Polaroid DMC User Guide

Digital Microscope Camera

(DMC)

User Guide

Quick startup iv

Introduction 1

Introducing the DMC Digital Microscope Camera 1

System requirements 3

PC systems 3

PowerMac or PowerPC systems 3

Technical assistance 4

Using this manual 4

Setting up 7

Unpacking 7

Camera switches and connectors 8

Setting the SCSI ID 10

Attaching the camera to your microscope 11

Connecting the camera to your PC 13

Installing a SCSI adapter 13

If the DMC is the only SCSI device 14

If your PC has other SCSI devices 15

Installing the DMC software on your PC 16

Connecting the camera to your PowerMac or PowerPC 18

If the DMC is the only SCSI device 19

If your PowerMac or PowerPC has other SCSI devices 20

Connecting to an Apple PowerBook 21

Installing DMC software on your PowerMac/PowerPC 22

Parfocalizing 24

Using the DMC camera 25

Typical DMC workflow 25

Turning on the camera 26

Starting the DMC application 26

Framing and focusing the image 28

Selecting picture options 28

Shutter speed 29

Film speed 30

Flash mode 30

Color temperature 30

Color or black-and-white 30

Resolution 30

Using the focus indicator 31

Capturing the picture 32

Capturing and enhancing 33

Capturing and transferring to an application 34

Capturing and saving directly to disk 34

Maintenance and troubleshooting 35

Caring for the DMC camera 35

Troubleshooting SCSI connection problems 36

PowerMac/PowerPC SCSI ID conflicts 36

Windows 95 SCSI ID registry entries 36

SCSI drivers 36

DMC full one-year warranty 37

Service 37

Radio and television interference 38

DMC camera specifications 41

Software license agreement 43

Polaroid Offices and Service Centers 47

Index 49

iii

Quick startup

For more information, see the page indicated.

Setting up

Page

PC/Windows

7 7 1 Unpack the DMC camera.

10 10 2 Set the cameras SCSI ID.

11 11 3 Attach the camera to the microscope.

13 13 3 Connect the camera to your computer.

16 22 4 Install the DMC software on your

(PowerMac/

PowerPC) Steps

computer.

Taking pictures

Page Steps

26 1 Turn on the camera.

26 2 Start your computer, and start your

application or DMC Direct.

28 3 Frame and focus the image.

28 4 Select picture options.

32 5 Capture, enhance and save the picture.

Introduction

Introducing the DMC Digital Microscope Camera

The Polaroid DMC Digital Microscope Camera captures

high-quality digital color images from light microscopes and

other optical instruments. The camera uses a unique, million-

pixel, 12.15mm CCD (charge coupled device) to capture

pictures with up to 16.7 million colors. It transfers these

pictures in seconds to an IBM-PC-, PowerMac- or PowerPC-

compatible computer as high resolution (800x600 pixels) or

super-high resolution (1600x1200 pixels) TIFF images.

Dmccam.ai

Introduction 1

Using the Microsoft Windows or PowerMac/PowerPC

software provided with the camera, you can display a

viewfinder image on your computer screen, choose resolution

and other options, enhance color balance, brightness,

contrast and sharpness, then transfer the picture to your

image-processing application or a disk drive.

The camera has a SCSI-2 connection requiring no frame-

grabber or other special hardware or software. (For use with

IBM PCs or PC-compatible computers, the camera requires a

SCSI adapter board.)

Using a standard .63, 1:1, or larger c-mount adapter, the

camera attaches easily to microscopes for most types of

transmitted-light and reflected-light microscopy.

The camera also features a tripod mount and x-sync

connection for use with standard c-mount lenses on a

copystand.

For more detailed camera specifications, see page 41.

System requirements

Using the DMC software to view and capture pictures taken

with the DMC camera requires the following hardware and

software. If you do not have the required configuration,

contact your Polaroid dealer.

PC systems

· An IBM PC or compatible computer, with at least a 66 MHz

Pentium-class processor and 20 megabytes (MB) of RAM (32

MB recommended).

· Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT operating system.

· A monitor and graphics adapter capable of displaying 24-bit

color (16.7 million colors) is recommended for optimal

display of DMC pictures. (DMC software can be used with

monitors and adapters capable of displaying fewer colors,

but the quality of pictures displayed on the monitor may not

be satisfactory.)

· An ASPI-compliant SCSI adapter and the appropriate

Windows 95 or Windows NT drivers.

· A TWAIN-compliant image-processing application, such as

Adobe Photoshop, is recommended for working with DMC

pictures. If you do not have such an application, you can use

DMC Direct (provided and installed as part of the DMC

software) to capture pictures and save them on your

computers hard drive.)

· Light microscope with a .63 or larger C-mount adapter

PowerMac or

PowerPC systems

· A PowerMac or PowerPC computer or compatible with a

PowerPC processor and 20 megabytes (MB) of RAM. (32

MB is recommended.)

· Apple system software version 7.5 or later.

· An image-processing application, such as Adobe Photoshop,

compatible with Adobe Photoshop plug-in modules, is

Introduction 3

· Light microscope with a .63 or larger C-mount adapter

Technical assistance

recommended for working with DMC pictures. If you do not

have such an application, you can use DMC Direct (provided

and installed as part of the DMC software) to transfer

pictures from the camera and to control the camera from the

computer.

Call Polaroid toll-free from within the U.S.A. at 1-800-432-

5355, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Eastern

time. Polaroid offers a variety of customer support services.

Call for details and applicable fees.

In Canada, call toll-free at 1-800-268-6970. Outside the

U.S.A. and Canada, contact the Polaroid office nearest you.

See Polaroid Offices and Service Centers on page 47.

Technical support is also available over the Internet. Connect

to the Polaroid World Wide Web site at

http://www.polaroid.com.

Using this manual

This book explains how to set up and use your Polaroid

DMC camera. It also includes the procedures for installing

the DMC software on your PowerMac or PowerPC

computer or PC, and for taking and saving pictures. To use

these instructions, you should be familiar with the operation

of your PowerMac/PowerPC computer or PC with the

Microsoft Windows 95 operating system.

Heres what youll find in this book:

Quick startup: Summarizes instructions for setting up the

DMC camera and software, and for taking pictures and

transferring them to the computer.

Introduction: Briefly describes the DMC camera, lists system

requirements and explains how to obtain technical

assistance.

Setting up: Explains how to install the DMC software on

your PC or PowerMac/PowerPC computer, and how to

connect the DMC camera to your computer.

Using the DMC camera: Provides detailed instructions for

taking and enhancing pictures.

Maintenance and troubleshooting: Contains camera care

information, solutions to problems that might occur, and

warranty and service information.

DMC camera specifications: Detailed camera operating and

physical characteristics.

Software license agreement: License agreement for the DMC

software accompanying the camera.

Polaroid Offices and Service Centers: Telephone numbers of

Polaroid locations throughout the world in case you need

service or support.

Introduction 5

Unpacking

Setting up

Listed below are the components in the DMC camera

package. If any is missing, contact your dealer immediately.

a DMC camera

b Power adapter: Provides surge-protected 5.8VDC, 3-amp

power for the camera from 110-240VAC power outlets.

Setting up 7

Packag8.cdr

c SCSI cable (2 meter) and 25/50 DB to HD SCSI adapter:

Connect the DMC camera to a PowerMac/PowerPC

computer or the PC SCSI-2 adapter.

d Software diskettes: TWAIN driver (for Windows 95 and

Windows NT only), DMC Plug-in software for

PowerMac/PowerPC systems, and Polaroid DMC Direct

camera utility software for Windows 95, Windows NT, and

PowerMac/ PowerPC systems.

The package also contains this users guide, not shown in the

illustration.

