People try to substitute the measuring microscope with vision systems, but when you need advanced optical techniques, there is no other tool that you can select. Different an optical comparator or video system, a microscope can offer several ways of looking at an object to highlight specific features. By using specialized lenses or manipulating the projected light, the user sees things otherwise invisible under basic microscopic conditions. The bigger magnification, the more illumination you need. There are some very high-intensity lighting techniques, along with various positions you can put lights in. You can light from behind, from the side at different angles, depending on what features you want to observe. Collecting data from a measuring microscope is similar to the process used with optical comparators. Linear scales are built into the stage and often into the focusing mechanism of the microscope. With a computer attachment, the scales automatically measure and record the distance each time movement occurs. It is the ability to measure that motion that makes the tool not only an important imaging device, just like a compound microscope, but also a measuring device. For additional data collection, an image capture device, such as a video or digital camera, can be mounted onto the microscope. Fifty percent or more of our microscopes are sold with a digital camera for documentation.

The captured images can be stored, compared against other images, e-mailed or projected on a screen for viewing by more than one person at a time. Integrating of software is another way to examine data. Once a video or digital camera captures an image, it can be incorporated into measurement software for analysis. Special programs even allow us to measure and record material under stress over a period of time. Combining video systems with microscopes is one way of monitoring subjects with a timeline. One can easily inspect an object over a period of an hour or compare the repetitions of a motion. Another important feature of a measuring microscope is the capability to measure the Z-axis, whereas optical comparator only measures X and Y. How microscopes measure up allows higher magnification than an optical comparator and enables the user to see not just a shadow of the object, but details on the surface of the object. With an optical comparator, you can project the image on to a ground-glass screen, but with a measuring microscope, you can project the image to a video camera or digital imaging device. This bridges the gap between an optical comparator, in which you can only look at the screen, and a vision system, where you can only refer to the digital imaging device. With the microscope, you can bring the image up to your eyepiece or you can take the image up to the computer.” The difference between a microscope and a vision system is readily apparent when using a stereo microscope for inspection. Once a camera is hooked up to the system, you lose a dimension. As long as you are looking at a video screen, you are looking at two dimensions. You might find a fault, but you would have to go back to the eyepieces to see it again in 3-D.