MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

A few days I cut some grass from the front yard, put it in a jar, and poured bottled spring water over it. Then I left it overnight and looked at a drop the next day. Nothing. Perhaps I will see something in a few days, but it seems to be a struggle to find many microorganisms in my yard. One of the...

I'm really intrigued by the work that James Weiss has done. The videos on Journey to the Microcosmos are amazing. What I really wish for, though, is a book that outlines how to do the live sample collection and maintenance that Weiss has perfected. I see little hints of it here and there, but so far...

I've never seen anything anywhere near that yellow iny stock T590B using the supplied 20 watt halogen bulb. When I compare the color of the light with the color of my LED SE306 stereo microscope light, of course the halogen looks more yellowish and the LED more bluish. But without that comparison, t...

I have a T490B with 20 watt halogen, and I've never felt any need for more light even when doing darkfield at 400x.

Nice to know I'm not the only one. I haven't given up astronomy, and light pollution is not too bad in rural Vermont, but I am tired of fighting lousy weather and poor seeing.

I've always been interested in the life sciences, but I'm putting more effort into them the last few years.

I've decided that 10x wide fields will be easier to achieve with a hand lens.

Sometimes we overthink these things and miss the simple solutions.

Greg Howald wrote: ↑

Sat May 22, 2021 4:30 am

I have achieved dark field, oblique, polarization, and Rheinberg lighting with my stereo scope.
Greg

I'm impressed! I haven't even tried illumination tricks with the stereo scope. Could you post more information on how you achieved this in a stereo scope, which lacks a condenser?

Stereo microscopes are useful for looking at insects, mineral or rock samples, flower and leaf structures, and dissection. Compound microscopes can be used to examine a small part of an insect (such as a leg) at high magnification, but are not really suited to looking at the insect as a whole. Stere...

My Amscope stereo microscope came with 20x eyepieces in addition to the 10x eyepieces, but I've never used them. 20x-40x is useful, but 80x on a stereo will have no depth of field. I would rather switch to the compound microscope at that point. On the other hand, my 20x eyepieces for the compound sc...

Amscope 10X-30X Compact Multi-Lens Stereo Microscope with Angled Head, Metal Pillar Stand, Top Lighting Good choice. While I am happy with my Amscope 20X-40X stereo microscope, I do sometimes wish I could go down to 10X. I never use the supplied 20X eyepieces that would take it up to 80X. I've rese...

I am not set up to take pictures yet, but I do a lot of darkfield with the T490B and the supplied Amscope dry darkfield condenser. Both work extremely well. I find the halogen light more than bright enough for dark field or Rheinberg illumination, and rarely run it at full output. However, while the...

It is fitted with an oil immersion darkfield condenser - I have only worked with the little black disks you place into normal abbe condensers before, perhaps someone could explain the difference between these? Nonetheless, the image quality is noticeably better than with the standard dry-type darkf...

At the suggestion of SWmicro, I took some of the broken seed shells from the bird feeder in the hopes of getting some microorganisms brought in my birds. I dumped them in water and left them for a few days. They now contain significant numbers of one type of ciliate, though I can't identify it. Howe...

Fortunately, our local water system uses chlorine, not chloramines. So yes, leaving it to stand for a while for remove the chlorine.

I recently printed some Rheinberg filters in various color combinations using a color printer and transparency material. Complementary colors such as yellow/violet and orange/blue work very well. I'm very pleased with the results. However, I can only get it to work well with a 4X or 10X objective. T...

SWmicro wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:19 pm

If it is commercial bottled "spring water" all bets are off.

Yes, it's commercial bottled "spring water". I use it because unlike my tap water, it isn't chlorinated.

There are some fishing lakes here, but not too close to me, and this time of year everything is frozen. I will probably have to wait until spring to get water samples from lakes with fish.

You've all given me several good ideas to try. I picked up a sample from the back yard swale this afternoon, from a spot where the water running off from higher up the hill slows down and sits on the soil, spreading out. I'll look at that tonight. I have a bird feeder up for the winter, so I'll grab...

I have my compound microscope working very well, and I've figured out the basic techniques to use it effectively. Unfortunately, I am having trouble getting good examples of the biological microworld (in other words, pond life) from the field to a slide. I live in a rural area a few hundred feet abo...

I think it’s probably because there is a big ‘disconnect’ in modern Microscopy The bird’s feather is an excellent example: Imaging at that level fascinates almost everyone ... but it has become so commonplace that it is no longer magical : it’s just better close-up photography, and can be ‘consumed...

Hello, everyone. My name is Cathy. I live in a small town in Vermont. I've always been interested in science, and took an elective in Field Biology that gave me some hands-on sample collecting experience with an excellent professor. But majoring in engineering, I couldn't put much time into biology....

Here's what I'd suggest to begin for a new (and before Christmas) stereo microscope: https://www.amazon.com/AmScope-SE305R-P-LED-Forward-Mounted-Magnification-Battery-Powered/dp/B0058LIOAY/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=amscope+stereo+microscope+10x+30x&qid=1607067340&refinements=p_36%3A-14000&rnid=3...

I still have a toy microscope from my childhood, and I pulled it out the other day to try it out. The mechanical quality is really not bad, though of course it lacks a mechanical stage or Abbe condenser. At the time, I didn't even know those existed. It has a zoom eyepiece, so you can get a range of...

GeekyWife wrote: "Why is serious amateur microscopy not in the mainstream as it was 100-150 years ago?" enricosavazzi wrote: "At that time, and earlier during the Victorian period, well-to-do people were expected to cultivate wide-ranging interests in science, history, literature etc. For example, s...

I'm happy to report this has been solved.

There is a nut underneath the coaxial stage adjustment knobs, and it had worked loose. A bit of tightening with a socket and everything is working again.

I'm hoping this is just a matter of tightening something, but I'm worried a gear may have stripped. Brand new T490B, a few weeks old, lightly used by new microscopist. The forward/backward and up/down focusing adjustments work perfectly. The smaller knob under the stage that initially worked correct...

The following can all be found on archive.org, free: Botanical Microtechnique by John Sass Elementary Microtechnique by Alan Peacock Evenings at the Microscope by Phillip Henry Goss The Microscope: A Practical Handbook by Lewis Wright The Microscope and Its Revelations by William Benjamin Carpenter ...