MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

https://www.ebay.com/itm/370336094721
This guy is in Washington.

Images hosted on google seem to behave weirdly. I can't see them either.

Huh. I am in the US and overseas packages are coming as usual, there doesn't even seem to be an unusual delay.

If you don't have access to 3d printing or local machining RAFcamera provides a great service, both with unusual off-the-shelf adapters and custom made ones for quite reasonable prices. Shipping isn't even that slow given things are coming from Russia.

In retrospect I was expecting too much from non-apo optics, and worse, the samples I chose for testing were very unflattering. The buyer was quite happy with it and it has apparently been getting good use on microfossils. I think poor man's mitutoyo wouldn't be inaccurate. The finescope series was l...

To be more explicit, my microscope is an Optika IM-3: https://www.optikamicroscopes.com/optikamicroscopes/product/im-3/ and in order to take pictures from a DSLR the following accessories are available: an extension tube https://www.optikamicroscopes.com/optikamicroscopes/product/m-699/ and an opti...

I helped set up a camera on a microscope on a friend's academic lab. Their sccopes were old leitzes, and that one had a leitz objective, a wild, an olympus, a zeiss and a nikon. Not exactly on purpose, just from inherited equipment that was likely bodged together over time. Similar issues with their...

That's extremely cool!

That is a phase condenser. It also has a darkfield stop on the roulette. Not sure about thr objectives. It also has an unrelated trinoc head and some adapters, one of which looks like a diagnostic instruments slr adapter which would be handy. If not thr afx adapter can be retrofitted for a dslr easi...

Most systems will direct project onto aps-c with no trouble, no telecoverter needed unless you want to cover full frame. In systems where this is possible (no additional corrections needed, bit enough image circle--ie nikons, almost all stereo systems, probably most modern infinity systems) it is pr...

If something on eBay is listed as used (ie, not 'for parts') it has to arrive in working condition. If not the seller can be forced by eBay to accept a return on their own dime if they are unwilling to do so on their own. It might be more of a pain if they try to cause a fuss but I have never had a ...

Wouldn't that not even really be an upgrade though? How much better would that things images be? As opposed to an amscope? Yes, it will likely be significantly better than an amscope, cheaper and more expandable. He linked a few alphaphots in his first post, which are the student tier member of tha...

800 should buy something nice in nikon or olympus 160 finite era if you spend some time trawling eBay.
Just as a random example this one might be a good starting point https://www.ebay.com/itm/233373357867

The mtv lens is a reducing optic. It is an essential part of that adapter for using small sensor cameras. If you remove it you've turned a valuable and useful adapter into a simple dovetail adapter. If I were you I'd bust out the acetone, remove the superglue, reassemble the mtv. Sell that adapter t...

Yeah, zeiss infinity optics won't give the best results on a non-zeiss head, same with Leica objectives. It may not be that big an effect but a high end Leica or Zeiss objective is likely to be so expensive that you could get a better matching objective for cheaper. Nikon an Olympus aren't 100% comp...

It varies from brand to brand. I think that Chinese ones tend to be non-compensating. Olympus and nikon are noncompensating, zeissx leica, ao/reichert are comlensating. Not sure about Meiji.

Hey, sorry I forgot to respond to your PM about this, but fortunately the answer is simple. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Olympus-OM-Lens-to-Canon-EOS-EF-Camera-mount-adapter-70D-60D-T6i-5D-III/382412425460 this one works just fine. You have all the right hardware. The 2.5x projects an image that's well-...

They came out of an obsolete gene sequencer. They should definitely be much, much more expensive, but the supply is pretty high right now. They're the best deal in optics right now--perfect color correction, high resolution, strain free, just nice. Just make sure you're using it on an infinity-corre...

Thank you for sharing that! I have been curious about Lomo for a while, but not curious enough to buy on (aside from the aforementioned excellent 3.7x objective). I was searching for something else (an urban legend about a model of microscope that was exported from the soviet union solely for the sc...

It depends on the era. Nikon was ahead of the curve--in the labophot era they introduced the "CF" series objectives, with all corrections done internally, requiring no eyepiece corrections. This carried over to their infinity-corrected CFI series. If you have an older one it will need eyepiece corre...

I think what you have been sold as a dslr adapter is actually a reducing adapter designed for a c mount camera with a further c-mount to eos adapter screwed on (and the price more than tripled.) If so this adapter is meant for a camera with a small sensor and with a small flange focal distance (dist...

That is an odd adapter to be using. Typically a reducing adapter is used to smush the image back down to small enough for a tiny sensor c mount camera (a 1/2" typically with a .5x lens), not for a dslr with an aps-c camera. Does it give you a lot of vignetting? As to settings, on my t6 I have it kn ...

Ah, but they did make the Microbe Hunter


One heck of a nice-looking scope, optics aside.

It's not super common to find modern non-plan apo objectives. There are modern stereos that are just labeled just 'apo' so planarity might not be a guarantee, but these were greenough units (leica and zeiss) so perfect planarity might jot be expected anyway, that's not what you'd want it for. For a ...

I'd guess a Chinese-made scope broadly modeled on an Olynpus BH2. Steindorff was once a serious brand a long time back. It looks like the name has also been used to sell the same Chinese scopes you'll see for sale from any smalltime dealer. Qualitywise it's probably just ok, not a toy but inferior o...

Of course when you get into industrial dry long working distance objectives you can spend an awful lot for a very thoroughly engineered objective with a much lower NA. But you are unlikely to end up with one of these without knowing what you're getting and exactly what you want to use it for.

Their reputation varies a lot depending on who you ask. Built like tanks? Prone to breaking? Good optics? Bad optics? There's a range of reactions and likely a range of quality levels. It also suggests to me that QC might not have been the best. They made (make?) a 3.7x objective that is very well-l...

It's certainly not an honest or useful way to present magnification.

I wonder if this might be an instance of someone copying a design without fully understanding it.

There are a wide range of digital scopes available, ranging from 10-20 bucks to 10-20k+ bucks. But they do tend to aim somewhat low on resolution--even something like the Leica DVM6 only has a 10mp camera integrated, so it's hard to imagine some corners aren't cut since you can't get more than that ...