we don't have a documentation system, so we're looking for "making" one homemade. I can get an acrilic structure to serve as a top thingy. But now i have to pick put the best possible camera for DNA gels. Any suggestions?
sorry for bad english.
etbr has an absorption at 285nm which is in then UV spectrum and dangerous to eyes. Transilluminators have filters to remove hard UV and make them safer but this will be a problem for you so have your uv source above the gel at 45 degrees to the gel facing away from your eyes and skin. Also be aware that most uv is removed by commercial filters and this avoids dna damage and a rapidly decreasing signal so if you just illuminate with broad spectrum uv you will have to take pictures quickly before the signal fades. The emission is about 605nm in the orange region of the spectrum so you will get a better picture with a filter ( clear coloured plastic) that filters out blue and allows orange to pass through. Any phone or digital camera will take a good picture of a fluorescing gel but the picture will be better if ambient light is excluded ( dark room or a hood round the gel to keep out white light) I think orange coloured filter should work well but with imaging software the blue background can be changed or lessened. Use UV protective goggles mainly for you eye protection but possibly also as the filter in front of the camera to improve the image. Artur is right the filter is difficult which is why transilluminator systems are very expensive but I think cheaper systems can work if care is taken to minimise uv reflection into the eyes and skin.
Take a look here:
http://bitesizebio.com/26/low-cost-dna-gel-photography/
Hope it helps!
The link Alejandro provided is great. You can use pretty much any camera (I have photographed many gels with my smart phone). You just need the right orange filter between your camera and the gel and the filters are NOT difficult to find. You might also consider using a more sensitive stains like SYBRSafe or GelGreen, for example (there are a number of others). These dyes are more expensive, but the trade-off is you can use less of your size standards on each gel, so in the end it is not so bad. With these other dyes you can use a blue LED light (rather than UV) transilluminator and not have to worry about UV shielding for face and eyes when looking at your gel. If you plan to cut DNA out of the gel, you will also have less DNA damage using blue LED instead of UV. You would still need to view by eye or camera through the orange filter to eliminate the blue background.
"Desktop gel imaging enclosure for smartphones (link #1)"
As mentioned, Smartphones can take DNA gel pictures (Figure 1). With or without filter (Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4). Figure 3 (EtBr-stained gel) and Figure 4 (Cybre-stained gel). This site offers specific filters (link #2, Figure 2). I attached some pictures, so you can see for yourself.
Link#1: http://archive.iorodeo.com/content/smartphone_enclosure
Link #2: http://archive.iorodeo.com/emission-filters
wow thanks to all of you for your great answers. i've been taking pictures with my cell phone for about a year now, but you can always improve your work haha. I designed the top part (picture attached), and now i'm trying to find a good camera, and the filters. I found the nikon coolpix 5700 as a very good cam for the specifications, so let's hope we can get it hahha!!
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