Foldscope picture: Cladosporium sphaerospermum

The photos below are from fungal growth in a walk in cooler.  I wanted to determine if the Foldscope could be used for field identification of a fungal organism.  All photos except the picture in the cold room were taken with a Samsung Galaxy S-5 smart phone camera.  Room florescent lights were used to back light the Foldscope image.

Possible fungal growth on a metal shelf in a walk in cooler

Foldscope photo using 85% lactic acid with lacto fuchsin stain and 3M scotch tape on microscope slide

Digitally enhanced Foldscope photo of Cladosporium sphaerospermum with Adobe Photoshop Elements 12

Original photo from the eyepiece of a  Olympus compound microscope at 400x

Digitally cropped Olympus microscope photo with Photoshop Elements 12.

Conclusion:  The $1 Foldscope microscope gives me enough information to field identify Cladosporium spp.  After the shot is taken with the camera it can be viewed and enlarged on the camera photo viewer.  The image will not be as sharp as the Photoshop enhanced image or that produced by a Nikon microscope but it provides enough information to make the identification.