If you dont have or cant get ahold of a microscope a decent camera will provide at least some what of a tell tell sign. Example:Cannabis Forums Message Boards - Medical Marijuana, Cannabis Club, Dispensary, News I took this picture with a canon powershot sd750. A pretty ordinary camera. 7.1 mega pixel. Nothing to fancy about it. I can take pictures of my buds and then looking at them on my computer. You can actually see the difference between the amber colored trichs vs others. This just gives me a rough estimate of amber %. you can still have alot of clear trichs thou which as we discussed before youd want to wait to turn. YOU DONT HAVE TO GET A MICROSCOPE.... but again if you are looking for a desired quality from your crop its almost a staple to have.