Foldscope 2.0 - New Lenses!!

Aug 23, 2023 • 3:09 PM UTC

Rock Hill, SC, USA

340x Magnification

Non-Living

Holly Stuart (Foldscope Team)

Education Specialist at Foldscope Instruments

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The new Foldscope 2.0 has three lenses for 50X, 140X, and 340X levels of magnification! To show what this means in terms of what you can now see with your Foldscope, I captured images of various fabrics at different magnifications.

For each of these samples, I just placed the fabric directly into my Foldscope 2.0, attached the light module to the back, and coupled it to my phone - no slide prep was necessary!

First, I started with a cotton t-shirt. The 50X lens gives the widest field of view and lets you see many of the holes between the threads. The 140X lens is the one we are most familiar with on a Foldscope and lets you see fewer holes, but with greater clarity. The 340X lens has the largest magnification, but the smallest field of view - you can only see one of the holes.

Next, I tried out some lace. Again, with the 50X lens you have a large field of view. At 140X you can see less of the lace, but there is greater detail revealed in the knots. And at 340X you can see only one knot in one of the threads.

How do you decide which magnification to use? The best lens to choose for your microscopic explorations depends on what it is you are trying to see with your Foldscope 2.0. My advice is to try them all - each one has great value and will show you amazing details in your samples!

What are you looking at with your new Foldscope? I can't wait to see all of your discoveries!

Happy Foldscoping!