE Debut Video Capture software. I had no reason to buy the pay version. It works perfectly with my computer camera and the microscope camera. It is very easy to use and that is exactly what I needed.
I now use Windows Movie maker to edit the videos. Then I can save them and stick them into the free Ezvid software and uploaded them to YouTube. If I don't want to send the video to YouTube, I just create the whole video and save it from Windows Movie Maker. I know I could upload a video to YouTube after I save it but with Ezvid I don't have to think.
I think that the supplier should supply Debut or some other easy to use software.
I still love this camera and I'm having a ball. I caught a spider and filmed hims attacking a Potato Bug. Quite a fight. It is great for looking into your nose and ears too.
Wait! My wife's caregiver just caught a jumping or wolf Spider in the sink. Now, if I can just get him to behave while I get the microscope over him.
Have some fun.
John
John T. Jones, Ph.D.
InternetBusinessToolCenter.com
Buhl, Idaho
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Small enough for our children to manage, fun for spontaneous moments when your child just wants to look at things really close up. I wouldn't say this is a microscope for a serious scientist but it is certainly fun for curious children to explore their world. Great price and quite a durable product which has so far withstood almost a year of use and abuse by two children under 10 and two adults over 40.The lights are too hot to use for snowflake pictures but it has been fun viewing for insects, rocks, postage stamps, fingerprints, leaves and flowers.
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As far as the microscope itself goes, it's not bad. I can get better macro quality from my dSLR with a bit of effort, but it certainly can't reach into tight spaces like this thing. The image quality isn't great, at 640x480, and seemed prone to excess blurring even with sufficient light. Focussing was somewhat of a pain; it ends up being easier just to focus approximately, then move the microscope by hand to focus it. For the price, though, not bad; I bought this as a fun gadget for imaging everyday things, not as a professional instrument.If not for the software, I'd give this 3 or 4 stars. Installed the driver fine, then I launched the clunky viewer. It saved my first test set on the desktop, but then my second set vanished. It has a live view mode, but the interface is just...bad. I designed more usable applications when I was 15.
However, the real problem came when I launched iTunes, which proceeded to immediately crash, reporting that the Zorb driver was causing it. (I'm on OS X 10.6.7 with all updates.) Launched it again, crashed again. I don't have any iTunes plugins or other things that seem likely to interact. (Note: If you're wondering why the Zorb driver would make iTunes crash, it's because the driver is supplied as a QuickTime component. So this causes various applications that use QuickTime, such as iTunes, to try to load it.)
I uninstalled the Zorb software, and everything went back to normal. I then uninstalled the Zorb from my house, since Amazon does have a good return policy.
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