WARNING: NOTHING INSIDE THE DMC CAMERA IS

USER-SERVICEABLE. TO AVOID THE POSSIBILITY OF

DAMAGING THE CAMERA OR VOIDING THE

WARRANTY, DO NOT DISASSEMBLE THE CAMERA.

Camera switches and connectors

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a SCSI ID selector: Sets the SCSI address of the camera (see

page 10).

b SCSI connector: Connects to the computer SCSI port via the

SCSI cable provided.

c Termination selector: Turns camera SCSI termination on or

off (normally set to On as shown).

d X-sync connector: Connector for electronic flash, if used

with the camera.

e Power switch: Turns the camera on and off.

f Power indicator LED: Lights to indicate that camera is

powered on.

g Power connector: Connection for the AC power adapter.

Camdetl2.ai

h Tripod mount: Standard mount for attaching the camera to

a copystand or tripod.

i C-mount: Accepts standard c-mount adapter for attachment

to microscopes, other optical instruments and c-mount

lenses.

Setting up 9

Setting the SCSI ID

The DMC camera is a Small Computer Systems Interface

(SCSI) device. You can connect up to seven SCSI devices to

your computer, one to another in a SCSI chain.

The DMC cameras SCSI ID is preset to 4 at the factory. You

do not need to change this number unless another SCSI

device in the chain is already using it. To determine whether

4 is already being used, check the user guides of the other

devices or run a SCSI utility program.

WARNING: EACH SCSI DEVICE CONNECTED TO

YOUR COMPUTER MUST HAVE ITS OWN UNIQUE ID

NUMBER SO YOUR COMPUTER CAN DISTINGUISH IT

FROM OTHER ATTACHED SCSI DEVICES. USING TWO

OR MORE DEVICES WITH THE SAME ID NUMBER

CAN CAUSE THEM TO MALFUNCTION. YOU CAN

LOSE DATA AS A RESULT.

If the DMC is your only external SCSI device or no other

device in the chain is using ID 4, skip the rest of this section

and go on to Attaching the camera to your microscope on

page 11. If you must change the cameras SCSI ID, use the

following steps:

1 Make sure the camera power is off and the camera is

disconnected from the computer. If the camera is on, use the

power switch (a) to turn it off.

Pwrswit.ai

2 Insert a small screwdriver into the slot of the SCSI ID

selector on the camera and rotate the selector until the arrow

points to the desired SCSI ID.

Scsiwit.ai

Note: Do not use 7 or 0, which are customarily reserved for

the computer and for PowerMac/PowerPC hard drives. If

possible, you should also avoid SCSI ID 3, which is often

used for internal CD-ROM drives.

Attaching the camera to your microscope

Note: Attaching the DMC camera to your microscope

requires a .63 or 1:1 c-mount adapter (not provided)

compatible with your microscope. Do not use a .5 c-mount

adapter, because it will produce image vignetting (dark

corners). Refer to the microscopes instruction manual or

contact the microscope manufacturer for more information

about c-mounts.

Caution: Before attaching a c-mount adapter or lens to the

camera, verify that the threaded end of the adapter (a) does

not exceed 0.195 inches (5mm). Longer c-mount adapters

may damage the camera. (The drawing below is actual size to

help you check the thread length of your c-mount adapter.)

cmadap2.cdr

Setting up 11

Use the following steps to attach the camera to your

microscope:

1 Screw the threaded side of the c-mount adapter (a) into the

DMC camera (b).

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The mounting arrangement shown is typical. Yours may be

different.

Important: Finger-tighten the adapter. Do not use any tools.

2 Following instructions with your microscope or c-mount

adapter, insert the c-mount adapter into the microscope (c).

3 Assure that the camera image orientation matches the

microscope eyepiece image by rotating the camera so the

tripod mount (a) faces toward the bottom of the image.

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+ 36 hidden pages

Polaroid DMC User Guide

Table of Contents

Quick startup

Introduction

System requirements

Technical assistance

Using this manual

Setting up

Camera switches and connectors

Setting the SCSI ID

Attaching the camera to your microscope