1. Introduction

Using an imaging stand like this, 2, 4, or 5 compartments of a single chip tray can be captured to improve the resolution of the image. The Imago Portal will display these images as a single chip tray: 

2. Prerequisites

There are some prerequisites:

• A Camera support with LED lighting at 45 degrees.
• A Camera with a charged battery (6 hours). Recommend there be spare battery on charge.
• Latest version of Imago Capture X desktop application installed.
• A Water spray bottle.
• Chip trays filled to the same level – consistency is the key for a depth of field / sharp images

Click any image to see a larger view.

Example:

Figures (i). Copy stand, lighting at 45 degrees.   (ii) Chip trays in a batch.

3. Station Setup

1. Settings for the Camera:

• • ISO 100 (sharpness) F-stop between 10-16 & white balance fixed;
  • Use digitcam control to set these (need to close for Imago Capture X to work) or manually adjust using the camera menu functionality;
  • Set the Lens to “Manual focus” by clicking the button (Figure iii);
  • Do not allow autofocus or the camera to do any automatic correction.

2. Frame the desired number of compartments, for example (5) compartments will make a quicker capture, but will be lower resolution (Figure i).  Use live view from the digicam control to do this:

• • Make sure to include the labelled lid depth of the compartment in the FOV of the tray view;
  • Use a single row crop for the compartments (no lid), this will go into the downhole view;
  • Adjust the manual focus to sharpen the image (Figure v);
  • Repeat until optimal fit and resolution. There will be no need to adjust this often so long as the compartments are equally filled.

3. Use marks on the imaging station base to let the operator know where to start and stop the tray movement.

Figures. (iii) Manual focus switch   (iv) FOV = 5 compartment   (v) Focusing the lens manually

4. Capture Images

1. Move the chip tray to the labelled positions;  one position for every shot of the chip tray.
   1. Do not crop.
   2. Do edit frame and ensure 5 (or 4, if relevant) compartments are covered within the row cropping.
      • Take advantage of an Imago Capture X Template to save the frame for re-use.
2. Spray the interval with water (but be careful not to wet the camera lens).
3. Slide the chip tray along to the next interval.
4. Imago Capture X should auto increment for the corresponding interval.
5. At the EOH, return to the Imago Capture X Image Gallery to preview completed captures.
   • If there are image quality issues, double click the interval to retake.
6. Move to next hole and repeat steps 1-5 above.
7. Routinely hit “Upload” to upload images to the Imago Portal.
   
   

Here are some Imago Capture X Hot Keys

The Chip tray has 5 compartments labelled with the depths and the downhole view shows a full reconstruction of the chip tray: