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This page serves to provide information on and introduce our various types and models of OPTICAL COUPLERS, also called Video-Couplers - or even just C-mounts - although the latter is a misnomer.
On this page, we want to emphasize the importance of a "top notch" optical coupler - an important part of the overall optical imaging system of your microscope and its digital camera set-up - playing a vital role in the quality of the resulting images and the ease in capturing still images, movies or time lapse.

Our Optical Couplers come in different designs and generally have the following features:

  • Their lower part that has been designed to fit specific microscopes respective their photo ports - as is the case with our DIP-series. Since most microscope manufacturers have "their own photo port design" - although some do use a standard 38mm diameter ISO port - a sizeable number of optical couplers fitting these different micro-scopes has to be available. In the case of our HR/HRD-series of optical couplers, all use a standard connection, which in turn fits your microscope via microscope-specific adapter rings.
  • Virtually all of our Optical Couplers have achromatic optics incorporated, others feature true high-performance optics, which are used to create a perfect images on the camera sensor. Since camera sensors come in many different sizes and the optical conditions differ from microscope to microscope, we provide different optical coupler models with different magnifications [optical transfer factors] to attempt to achieve a final image of the highest quality and the widest possible field - without vignetting, color fringes or shadows.
  • The upper part of the optical couplers contains the connector to your camera, usually an industry-standard C-Mount or F-Mount.
  • The following professional Optical Coupler types are available from us:       


  • Our HR/HRD-series of optical couplers are equipped with achromatic or achromatic-aplanatic high-performance optics and are available with different optical transfer factors. They feature a built-in focusing mechanism to make the camera image parfocal with the viewed microscope image.
    HR/HRD-series optical couplers make use of microscope-specific adapter rings - making the these couplers fully transferable, with camera mounted - from one microscope to another, regardless of model and type. This is exceptionally useful whenever there is only one camera for multiple users in the same lab. In other words .... the camera does not have to be unscrewed every time.
  • Our LU-series of optical couplers are newly designed optical couplers that have been especially engineered for use with our new large format wide-field digital cameras, that reproduce the style, feel and perfomance of earlier 35mm film cameras - our new INFINITY4-11 models. These cameras require a radical new approach to the transfer of the microscope image to the camera - our LU-series of optical couplers and microscope adapter rings - to accommodate the excellent performance of these cameras.
  • Our PA1-series are optical couplers that were primarily designed for use with 35mm SLR cameras. In certain circum-stances, they can be deployed with our new wide-field cameras, such as the new Infinity4-11camera or digital SLR cameras with large sensor format.
  • Our DIP-series are optical couplers that allow industry-standard C-mount and certain F-mount digital cameras to be conveniently and economically mounted on your microscope. Unlike our HR/HRD-series, DIP-series optical couplers are microscope-specific and do not allow the transfer of the optical coupler [with camera mounted] from one microscope type to another - except between microscopes with the same type of photo port. 
  • A simplified type of this coupler is also available for mounting compact digital cameras directly onto the micro-scope eyepiece tube, in case no photo port or trinocular are available.
  • CDC-series optical couplers allow the mounting of "consumer-type" digital cameras [with non-removable lens] to be mounted on a microscope. Due to the large array of such cameras and the constantly lowering costs of digital cameras for microscopy, they have been discontinued - in fact, there is only a limited selection available and we suggest to contact us for availability. We DO NOT recommend them for professional applications in microscopy.

To obtain more detailed information on the various types of Optical Couplers/Camera Adapters and to select the one that is most suitable for you, click on the coupler designation above or go to the respective web page by using the Top Navigation Panel.

In case you need to know what optical transfer factor is required for the camera of your choice, please CLICK here to go to a page with graphical details.

In case you require general information, prices and recommendations as to what Optical Coupler is most suitable for you, your application, your microscope and digital camera, click here to CONTACT us.