DMC 2 Online User Guide Contents Navigating in This Document . DMC 2 Camera Features . Taking Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 .9 12 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 Typical Picture-Taking Sequence . . Turning the Camera On . . . . . Starting the DMC 2 Software . . . Selecting a DMC Camera . . . . . Framing and Focusing the Preview . Choosing a Capture Area . . . . . Choosing Color or Grayscale Preview Rotating the Image . . . . . . . Enlarging the Preview . . . . . . Setting Exposure Automatically . . Next Calibrating Auto Exposure . . . . . . . . Setting Exposure Manually . . . . . . . . Setting Sensitivity. . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting Color Temperature . . . . . . . Creating a Custom Color Temperature Setting Selecting Image Type . . . . . . . . . . Selecting Image Size . . . . . . . . . . Image File Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . Verifying Sharp Focus Digitally. . . . . . . Capturing the Image . . . . . . . . . . Capturing a Rapid Sequence . . . . . . . Printing the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 24 25 26 27 29 30 31 32 33 40 42 Enhancing the Image with DMC 2 Software . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Automatically Adjusting Color Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Adjusting Color Balance by Selecting a Whitepoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Adjusting Color Balance by Selecting a Neutral Gray Point . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Next 2 Adjusting Color Balance by Selecting a Blackpoint Manually Adjusting Color Balance . . . . . . Manually Adjusting Dark Levels . . . . . . . Manually Adjusting Brightness. . . . . . . . Adjusting Gamma . . . . . . . . . . . . Viewing a Histogram . . . . . . . . . . . Adjusting Sharpness. . . . . . . . . . . . Viewing the Full Image. . . . . . . . . . . Reducing Grain in Long Exposures . . . . . . Adding a Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding a Calibrated Micron Marker . . . . . . Creating a Calibrated Micron Marker . . . . . Deleting a Calibrated Micron Marker . . . . . Saving and Reusing Program Settings . . . . . Program Settings You Can Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 48 49 50 51 52 54 55 56 57 58 59 63 64 68 Next 3 Setting DMC 2 Software Preferences . General Preferences . Remote Preferences . Output Preferences . Camera Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 72 77 79 85 Using the Color Stacker Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Creating a Composite Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Color Stacker Preview Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Camera Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Cleaning the Camera Optics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Cleaning the Camera Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Obtaining Software Updates . DMC 2 Camera Specifications . Next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 . 100 4 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 PC Minimum System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Macintosh Minimum System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Installing Software and Setting Up the Camera . Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Installing the DMC 2 Software . . . . . . . . . . Attaching the Camera to the Microscope. . . . . . Connecting the Camera to the Computer . . . . . Connecting the Camera to AC Power and Turning On . Taking a Test Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 . . . . . . 106 107 108 110 115 117 Camera Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 . 120 . 124 5 Radio and Television Interference Copyright and Trademark Notices Next Polaroid Offices and Service Centers . Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 . 132 . 133 . 138 . 140 . 141 .. . . . . . . . . Solving SCSI Communication Problems . Changing Sync Transfer Rate on Some Adaptec SCSI Adapters . Installing a SCSI Host Adapter . Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Navigating in This Document This Polaroid electronic document uses the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) and its associated Acrobat Reader software. You should familiarize yourself with the controls of the Acrobat reader. Access Help...Reader Online Guide...Viewing PDF Documents...Navigating Pages for more information. Polaroid electronic documents provide additional navigation tools at the top of the screen. The icons have the following meanings: Click to go to the table of contents. Click Next to return to the previous page. 7 Click to display these help pages. Click to open the index. 8 DMC 2 Camera Features The Polaroid DMC 2 Digital Microscope Camera captures high-quality digital color images from light microscopes and other optical instruments. The camera uses a 2million-pixel, 11mm CCD (charge coupled device) to capture 14-bit linear RGB images. It transfers these images in seconds to an IBM PC or Power Macintosh compatible computer in TIFF format with 1600x1200 or 800x600 pixels. On IBM PC compatible systems, an additional image size of 400x300 is available. Next 9 Using the software provided with the camera, you can: · Display a color viewfinder image on your computer screen. · Choose resolution, exposure, sensitivity, color temperature, and other options. · Automatically adjust exposure. · Manually adjust color balance, brightness, contrast and sharpness. · Verify focus digitally. · Add a calibrated scale to the