Is this zoom good enough for checking trichomes?
- Thread starter KarlJay
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- Thread starter
- #3
That's actually the best that camera will do. It's a trick I learned off YouTube...
You fully zoom the camera BEFORE going to the macro mode (you can't zoom in macro mode so you must do it before). I use a macro lens in addition to that zoom trick. It's the most zoom I'll be able to get with this setup.
So I should get a USB microscope then.
Ok, what power USB microscope should I get?
I have no clue how power that zoom is in the pics I posted so I can't say 2x that.
I's like one that allows me to take pictures.
You fully zoom the camera BEFORE going to the macro mode (you can't zoom in macro mode so you must do it before). I use a macro lens in addition to that zoom trick. It's the most zoom I'll be able to get with this setup.
So I should get a USB microscope then.
Ok, what power USB microscope should I get?
I have no clue how power that zoom is in the pics I posted so I can't say 2x that.
I's like one that allows me to take pictures.
- Thread starter
- #4
Looking at the pics one more time... If the light were right and the hand were steady, this might be usable. How much larger will they get, flowering is about 3 weeks in, but I don't know if the tric's get larger or just more of them.
I might break out the tripod and turn off the fan or move the plant to get a better pic.
It just seems sooooo close to being usable.
I might break out the tripod and turn off the fan or move the plant to get a better pic.
It just seems sooooo close to being usable.
mountaingoat
New Member
Looks pretty good to me, but usually the USB microscopes are super cheap and super easy to use, of course its also a pricing factor. I got mine of ebay for about 15 dollars which was a bit too low so get something in the 30-50 dollar range and you should be fine. I think fishcake got a nice one for a very reasonable price.
AudioBassiks
New Member
hey in my eyes thats pretty good.. i think you will be fine as long as you can see the the water tower thing and see colour then you wil be able to tell
- Thread starter
- #7
That's what I'm thinking. I'm about 3 weeks into flowering so I don't know if the tric's will get larger or just more of them.
I think if I use a tripod, turn off the fan and be more careful about 'pushing the button' I should be ok.
The problem has been when I press the button to snap the pic, the camera moves a bit. That causes the loss of focus. With this much zoom every hair of movement causes problems.
I think I do a sample run of pics using the tripod and move the plant for better light. I think they view best with a side shot of the trics...
I'm unsure as to when to harvest. Someone local that worked in a coop shop, told me "as much amber as you can get" I would like to sample some at clear and semi clear, just to check out the difference.
I guess the solution would be to pre-harvest 1 branch just when the trics get a bit cloudy, and that'll give me the answer.
mountaingoat
New Member
I heard some things about the more amber the more couch potent stone while the lighter the colour the less couchy the stone is. But cant really confirm the source so take it with a huge grain of salt.
- Thread starter
- #9
That's what I heard from several sources as well. Some like the daytime/active high, others love the couch high. I wouldn't mind doing a compare.
I think taking a branch 1 week early doesn't hurt anything, but I don't know.
I guess it's like beer, some beer doesn't work well for me, others are great. Good news is that if you drink enough different beers, you'll probably find one you like, and if you're lucky, it won't be one of the expensive ones
- Thread starter
- #10
There you go...Nice pic. As soon as 1/2 turn light amber I harvest. but I like a trip type stone as opposed to a coma stone. I'm going to try my camera and see if I can get that good of a pic. I was going to suggest that you turn your lights off for the pics. What did you change to get this one??
- Thread starter
- #12
Lights and being more careful pushing the button. Every time I push the button, I move the camera.
The camera is actually a HD video camera in still mode, so I have to push the button on the back, which usually moves the camera out of focus.
I'll still try the tripod or maybe the remote control. Holding it steady is the hardest part.
The camera is actually a HD video camera in still mode, so I have to push the button on the back, which usually moves the camera out of focus.
I'll still try the tripod or maybe the remote control. Holding it steady is the hardest part.
Hey Karl.... You can get a 25x handheld microscope with light that does a real good job with the Trichomes; I don't think I paid any more than $25 bucks or so for mine. Tripods are a must for closeup macro shots; if you are using a DSLR type camera use the mirror lockup function and the self timer. This will keep your hands completely off the camera and will give you great closeups of the buds. My understanding has been that the more amber the Trichomes, the more narcotic the effect. Kind of like dialing in the high you want.... Hope this little bit of info helps...
- Thread starter
- #14
Thanks! Your understanding dittos mine and others. It's actually pretty cool that you can 'dial' things in like that.
The camera is a Kodak Zi8. It's a pocket video camera, but it has a 'flaw' where if you zoom in before you select macro, the zoom will hold in macro (you can't zoom in or out while in macro). This trick and a macro lens is giving me the pics you see posted.
Amen on the tripods, my hands are steady, but not THAT steady! Just based on what I'm getting now, I should be able to make this work.
The other plus is that what you see is a still pic, I can shoot a HD movie and examine the movie with this level of zoom. This should be a huge plus because I can scan across the leaves and seem more.
I wish this site offered to upload a video. I've linked YouTube videos on other sites, but I don't want the info posted here to be linked to me.
Just in case: "It's not mine, I'm holding for a friend" ... "I don't know anything about this" ... "I can't remember anything" ... "I don't know what anyone else is talking about" ... "I must of been looking the other way, I didn't see anything" ... "it wasn't me, it was someone that LOOKS like me"
Highwayrob
New Member
Everything you want to know about trichomes.
TRICHOME COLOURS AND MATURITY:
The trichomes start to develop 2nd week into flower, they start as clear, turn cloudy, then amber, and finally crimson.
Note, you can harvest to test different colours and their effects, however note you must properly cure the sample first. Curing properly can be sped up to as short as a week, or go for as long as a 6-12 months. Note, if you cure for 12 months consume right away as shelf life (while much longer) is not going to be quality after 12 months.
A very important thing to remember is that the trichomes will still mature AFTER harvest! Just like when you pick an orange that is still a bit green, it ripens, then you eat it.
Make sure you are viewing trichomes in proper light. DO NOT view them in your flower room under high pressure sodium lights as it will already appear amber in the yellow light. Use in a veg tent that uses metal hallide or in sunlight or full spectrum white LED light.
90% cloudy and 10% clear is as early as you'd ever want to harvest. This means after curing you may have 5% amber. This bud will likely give a more euphoric affect, but still energetic and not very strong.
Amber tends to have good balance of couch lock and euphoric and not too strong or too weak. I'd say go for 50-75% amber trichomes (and that doesn't mean they all need to be full amber, even starting to amber, the bulb will colour not so much the stalk of the trichome.
Crimson tends to be very strong and will couch lock you or put you to sleep (if you just ate a meal - as marijuana will lower your blood glucose levels and processing food takes energy, you will be tired about 30 mins after eating, so eat first, then 30 mins later you will not feel so tired, unless you intend to use for insomnia).
Neat Fact: Cherry Oil is just waiting for your trichomes to further mature before making into honey oil. Whatever you do, stay away from rick simpson oil as it grabs the chlorophyll which will make the oil taste heavy and , to me, like fish. Use butane in glass extraction tube (NEVER PVC!)
Your trichomes once they've started to cloud won't really "fatten up" or "grow more of them". To increase the amount of trichomes you should do some light stressing in mid flower (water a little late, bend the stalks slightly, very slightly lower or raise your pH - remember to avoid lockout and salt buildup. if you add tons of nutrients and it looks deficient still, you probably have salt buildup from not enough run off, use a root cleaner, micro enzymes that eat the salts off the roots). That makes it go into it's "last ditch hope for pollination before death", so it produces more trichomes to increase it's chance of grabbing some pollination. Be careful to not stress too much (if you're novice don't even try this yet), as if you stress too much, you will turn it into a hermaphrodite and it will pollinate itself. You will get seeds and a nasty tasting flower with low potency.
ZOOM LEVEL/LOUPES AND SCOPES:
the 25-40X loupes are garbage in my opinion. My eyes aren't the best and neither do i have steady hands (getting old sucks). The highest magnification from an optical lens for a jewelers loupe is 60X. If there's an LED on it even better. With a good eye and steady hand this will suffice and is much easier to use than a digital lens with digital zoom that goes out of focus etc. by the way, digital zoom is garbage too, as they take the resolution and increase it, they blowup a single pixel into 4 and since there's no new data the fidelity decreases. just math. an optical zoom uses light bending to give a true zoom of fidelity.
You want a zoom from 100-400 for BEST results. anything over 500 and you are looking into fibers and xylem and phloem tubes etc, 4000X and your into the cells of the plant. You are not a scientist and only want the trichomes, that's the 100-400 range. again i cannot stress this enough, optical zoom is far superior and you will see the price reflected in the hardware you purchase.
if you are going digital, then there are options. hand-helds that take a picture from the device are hard, as you've noticed, when depressing the "take picture" button. The camera doesn't move much but when you are at 60+ zoom then every slight motion is amplified and blurs the image. the preferred device connects to a pc and uses the pc mouse to take an image, or have a series where you click take 10 pics 1 pic every 1 sec. Yes it's a pain to move the plant by the pc, hold the camera in one hand and take the picture with the other, but trust me that your image will be crisp as you are not moving the device that captures with the same hand that presses the capture button.
SUMMARY:
125-400X zoom, optical, Amber trichomes.
TRICHOME COLOURS AND MATURITY:
The trichomes start to develop 2nd week into flower, they start as clear, turn cloudy, then amber, and finally crimson.
Note, you can harvest to test different colours and their effects, however note you must properly cure the sample first. Curing properly can be sped up to as short as a week, or go for as long as a 6-12 months. Note, if you cure for 12 months consume right away as shelf life (while much longer) is not going to be quality after 12 months.
A very important thing to remember is that the trichomes will still mature AFTER harvest! Just like when you pick an orange that is still a bit green, it ripens, then you eat it.
Make sure you are viewing trichomes in proper light. DO NOT view them in your flower room under high pressure sodium lights as it will already appear amber in the yellow light. Use in a veg tent that uses metal hallide or in sunlight or full spectrum white LED light.
90% cloudy and 10% clear is as early as you'd ever want to harvest. This means after curing you may have 5% amber. This bud will likely give a more euphoric affect, but still energetic and not very strong.
Amber tends to have good balance of couch lock and euphoric and not too strong or too weak. I'd say go for 50-75% amber trichomes (and that doesn't mean they all need to be full amber, even starting to amber, the bulb will colour not so much the stalk of the trichome.
Crimson tends to be very strong and will couch lock you or put you to sleep (if you just ate a meal - as marijuana will lower your blood glucose levels and processing food takes energy, you will be tired about 30 mins after eating, so eat first, then 30 mins later you will not feel so tired, unless you intend to use for insomnia).
Neat Fact: Cherry Oil is just waiting for your trichomes to further mature before making into honey oil. Whatever you do, stay away from rick simpson oil as it grabs the chlorophyll which will make the oil taste heavy and , to me, like fish. Use butane in glass extraction tube (NEVER PVC!)
Your trichomes once they've started to cloud won't really "fatten up" or "grow more of them". To increase the amount of trichomes you should do some light stressing in mid flower (water a little late, bend the stalks slightly, very slightly lower or raise your pH - remember to avoid lockout and salt buildup. if you add tons of nutrients and it looks deficient still, you probably have salt buildup from not enough run off, use a root cleaner, micro enzymes that eat the salts off the roots). That makes it go into it's "last ditch hope for pollination before death", so it produces more trichomes to increase it's chance of grabbing some pollination. Be careful to not stress too much (if you're novice don't even try this yet), as if you stress too much, you will turn it into a hermaphrodite and it will pollinate itself. You will get seeds and a nasty tasting flower with low potency.
ZOOM LEVEL/LOUPES AND SCOPES:
the 25-40X loupes are garbage in my opinion. My eyes aren't the best and neither do i have steady hands (getting old sucks). The highest magnification from an optical lens for a jewelers loupe is 60X. If there's an LED on it even better. With a good eye and steady hand this will suffice and is much easier to use than a digital lens with digital zoom that goes out of focus etc. by the way, digital zoom is garbage too, as they take the resolution and increase it, they blowup a single pixel into 4 and since there's no new data the fidelity decreases. just math. an optical zoom uses light bending to give a true zoom of fidelity.
You want a zoom from 100-400 for BEST results. anything over 500 and you are looking into fibers and xylem and phloem tubes etc, 4000X and your into the cells of the plant. You are not a scientist and only want the trichomes, that's the 100-400 range. again i cannot stress this enough, optical zoom is far superior and you will see the price reflected in the hardware you purchase.
if you are going digital, then there are options. hand-helds that take a picture from the device are hard, as you've noticed, when depressing the "take picture" button. The camera doesn't move much but when you are at 60+ zoom then every slight motion is amplified and blurs the image. the preferred device connects to a pc and uses the pc mouse to take an image, or have a series where you click take 10 pics 1 pic every 1 sec. Yes it's a pain to move the plant by the pc, hold the camera in one hand and take the picture with the other, but trust me that your image will be crisp as you are not moving the device that captures with the same hand that presses the capture button.
SUMMARY:
125-400X zoom, optical, Amber trichomes.
Highwayrob
New Member
That's what I heard from several sources as well. Some like the daytime/active high, others love the couch high. I wouldn't mind doing a compare.
I think taking a branch 1 week early doesn't hurt anything, but I don't know.
I guess it's like beer, some beer doesn't work well for me, others are great. Good news is that if you drink enough different beers, you'll probably find one you like, and if you're lucky, it won't be one of the expensive ones
A staggered harvest is actually preferable.
So the bottom 3rd of the plant is taking up nutrients and wasting the plants energy and not producing anything more than pop-corn buds. a waste. So you prune these lower parts off in the first and 2nd week of flower.
When ready to harvest, take the top 1/3rd of the plant, lower your light about 6-12" and let the middle 3rd mature and fatten up in the light, then harvest. You will notice the trichomes mature on the top buds faster than the lower buds.
I think you have the right idea.... take your test sample to a well lit daylight area and with a steady hand you will be fine... lighting is very important to the cri(colour rendering index)
I hope he's got it by now I mean since he posted this back in 2013 
yeah, it should be done by now Similar threads
