How to Turn a Smartphone into a Microscope using Water Drop

Have you ever wondered what an ant’s jaws look like from up close? Or have you wanted to read the tiny prints on banknotes? Or have you taken a look at the fibers cloth is made of? To do all this, you need a microscope, and there happens to be one resting in your pocket right now. Well, kind of. You see, modern smartphone cameras are capable of shooting great photos. They can’t really replace a proper microscope, but they can act like an improvised one with the help of an extra lens to help them achieve the desired magnification. Surprisingly, a single drop of water can be that extra lens.

For this project, you’ll need the following:

• A smartphone (obviously) with a non-fixed focus camera. If there’s “autofocus” listed under your handset’s camera specs, you should be fine.
• A camera app. This one’s optional, but recommended if your phone’s camera app does not have manual control over the camera’s focus.
• A couple of books, thin boxes, or anything that can support your smartphone at about a quarter of an inch above a flat surface. 
• A flashlight or similar light source is recommended.
• A few drops of water. 
• Steady hands and patience.

So, Let get started, read and follow each and every step carefully :-

Step 1: The stuff you’ll need

Get a cup of water, a flashlight, and something to support your smartphone at about a quarter of an inch above a flat surface. We used a bunch of old magazines.

Step 2: The setup

This is what your setup should look like. The subject – a foreign banknote, in this case – should rest flat and stationary below the phone’s camera.

Step 3: Add water

Now comes the tricky part. Dip your finger in the cup of water so that a drop forms on your finger’s tip. Then touch the drop to the lens of your phone’s camera. Chances are the drop that forms will be too big so use a paper towel or a dry finger to absorb or lift some of the excess water. A droplet of the right size should be as spherical as possible and will not drip when you flip your phone around. For best results, the drop should be perfectly centered on your camera lens.

Step 4: Ready for business

Put the smartphone in place so that its camera is above your subject. The drop of water will allow the camera to focus onto it from a much closer distance – around a quarter of an inch, in our case. If your camera gives you manual controls over the focus, set it to Macro or as close as possible. If not, use tap to focus or get a camera app with manual controls.

So, All the steps are completed below are some some examples of captured picture.

Example 1: Banknote (taken with HTC One M8)

This is what the fine texture of a Banknote looks like when magnified. You can also read the micro text without any effort.

Example 2: Tea (taken with HTC One M8)

And this is the stuff that came out of a teabag.

Example 3: Salt (taken with iPhone 6 Plus)

These are grains of salt placed on the back cover of a magazine. The glowing effect is created by the flashlight shining at them. The iPhone we used for this shot had no troubles with focusing on the subject.

Example 4: SIM card (taken with Galaxy Note 4)

These are the exposed terminals of a SIM card. The Note 4, however, had a hard time locking the focus in place so we had to lock it manually once the camera got it in place.

Example 5: coin (taken with Galaxy Note 4)

And here’s a close-up of a coin’s surface.

Captured any picture? Post your captured microscopic photos in the comment section below, or drop that photos on our Facebook or Twitter feeds.

Source:PhoneArena