image. · Add a title or other text to the image. · Transfer the image to your image-editing application or hard drive. · Capture a rapid sequence of images and select one for transfer to your computer. Note: The DMC 2 software is compatible with DMC 2 and DMC Ie cameras. Next 10 The camera has a SCSI connection requiring no frame-grabber or other special hardware or software. (The camera requires a SCSI host adapter, usually built into Macintosh computers. SCSI host adapters can also be easily added to PC-compatible computers.) Compatible with standard .63, 1:1 or larger c-mount adapters, the camera attaches easily to microscopes for most types of transmitted-light and reflected-light microscopy. Multiple DMC 2 cameras can be connected in a SCSI chain to a single computer simultaneously for capturing images from multiple instruments without moving the camera or reconnecting cables. The camera also features a tripod mount, x-sync connection and remote shutter connection for use with standard c-mount lenses on a copystand or tripod. Detailed camera specifications 11 Taking Pictures Typical Picture-Taking Sequence 1 Turn on the camera. 2 Start the DMC 2 software. 3 Frame and focus the preview. 4 Choose a capture area 5 Choose color or grayscale preview. 6 Rotate the image. 7 Zoom the preview. 8 Set exposure. 9 Set sensitivity. 10 Select color temperature. 11 Select image type. 12 Select image size. 13 Verify sharp focus digitally. 14 Capture the image. 15 Enhance the image. 12 Turning the Camera On 1 Turn off the computer. 2 Turn the camera power switch to on (1). Power switch (on = 1) 3 Verify that the green and yellow LEDs are on, indicating AC and termination power are on. Green LED Yellow LED 4 Turn on the computer. 13 Starting the DMC 2 Software Macintosh Windows Double-click Polaroid DMC 2. The main DMC 2 window appears. 1 Select Programs from the Start menu. 2 Point to Polaroid Digital Microscope Camera 2 and select Polaroid DMC 2. The main DMC 2 window appears. If more than one DMC camera is connected to the computer, you must select the camera to be used in this session. To select a camera, see Selecting a DMC Camera. 14 Selecting a DMC Camera If more than one DMC camera is connected to the computer, use these steps to select the camera to be used in the current session: Macintosh Windows 1 Click the Preferences button in the main DMC 2 window. 2 Click Choose a DMC 2 in the DMC 2 Preferences box. 3 Choose the SCSI address of the camera to be used. 4 Click OK to activate the camera. 5 Click Save to close the DMC 2 Preferences box. 1 Click Set Preferences on the Tools menu. 2 Click the Cameras tab. 3 Click the SCSI address of the camera to be used. 4 Click OK. 15 Framing and Focusing the Preview 1 View the subject through the microscope eyepiece. 2 Adjust subject position, focus and lighting according to the microscope instructions. 3 If your microscope requires, manually switch the light path to the camera. 4 If a viewfinder image is not visible in the DMC 2 software main window, click the Preview button. Note: If clicking Preview does not display an image, you may need to adjust exposure or sensitivity before continuing. Exposure adjustment instructions. Sensitivity adjustment instructions. 16 Choosing a Capture Area You can capture the entire DMC frame or a smaller, selected area. To capture an area smaller than the DMC frame: 1 Adjust exposure to obtain an acceptable image on the Viewfinder Display tab of the main DMC 2 window. 2 Click the Region of Interest Selection tab. 3 Select the size of the frame to be captured (3/4 or 1/2 frame) from the Capture Area list. A box defining the selected capture area appears on the image. 4 Position the capture area as desired by dragging it. Next 17 5 Click the Viewfinder Display tab to view only the capture area. The values available in the Image Size box correspond to the capture area you selected. 6 Continue with the picture-taking sequence. 18 Choosing Color or Grayscale Preview You can view the preview image in the DMC 2 main window in either color or grayscale. A color preview provides a more accurate representation of the final image, while a grayscale preview refreshes faster. To view a color preview image, select Color in the main DMC 2 window. To view a grayscale preview image, deselect Color. 19 Rotating the Image To correct picture orientation, you can rotate the preview image 180 degrees by clicking the rotate button. When you rotate the preview image, the final image is also rotated. 20 Enlarging the Preview You can enlarge the view of the preview image for focusing and closely inspecting detail while framing. Enlarging the view does not affect the final image. To enlarge the preview image: 1 Click the image to display the zoom and focus box. 2 Drag the zoom and focus box to the area of interest. 3 To zoom in, click . To zoom out, click . 21 Setting Exposure Automatically 1 If you have not done so, calibrate automatic exposure for the current lighting and specimen conditions. See Calibrating Auto Exposure. 2 Click the Auto button in the main DMC 2 window. 3 Wait a few seconds for the DMC 2 software to optimize the exposure. 22 Calibrating Auto Exposure 1 Manually set exposure to the optimum position for the current setup. See Setting Exposure Manually. 2 Click Calibrate Auto Exposure on the Tools menu. 3 Click the Set button in the Auto Exposure Calibration box. 23 Setting Exposure Manually Drag the Exposure slider right or left to adjust the camera shutter speed for brightening or darkening the image. Range: 20 milliseconds (far left) t ...