Saturday, May 8, 2010

2MP HTC + Hand Lens = Macro


Okay, I'll bite on this one. I'm using a 2MP HTC 6800, not the newest or smartest of "smart" phones, two hand lenses, a penny (taking after Callan Bentley, the perpetrator of this meme) and one rock.

UPDATE 9Apr10: Actually, the "iPhone Macro Meme" started at Microecos and Myrmecos, and you will find some stunning pictures at both places. The meme has also been continued over at Highly Allochthonous. Do note that the phone used herein is not an iPhone or a Droid.

I sent these photos via email posting with my phone, primarily because I've never synched the phone to the computer; hence, no photo enlargement or enhancement has been attempted. The colors in photos from my phone always look a bit faded.

penny10x
The penny, with a 10x hand lens + HTC.

penny20x
The penny, using a 20x hand lens + HTC.
pennymacro The penny, full screen, using my regular 12MP camera in macro mode.


A rock containing pyrite and chalcopyrite, using the 10x hand lens + HTC. Click to enlarge and you can see some crystal shapes.


The same rock through a 20x hand lens, using the HTC. This is a bit blurry, but enlarging reveals some cubic crystal shapes.
And here's the way the mineralized rock looks using the macro setting on my camera. It can be hard to get everything in focus using the macro setting, and light and shadows can be a problem.

One reason I went ahead and played around with this meme, even though my phone camera is not that great, is that I would be able to send photos to the blog from the field, presuming that I couldn't wait until evening to post. Maybe I'll test it out for real next week!

3 comments:

coconino said...

Cool! I tried it out with my droid and Hastings triplex 10x; it worked out well on the hand sample I had laying around the house. IfI'm caught out in the field without the normal camera and need a macro shot, I know just what to do (presuming I actually brought my hand lens)!

Silver Fox said...

Your Droid would probably work better than this - see the shots at Mountains Beltway and Highly Allochthonous.

And yeah, for some reason I don't always have my hand lens either. Depends on what I'm doing. (Although it's always at least in my truck.)

coconino said...

I saw those - they were great, too! I'm psyched about this hack.