Options for Examining Fungi with
Microscopes and Cameras

The magnifying Glass

Traditionally, a 10-15X  magnification hand lense  or low power digital microscope  has been used to help distinguish  mushroom   features like cap  and stem texture, gill edge  type and spore stains.

​Stereo Microscopes

Costly stereo-microscopes have  been used for low magnification of  fungi surface and macro features.  

Stereo microscopes use  light reflected from the surface of the mushroom  to produce 3D  20-300x magnification  through combining the different viewpoints of the two eyepieces.  

The magnifying power of stereomicroscopes are not high but their prices are.

Digital Microscopes

Digital microscopes attach to a computer output either via a a built in screen or via usb connection to your  computer.   They can have a built in camera or a  camera tube  to which a microscope camera or  regular digital camera can be attached.  

There are both low power and high power digital microscopes.   Digital microscopes allow you to see  and photograph your fungi image via a  screen  which can be  further projected via your computer.   The high power versions usually have monocular or binocular viewing tubes as well as the digital screen.

Smart Phone Adaptations

These days, smart phone adaptations can be a vastly cheaper and more flexible alternative to a stereomicroscope. Click here for more on quality smart phone attachments.

Photography

High megapixal macro photos can achieve similar results to a stereo microscope  with the bonus of making permanent  records.  Click here for tips on fungi photography.

Compound  Microscopes

To see microscopic fungi  parts like spores and ascii you will need 1000x magnification. 

Getting clear image detail at 1000x magnification has requires a  quality oil immersion compound microscope.

A Compound microscope combines the magnification power of  a lense that rotates above your slide with that of the ocular lens you look through.  

There are usually four objective lenses with 4x, 10x,20-40x and 100x magification  and a 10x magnification ocular lens making a total magnification of  1000 times.

 Press here for a diagram showing each of the aspects of a compound microscope.