AbstractQuantitative fluorescence microscopy may present significant advantages compared to quantitative bright field microscopy, primarily due to the availability of a wide variety of dyes and probes which can specifically label cellular components. Fluorescence signals have excellent contrast with respect to the dark background, but the absolute intensity of the signal is relatively weak and therefore very sensitive light transducers must be employed. In general such devices compromise spatial and photometric resolution, limiting the usefulness of fluorescent dyes. Using a DNA stain (acriflavin) which permits imaging in both fluorescence and absorption microscopy modes, cell‐by‐cell comparisons of nuclear feature measurements were performed on cultured cells. We report that although there is more variance in fluoresence, comparable data can be achieved with either fluorescence or absorption microscopy mode using a digital camera which employs a scientific