We Built That $10 Microscope, Here Are the Microscopic Photos to Prove It

Last week we told you about an easy-to-build $10 stand that turns your smartphone into a microscope. We weren’t happy just talking about, so we hit the hardware store and got to work building one of our very own. To prove it, here are a bunch of pictures of some very small things.

This weekend we went shopping for parts, and managed to get everything we needed for a grand total of $13.48. A little more than the $10 estimated in the Instructables post, but within the ballpark. We picked up a $1 laser pointer, the cheap lens in which is the whole crux of this rig. A better lens should bear better results, but as it stands we don’t think we could come near the 175x zoom in the Instructables example, though we also don’t have a calibrated way of checking it.

The stand itself isn’t difficult to build or complicated. The real genius of this rig is using the lens from a laser pointer as a macro lens for the phone’s camera. It’s also the most challenging part of the build. Removing the lens from the pointer we bought proved more difficult than demonstrated in the video, and we think it may have been scratched in the process, but we’d need a second microscope to confirm that.

Another drawback we found is that the stage was unbalanced, which added to the challenge of focusing. This could be specific to our lens, but the focal length was very short, so getting a good look at anything flat required us to tighten the stage area as closely to the lens as possible, which was hindered by the nuts in the assembly. Another solution to this could be stacking pieces of plexiglass on the stage to allow light through, but still raise the specimen.

Given more time, none of these challenges seem impossible to overcome, and for $10 — or $13.48 in our case, this rig seems like an excellent jumping off point for anyone looking to get a closer look at the world. We’ll likely continue to mod our microscope rig until we’re happier with the results, and if we get enough improvement we may do a follow up post. For now, take a look at our results.

These aren’t all necessarily very small things. Some are just a very close look at things we had around the office. We’ve ordered them in such a way that you can try to guess what they are from the very-zoomed-in pictures before the big reveal of what you’re actually looking at because we thought that would be fun. Take a look:

[geekovision id=300]

(via Instructables, image my own of ours sweet rig)

Meanwhile in related links

• Read our initial story on this rig here
• Microscopic spacesuits let larvae survive a vacuum
• These microscopic organisms are named after Cthulhu