MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

For some time there's been spots of algae colonising one side of my critter tank. I scraped a sample to try and ID it and noticed this strangeness. I think this is a colony of Botryococcus braunii (please correct if I'm mistaken), but what I don't understand is what is going on it the cell at the ce...

Thanks for explaining the process, much appreciated.

Well done, thanks for sharing.

The 50mm one is the largest baster I've seen. Very useful for taking deeper pond and rock pool samples.

Not to mention the time spent in specimen preparation. If you could take it home at weekends though..

Quick shots of the eyepieces. I did quickly try the both the binocular 10x eyepieces and the 10x graticuled adjustable-focus eyepiece (both comp) that came with the unit in the photo tube, however the crop factor was v-large and consequently low contrast with direct projection. Possibly something to...

Thank you apochronaut for the detailed explanation, much appreciated. The eyelens on these eyepieces is flat, the lower lens of the eyepiece is flush with the base and slightly concaved. Below is a quick video of the 16x Neofluar, and 25x Jena APO with an uncooperative subject. I tried to get footag...

Published in Apr 1965 if the number at the bottom is a date code. I also have this from the same source as well as other documents. Caused me some confusion over the NA discrepancies of my objectives until I realised it pre-dated the M17. Still a good document though, very informative.

The eyelens on my Vickers eyepieces are 15.7mm diameter. There is a thin pale yellow peripheral ring at the edge of the view coverage, is this the CA you were referring to? I'd assumed this was common to all compensating eyepieces.

Thanks for the info' on the 25x objective Bob, I had no clue about its heritage. Its my favourite of the objectives I own, not only for its clarity but 25x is such a useful magnification for many species of pond life observations. This possibly confirms my thoughts that the eyepieces in my china tri...

Cracking behavioural observation and video, thanks for sharing.

Your new tank will provide you with hours of fun observations, congratulations.

Impressive section. Nice work.

Corrected, thanks for pointing that out. Need to take a break from searching eBay for fluorite objectives, and lay off the wine when posting ;) ...Sadly I have today discovered PWM generated strobe lines in a video I was editing -snip- When the PWM frequency is too low, rapid (short-duration) exposu...

Chris ... I forgot to thank you for the ebay reference for that damping grease Recommendations like that are very helpful. MichaelG. . Incidentally, I have [thanks to Google] just translated the Chinese characters on the lid ... It does indeed say Damping Grease The wonders of modern technology tha...

Thanks everyone for the kind words and encouragement. Sadly I have today discovered PWM generated strobe lines in a video I was editing, they are fine but noticeable. My initial testing was obviously not thorough enough, my apologies. I have edited the post to reflect this, back to the bench power s...

Yes I read Alans page, likewise it seems there is no one definitive measurement when used in other photo tube systems other than Olympus's own.

I took a chance on the Vickers M17 pictured below […] On the subject of projection eyepieces and the flange step to sensor distance.. I've read various figures stated for Olympus NFK 125 LD eyepieces from 125mm to 150mm (the distance between the step on the eyepiece which rests against the photo tu...

Thanks Hobbyst. The simple reason for LED illumination over halogen is I prefer it. Not sure if it is my ageing eyes but I find it easier to see fine details under LED illumination (the replacement XHP35 is 6K btw, I forgot to mention it). The main eyepieces are Vickers 10x WF Comp (compensating) on...

I took a chance on the Vickers M17 pictured below, it had obviously been well used and would likely need some effort to bring it back to working order. I won it for a reasonable £170. The Vickers M17 was made in England and produced between the mid 1970's and early 80's. The design was a modular one...

Looks to me like it might be a sampler, swung round on the turret when a sample is needed from a specific area of an uncovered culture dish. Turning the knurled section would dip the hollow tip into and out of the sample medium, later retrieving the contents for further analysis.

I've been experimenting with some polarizing films also. Further details of your results would be appreciated.

Excellent work, thanks for posting. I've yet to find one, someday

I have 2 Zeiss 40x Neofluar objectives, one Ph2 the other vanilla. I've noticed the phase contrast variant performs differently under both oblique and dark field illumination. Its is not severe, but observable when compared. Using bright field illumination I can't see any significant difference betw...

Footloose and trying hard.

Looks like Loxophyllum maleagris, but I'm no expert. Nice catch and video work. Is this using DIC?

Another welcome find in the critter tank.

Scraped some algae from the side of the critter tank and found this little fella. Closest match I could find was Cephalodella but not 100% sure.

Stunning, well done.

I also agree with apochronaut on this. The Apex China-scope below I bought used for £100, and can still be bought new under various brands in the £350-£450 bracket. All I can say is if I'd bought this new I'd have returned it. The plan achromatic objectives it came with were respectable, but the lig...