DSLR Gurus: I need some answers.

[Cerpin Taxt]

Are there any DSLR-type cameras that will output a signal of the live preview image that one could display on a monitor or TV set for real-time framing and focusing?

The context is that this camera would be affixed securely to a microscope's photoport for documentation of petrographic images.

Also, the microscope is equipped with transmitted light polarization equipment, including a Betrand lens. As a consequence, illumination intensity can be a bit weak. When I took some images with my company's cameras, our exposure times were on the order of 60ms -- and the pixels on our CCD's are pretty sensitive. What are the upper limits of DSLR exposure times?

Lastly, am I correct in assuming that DSLR's are all color mosaic CCDs? Or are there alternative modes of color acquisition that do not rely on interpolation?

Thanks in advance for any info that anyone can provide.

 

[JMWarren]

Off the top of my head.

Canon 1D Mark III, Olympus E330, E410, E510, Fuji S3Pro (with restrictions), Canon 20d(a), Panasonic's DSLR.

All DSLR's that I know of use Bayer filters to capture color.

Maximum exposure times on the Nikon system is 30seconds on time, battery life on manual.

Why not buy a traditional DSLR and use a viewfinder relay to position a large monitor wherever you want.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Originally posted by: JMWarren
Off the top of my head.

Canon 1D Mark III, Olympus E330, E410, E510, Fuji S3Pro (with restrictions), Canon 20d(a), Panasonic's DSLR.

All DSLR's that I know of use Bayer filters to capture color.

Maximum exposure times on the Nikon system is 30seconds on time, battery life on manual.

Awesome. Thank you. As much as I know about scientific digital cameras, I know precious little about DSLRs.

Why not buy a traditional DSLR and use a viewfinder relay to position a large monitor wherever you want.

I'm not exactly sure how a viewfinder relay works. Can it be assembled rather inexpensively for a more basic DSLR?

It's also worth noting that ideally I would like to dissuade my customer from going this route and instead to purchase a scientific camera from me. I'm trying to learn more about it so I can properly warn him of potential pitfalls and disadvantages he may succumb to for economizing.

Thanks again.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Just for kicks, here's a couple of the images we took during my demo. They're pretty coarse, but you can kinda get an idea of what he's looking at.

Color capture is kinda important because of the birefringence produced via the Betrand polarization. The camera of ours that I recommended to him captures a full color sampling at each pixel location using 3-shot technology with a color-changing LCD filter.

Image1
Image2