We’ve been very excited testing a new 3D printed clamp that allows you to fit any (most?) standard hand lens to use as the magnifier. Although the Moment lens used in the standard clamp provides an excellent image, it only provides 10x magnification which we’re finding is just not quite enough for most stems.
With the new clamp not only can you get 20x magnification but it gives you the flexibility to use any magnification hand lens (conceivably 40x?) and can swap between magnifications as required, for example less magnification where you are more interested in the spatial distribution of events on leaf.
This clamp had to be a complete re-design so it could not only accomodate a completely different lens but also the different working distances and physical sizes of the different hand lenses. It’s a little bit of trial and error to get it setup with whatever hand lens is being used but once that’s done it shouldn’t require much adjustment when putting it in action.
The clamp can accommodate many different hand lenses but we have found the Eschenbach 20x loupe is excellent.
3D printing files and build instructions are now online and available on Github:
