MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I've been looking for more or less the same information for some time. I want to assess prism compatibility, both within a manufacturer's system, and between manufacturers, without actually having to do direct, and therefore very expensive, comparisons. For example, will a Zeiss prism system work we...

Tom, What you need is a Diagnostic Instruments PA1-10A adapter. It's a direct replacement for the Olympus Photomicro Adapter L, but instead of the Olympus camera mount has a T-ring thread so you can mount any camera you can get a T-ring adapter for. I've used them on both the BH series (BHS), and th...

Tom, Just when you think you have things figured out. :o Thanks for adding the last photos. I hadn't seen the differences in the intermediate tube either. Mine is the BH2 version. Pretty subtle differences. I hope the prisms are the same. Sometimes it's handy to go through a dealer! Pricey, but you ...

Hi Tom, The Stephanoceros video was just normal DIC, no tricks of any kind. I was actually just checking a fresh plankton net collection before I went to a Science Night demo at a local high school when I found it. All the setup and shooting was done in about 30 minutes as I had to leave for the dem...

Damn. I'm sorry. I didn't look at the last picture apparently, as it was mostly a response to the intermediate tube price. I paid about $850 for my intermediate tube. I've never seen that type condenser before. Apparently I got lucky when I bought mine! Since that one doesn't have a dovetail on the ...

Tom, A word to the wise... eat Ramen for a while :? , sell your kids :shock: , just don't sell the DCD, or the DIC set for that matter. Dedicated dark field condensers are better than simple stops, and you're going to like dark field. It's worth learning to swap condensers quickly and efficiently to...

Tom, The Dealcorner intermediate tube is the BH2-NA. It's also too expensive, so he should get to keep it. :o This is why I think it's too expensive: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Olympus-NIC-Phase-Condenser-set-for-DIC-Microscope-setup-in-good-working-order/232936455851?hash=item363c183eab:g:ZL0AAOSwPCZ...

PeteM's right about the DPlans. I used them in hematology and microbiology in a trauma center lab for a long time. They're nice lenses and relatively inexpensive. Get the WHK eyepieces. Their higher eye point is easier to use over a long period of time.

Tom

PM sent.

Ignoring for the moment the fact that everything we do each day involves the death of a lot of organisms in one way or another... :shock: so many that the number of them in your sample doesn't even reach the level of a rounding error... :D How many organisms are you going to squash to death :oops: w...

ALL transmitted light DIC requires polarized light and two Nomarski prisms. Reflected light DIC requires only one as the light passes through it twice. All of the prisms are expensive and limited as to the number of objectives they will work with, often being designed to work with one specific objec...

I use this Fotodiox C-m4/3 adapter with the U-PMTVC for my BHS and SZH: https://www.adorama.com/fdcmft.html?gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=CjwKCAiAzuPuBRAIEiwAkkmOSLDVCc7HsAdeIxWC6Q-6pdBsB9dC3WFL3sfe-VSt2j1RVSrDn_iH3xoCLt4QAvD_BwE It screws down flush against the PMTVC adapter, but works fine with the GH4. The ...

Some of the available micro 4/3 C-mount adapters don't like the flat top on the U-PMTVC and won't screw on completely before they bottom out. Mine just barely makes it.

That could make the adapter-camera sensor distance too long even with the adapter fully screwed together.

John, You'll need a PE 2.5x projection lens (for 35 mm full-frame cameras), a U-SPT photo tube (or U-DPT if you want to mount two cameras) to mount on top of the trinoc head, and a camera adapter such as the Diagnostic Instruments PA1-10A with a Canon T-ring mounted on top of that. The DA instrument...

Are you saying you cannot get the camera by itself in focus, or cannot get the camera focus and eyepiece focus to match?

If the camera image won't come into focus, something is wrong.

It can be. The U-PMTVC has screw threads that will allow you to adjust it's length a bit to make it parfocal. Adjust focus in the right eyepiece, match it with the left, then adjust the U-PMTVC (screw it in or out) until the camera focus matches what you see in the eyepieces. I use a -H focusing eye...

Of course you can reuse the slides. We tossed them into Hazardous Waste in the hospital lab, but that was because of the glass, not the organisms. In a hospital it is rarely cost effective to wash things like slides. Labor costs too much, particularly when you're doing 50-100 gram stains a day. Scho...

Mike, Go to the manufacturer's (or any manufacturer of the stain) web site and look for the Safety Data Sheets/Material Safety Data Sheets. They contain all of the relevant safety and disposal information. See for example: https://www.tedpella.com/SDS_html/19451_sds.pdf The stains mentioned are in u...

The BH-2 simple pol adapter won't fit the BX. The dovetail is too small. It will actually go on, but isn't centered. The bigger problem is that the BX head dovetail is too big to fit the BH-2 adapter. I just checked. You would need to use a BH-2 head with it, and figure out how to center it... You h...

opticnewb,

Where are you located? Maybe someone is close enough to provide a bit of assistance.

Tom

PeteM, No, I don't know off hand. I've never tried the BH system at all. The BX and BH2 condensers will interchange in the mounts, and I've been told the removable prisms are the same size, but whether they will interchange optically or not I don't know. Given the variability in the BX series - oil ...

Hi Dan,

Here are the photos of the opened BH-2 DIC condenser.
Pretty simple. If you use a small phillips instead of a JIS, just very very careful as it won't fit quite as well as it should.

Tom

Hi Dan, A little experimenting this afternoon to answer your questions. This presumes you have the condenser with the fixed DIC prisms and phase rings, labeled "NIC/Phase Contrast" I installed the mag changer above the DIC intermediate tube, directly under the head, and it works fine, at least visua...

Olympus pol stages are centerable. They also offer centerable objective turrets for the BHT/BHS/BX-50, etc. scopes with removable turrets. Not the BHTU or BX-40 unless you have the rare, removable turret adapter, for the BX-40. A pol scope where you couldn't center specimen rotation with the optical...

Hi Dan, Give me a couple of days to check on the Mag changer/DIC compatibility and your other DIC questions. I'm off to Hollywood this morning to do some video photomicrography training with a film maker friend in her studio, so I won't be able to play with my BHS until at least tomorrow or Saturday...

First, I'd suggest you peruse this site: http://www.krebsmicro.com/ Charlie Krebs is the BHS-DIC Photomicrography Guru. Pretty much all of your questions are answered there. The projection eyepieces are designed to stay away from the outer edges of the field where image quality can be a bit less. Th...

I'd MUCH rather have a good 20x than a good 100x. Amateurs rarely need that much magnification. Good 60x objectives are nice, but more rare so more costly for good ones, and generally not necessary. I removed the 100x objectives from my seven BH-2 outreach scopes several years ago. They all have nic...

Look at the 50mm x x50mm. Full, 1/2 and 1/4 wave. $18 each for the full wave, $12 each for the 1/2 and 1/4. Click on "Specifications and Documents" below each description to get the full data, including thickness. Put them below the condenser as they are not optically clear enough to go between the ...

Thanks Roldorf and MichaelG! About a 30 second clip from that ended up on Discovery Canada's science show Daily Planet, in an episode of Ziyology, hosted by Ziya Tong and Dan Riskin. Just basking in all the glory here.

Tom

Call the Olympus and Zeiss reps and have them bring out a demo of the scopes you are considering, and leave it/them for a week or two so you and your techs can see how you like it. Ask them what they would recommend, too. Get a bid on what you want. It will probably be for less than list. I don't kn...