MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

GaryB, thanks for that video link. I have start watching it and it's very informative.

Thanks for the suggestions on transformers. I will keep that in mind. For now I think I will sit back and try and enjoy using the microscope as-is, and learning more about microscopy. I received my green filter today and used it during phase contrast. It did seem to make it easier to see structure. ...

1. That is a nice organism, but neither it nor anything similar to it will reduce the brightness. They are two thin to do that. 2. When at the pond, try and locate aqueous plants - any of them: Water lilies, Water Hyacinths, Elodea, Algae. They need not look clean and green and pleasant- on the con...

Hey guys, thanks for all the replies. Can you post a photo of your light bulb? I wonder if perhaps it has been adapted. Also, can you enumerate all the settings on your condenser? Curious as to if it has a 'D' Here is a picture of my bulb, it looks like the bulb in the manual to me: https://postimg....

1. In general, a very bright illumination is a virtue. One can always attenuate it - much easier than the other way round. In your case, perhaps the illumination is not uniform, such that the center is too bright and the perimeter is relatively dark. 2. The amount of water in the slide has a very s...

Wow, so jealous! Hehe :) You certainly landed on your feet with this forum, and i have to say these guys' advice is impeccable - i had the same dilemma when i first started a few months ago (brain ache and a zillion questions) and went the same way with a used Leitz SM-LUX. I am very glad i did! I ...

I must be doing something wrong. When viewing water, unless the condenser aperture is completely closed the light is so bright it almost blinds me. This is using the 5v setting on the transformer. Could it be that I don't have enough water on the side? One other question, there is a lense that swing...

Thanks for that picture. I was aware "J" setting but I didn't know what the other two knobs were for. I did look through the manual and think I have a good idea of how do phase. It looks like I need a green filter which didn't come with my microscope. I am ordering one today.

I tried tinkering with the iris diaphram and the condenser aperature to play with brightness. Consistent setting of the apertures provides uniform illumination and improved contrast between the specimen and background. For Kohler, start with a low power intensity on the transformer, set the condens...

Charles wrote:You can adjust the brightness by plugging into a lower voltage setting on your power transformer.

For Phase, the WL manuel, Chapter 3 goes through the steps for using phase.

I am currently using the lowest voltage (5V). Thanks for the tip on the phase instructions in the manual.

I collected my first pond sample last night and took a look under the microscope. I was able to see some things moving around but even at 400x (the highest mag. I can go for now) it was hard to make out any details. I took a picture with my phone through the eyepiece on the trinocular port. The pict...

Do they make eyecups that I can attach to eyepieces or do you have to buy the eyepieces with them? On eBay there are inexpensive rubber eye-cups that come in several sizes and should apparently fit any ocular. I ordered a pair but have not received them yet, so I can't testify about their quality. ...

I have played with that interactive tutorial before I got my microscope but wasn't quite sure what I was doing. Hope this helps: As far as the illumination is concerned, the arrangement you have is already pre-focused and aligned. All you need to worry about is intensity. That picture was extremely...

I should also point out that the condenser has a V shaped notch on the mounting rim. For proper condenser alignment, the front spring loaded pin fits into that notch. Thanks for the info Charles. Yes, I noticed that notch and lined it up against the front spring loaded pin. Is there a reason that w...

Wow, those are great!

How far should my eyes be from the eyepieces to see the image clearly? So far I have had to back up a little bit to get the image to become clear. If I go closer then the field of view seems to shrink or I see some double vision. Backing up a little bit was a little annoying because my peripheral vi...

Any tips on when I should be moving the condenser down? The Kohler adjustment in the manual mentioned moving it down but I can still get the image in focus when the condenser is close to the slide. The condenser, when properly adjusted, should be only a couple of millimeters below the slide in most...

I would suggest to check that the three condenser knobs can be moved under light finger pressure. Never force anything related to the condenser. I think I misspoke. I had to tighten the knobs on the condenser carrier. See the image below where I've circled the parts I'm talking about (this is not m...

The inside if the eyepiece tubes is difficult to reach with swabs, I would postpone that until i am SURE that there is any dirt inside. Good advice. Finding where the dirt/dust is can be challenging. To check if it is in the eyepieces you can rotate them. If the dust rotates with the eyepiece then ...

I received my microscope today! The seller packaged it very well and I got it about 2 days early. Here's all the contents after I unpacked them: https://s17.postimg.org/xz4byicwv/IMG_20180312_185204626.jpg Assembly looked a little daunting but I loaded the standard manual that charles sent to me whi...

Had a couple more questions while reading: The microscopy primer link that 75RR posted mentioned that covering the microscope with a "plastic bag" is fine. So the plastic bag I get from the grocery store is okay? I bought some glass slides and cover slips. Any other items I should get? I thought abo...

Thank you everyone for all the links. I started reading through some of them last night which lead to more questions and research. I'm sure I'll have some more questions. One thing that immediately popped out at me is how modular the Zeiss is. Is this true of all their microscopes or just certain mo...

I purchased it this morning. :) I'm really looking forward to using it. Do you know of a good resource for me to read about this particular model? The first thing I plan on doing it just looking over all the different parts and understanding what they do. I'm looking at the virtual build article you...

This microscope at that price + shipping is the sort of microscope you would hope to find when you had gained a little experience, fallen in love with microscopy and decided to venture into quality used microscope territory. I'm actually very close to taking the plunge on this. It sounds like this ...

Thank you very much for all the replies! https://www.amazon.com/OMAX-40X-2500X-Trinocular-Microscope-Mechanical/dp/B01BPJJ1IQ/ref=sr_1_6?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1520320878&sr=1-6&keywords=omax+microscope Here is a link to an article that will hopefully help clarify a few things for you: http://www....

Greetings everyone! I've been looking through many posts on the Beginner's corner trying to make sure I'm well informed before making my first post. I was hesitant to post because there are a bunch of these "help me find a telescope" posts, however none quite matched what I was looking for. My brain...