MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Jasper plumes. Low mag stereo. A mixture of iron minerals in clear Chalcedony

With regards polarising petrographic microscopes. Generally, which is considered a better brand? Leitz or Zeiss? Which is likely to be more resellable,all things being equal.

Interesting. Like to see more along those lines.

For anyone in Australia looking to buy, I have found Telescopes and Astronomy in South Australia very friendly. They also do microscopes, new and used. They just didn't have what I was after but they tried.

Does anyone know what sort of quality a Leitz Laborlux 11 is? I have found a pol for sale but not sure of the price. Hence, trying to get some idea what they are like. Second hand petrographic microscopes are almost non existant in Australia.

I have come to the conclusion, with out testing my theory, so take it with a grain of salt. When I frost a slide, I am creating many fine facets. If the adhesive has a different RI, it will refract at those facets. This scatters the polarised light and de polarises it. Bonding agents used in univers...

I appreciate any help or feedback.

A quick search will give you numerous instructional videos and documents from universities, colleges, equipment manufacturers etc.

They all say to frost the slides and flatten them. Amazing how un flat float glass is. The petrographic suppliers sell frosted and clear slides. The finished specimen needs to be between 29 and 31 microns so a flat slide is essential.

I was wondering the same thing. I use W10 and have colour accuracy issues plus I can only save in jpeg (that I can find, anyway). Just want to capture camera images and vids accurately with little editing required. Will have a look at those couple mentioned.

Your very first question is budget. Then required image quality.

Loctite make two products thry recommend for this. Some commercial preparers are now using CA adhesive such as Loctite 460(?) however, my tests with cheap CA weren't that promising. Thermoplastic glue is very outdated but I guess if it works, why change. I have not located a supplier in Australia fo...

I cut some 4mm HDF board to fit on my stage. In that I cut a large hole with a hole saw. I cut a similar price with a slightly smaller hole. I glued one to the other. I cut a piece of round glass to fit neatly in the larger hole. A simple rotating stage. An A4 sheet of reasonably good polarising fil...

With regards petrographic thin sections. It is recommended to grind the glass slide flat which also textures the surface for adhesion. When I do that, under XPL, I don't get much extinction. That is, the frosted slide seems to re scatter the light. I get quite a lot of visible light comming through ...

I stumbled upon this and found it quite good. A general info resource site by Olympus.

http://olympus.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/ja ... index.html

This will make a few chuckle. Got my polarising film. Cut and installed both. Couldn't get much extinction. Scratching my head. Then had an idea. I have an acrylic plate above the bottom polariser. Simple. Remove that and all fixed.will replace it with glass.

Thanks jb 89. I have found a couple of decent second hand ones from a commercial seller for 1800. I am making my own thin sections. I can get a set of about 20 standard ones for teaching for about 400. They charge about 60 to 80 for a standard custom one. My stereo goes up to 90x. I have polarisers ...

Have been searching the WWW. I think any quality petroscope will be beyond my financial limits. Even second hand, they are pricey. For the new price of the ebay one, they must be low quality but I surely they are useable? I haven't found one yet, but there could be an Australian reseller which would...

I have decided that a cheap apparatus is okay for low magnification stereo, once I go higher magnification, quality will play a big part. Buying second hand from a reputable dealer in the USA or Canada isn't out of the question.

This gives a lot of info as suggested further on. The hyperlinks in the text are worth look in at.
https://lavinia.as.arizona.edu/~mtuell/ ... ophot.html

Thanks Ted. I am not sure of the brand but will check. I have found it very difficult to find second hand ones and I would be buying off a photo. I have been warned away from ex school or uni ones unless I am prepared to see d time and money on them. Apart from quality,as you warned, i was concerned...

Yes Bob. Just terminology.

Thanks for the suggestions. I am enjoying it immensely. Ken Walker used to post images on Bowerbird. Amazing detail

Thanks. Will look in to both options. At this point, I know nothing.

I know it's not microbe related but someone might know. I plan to buy a cheap petroscope for hobby use. I am wondering if there is any reason why they can't be used as a general purpose compound microscope? There a is a cheap Indian one that seems to have reasonable specs for the price. Of course lo...

Fun learning. Finer steps needed.Colour correction is an issue still. I think a cooler coloured light will help. Might also have to move to better editing software. Using W10 which is okay but limited.

Ideally, I would love three microscopes. This stereo, a petroscope and a biological with darkfield capabilities, camera and long distance objective. However, I have other priorities at the moment such as food etc. So far, I have been happy with this unit. Would like finer focus adjustment and rack a...

Still interesting info. It makes perfect sense. As you say, the camera port is only through one objective so will creep. I'm learning.

Thanks. Also found some make up containers and gem containers.

Yes Bob and I am finding the focus too coarse. Going to try lower magnification, process then enlarge and crop. Also work on the lighting. Thanks to everyone in here I am learning so much. The image is stable through the eye pieces but creeps in the camera as I focus