High Quality Brightfield Imaging with the New Olympus SC100

Olympus has introduced the new, easy-to-use SC100 digital color camera for high quality brightfield imaging, especially where optimal color reproduction and resolution are required.

The 10.5 megapixel sensor of the SC100 allows samples to be investigated in minute detail, particularly when using a low magnification objective. This frees users from needing to take multiple, high magnification images of a sample to preserve resolution. Images can be investigated at high digital magnification at a later date, even if this was not initially intended when using a low magnification objective.

The SC100 digital color camera can capture in-depth image details in a single shot, without using any pixel-shift technology. The newly implemented CMOS sensor of the SC100 packs more than 10.5 megapixels into a standard size chip, increasing its resolving power to that approaching the resolution of the human eye when looking through the binoculars. In order to preserve image clarity, care has been taken to minimize the “image noise” commonly associated with an increase in pixel number. The SC100 also utilizes Olympus’s optimized color rendering algorithms to ensure that the colors present in the image match those seen when looking down the binoculars. Panning and focusing are comfortable, quick and fluid thanks to the high frame rates offered by the camera, while phase/DIC contrast and darkfield imaging are optimized by utilizing the SC100’s high sensitivity 2x binning mode.

The SC100 is supported by the Olympus cellSens life science imaging and the OLYMPUS Stream material science software packages, which offer advanced image processing, analysis and storage. Such techniques include “instant Extended Focal Imaging” (EFI), which makes it easy to automatically produce an “all-in-focus” image simply by turning the focus knob, as well as the “Multiple Image Alignment” (MIA) tool for automatically stitching together single images to form a panoramic image. The small, compact design of the SC100 camera incorporates a 2.0 USB port, enabling quick image capture and easy connection to a variety of computer hardware.