MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Peter, Yes coverglass thickness matters, definitely for objectives with an NA (numerical aperture) of 0.6 and higher (for common achromat objectives this means 40* and above). See my answer to your previous “objective” question. Allow me an observation: this forum is willing to help, a substantial s...

The common way of mounting the objectives is from low to high power in clockwise direction. What objectives to mount is influenced by personal preference and usage area. E.G when viewing botanic cuts i use 4-10-20-40 (4* is my most used one) when viewing pond samples 4-10-20-40 (20* is my most used ...

Mycogirl: you have a PM.

I have both BH2 and CH2 scopes. The Olympus CH2 serie has 20 Watt halogen or 30 Watt filament illumination, the 20 Watt has enough power for all bright field and phase options except 100* phase contrast (it is relatively simple to add a LED option if you insist: main reason to do this is constant co...

Nice, hope to explore some North Sea samples coming weeks myself.

Please keep them coming.

I stopped trying to transport the BH2 and added a CH2 to my artillery, really appreciate the little one. It is now equipped with a phase condenser and LED (the later saves additional weight), it is transported (I’m on public transport) in a small flight case with some extra padding. Approx 6-7 kg in...

josmann wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 05, 2022 6:00 pm

Personally I wouldn't oil the condenser unless I was trying really hard to maximize everything for a particular shot.

Same here.

And oiling the condenser-slide will usually cause a bit of a mess…. Using a thicker oil helps, I often use distilled water or glycerine instead: much easier to clean and it helps enough to increase the combined condenser-objective NA. For max coverage of the objective NA oiling the condenser is a mu...

Can confirm the depth of field concern (but in my book: tolerable at 20*) and the required Zeiss 0.17 coverglasses of precise thickness, but still .. love the image quality. At 40* I often use the plain 40* achromat for pond samples (ciliates etc) to gain a little in the depth of field / focus area....

Terry, I have both and love the Apo, somehow the “micro-contrast” is preferable to my eyes. Consider it one of the best objectives from the LB era, I even bought a second one for my field CH2 scope (overkill but nice). A color corrected (AAC or SC) condenser helps to get the most out of it. Pond dig...

KurtM wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 03, 2022 1:19 am

deBult, besides the internet, I find two books helpful:
"Marine Plankton, A Practical Guide" by G.E. Newell & R.C. Newell
"A Guide to Coastal Plankton and Marine Invertebrate Larvae" by DeBoyd L. Smith & Kevin B. Johnson

Tnx : on the lookout (I’m in Europe).

Nice ones Kurt,

As a NEWBY on seawater creatures: please recommend some literature guidance to START identifying the species.

Thank you,
deBult

A wealth of information on amateur histology

https://www.ronaldschulte.nl/en/index.html

For BH2 info : http://www.alanwood.net/olympus/microscopes.html

Oil immersion and cleaning instruction

https://www.microbehunter.com/oil-immer ... -at-1000x/

Can I use immersion oil (40x) in my lenses, even though they don't have "oil" written on them? Can immersion oil get into / between the lens of the objective? How do you clean your lenses of oil? You will ruin your 40* PlanApo when using oil between lens and sample/coverglass. Only use oil on objec...

Zeiss cleaning guidelines
https://www.zeiss.com/microscopy/int/so ... scope.html

Leitz manuals etc
http://microscope.database.free.fr/Welcome.html

My dark ground/FIELD success rate at the CH2 is using the Olympus CH2-PCD condenser at 40* (or should I say NA max 0.65)

Note 10 Watt LED on an Olympus CHx may be a danger to your eyes when used at full power.

My CH2 LED is set at max 0.7 Watt, plenty of light even for dark ground and phase.

Ahh my error it is using 0.7 A not Watt.

Typically used for sample comparison in criminal investigations.

(E.g. for drowned victims: identical diatom sample in lungs and waterway).

Try a blood SMEAR not a drop of blood Technique: UPDATE previous link used a cover glass, now a true smear https://okean.rs/preparation-of-blood-smear/#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20technique%20of%20blood%20smear%20preparation,midline%20at%20the%20end%20of%20a%20glass%20slide. or https://medicallabt...

The coverslip is part of the optical correction mechanism: so if you use it without: this causes the "softness" you observe. In general objectives 40* NA 0.60 and higher require coverglasses of EXCACT 0.17 mm tickness, most coverglasses range from 0.13-0.18, even the ones used on commercial slides (...

Double check postage cost as well, sometimes the object is cheaply priced and postage ridiculously high.

There is a higher viscosity (thick) type oil for inverted scopes.

I used a Zeiss lens wipe on the internal bino head prism of an Olympus CH2, a gentle wipe was enough to damage the coating, never had an issue with Olympus objectives of the same era.

Marked oil and/or HI.

I you consider them “total loss” try polishing them with Brasso copper polish and an old cotton Tx-shirt.
Will remove any coating so a bit loss of contrast, but reasonable chance you are able to get the thing working again.

Tnx for the update.

Nice work, thanks for confirming the Amscope DF compatibility to the BH2.

Any chance on testing the oil version (expect it may match the na 0.95 objective) ?
(BH2 user here and already have and use the Oly dry dark field condenser).

EDIT: I found a post on the forum about this one, it seems that it's quite usable... I'll call the seller, I'm just not sure it is complete, so please tell me do you see any parts missing. Thanks When calling the seller explicitly ask for delammination of eyepieces and objectives: a common issue wi...