MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Tips for Buying a Light Microscope - Compound, Inverted and Stereoscope and Why you might want to buy a Microscope I have just posted an article on my web site about Tips for buying a new or used microscope including stereoscopes, compound microscopes and inverted microscopes. I show some specimens...

Hi Radazz - in answer to your question. Usually the crystals are bigger when they are allowed to form overnight of over a period of days. Slow growth seems to result in bigger crystals. I sometimes accelerate evaporation by heating the slides on a hot plate, but the crystals tend to be larger when d...

I used Windows Movie Maker to create a short 3 minute slide show with music showing some of my favourite Crystals viewed with Polarizing microscopy. You can view the movie on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18DIc8BpRoA&feature=youtu.be If you have a fast connection you can view or down...

To answer your question how much Vitamin C to use - I generally make up a tube of 3 ml of deionized water, and 3 ml of 99% isopropyl alcohol - and add about small teaspoon of the powder and mix thouroughly - I use a laboratory vortex mixer but shaking would be fine to get as much of the powder disso...

I am working on photographing crystals with polarized light and trying to optimize conditions for growing Vitamin C crystals which in my opinion are some of the most beautiful crystals I have seen. A couple of things I have learned is that a mix of water and isopropyl alcohol seems to work best. Iso...

Very nice looks like you used Bright field and it worked very well.
RB

Thank you for your kind comments. I submitted an article to Micscape a few months ago and it can be found here: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artoct18/rb-Photomicro-Science-Art.pdf - its about Science & Art. I am trying to promote microscopy in Canada and possibly start a microscopy club in Ca...

Dear microscopists - in an earlier post I mentioned I was working on an article for my web site about crystals in polarized light and by DIC. I have photographed, Vitamins, beer, alcohol, drugs and even human tears. I share my methods I used to produce the crystals which I hope will be of interest t...

That is correct, however the sodium chloride induces crystals which can be seen and photographed easily with DIC. They are not birefringent, but somehow stimulate crystal formation where they would not otherwise form. Below these are Corona extra beer crystals formed in the presence of salt - otherw...

Thanks Bryan - I noticed you added table salt - it turns out that every alcoholic drink I add table salt do also crystallizes. So I tried NaOH no crystals. I tried NaCl (table salt) to, water, methanol, and ispropanol - no crystals suggesting it is the Cl ion that might be important or something in ...

I have been experimenting with different drinks, beer and chemicals using polarized light and the technique produces amazing colors and patterns. The Microbe hunter owner provides a nice video on how to convert any microscope to a polarizing microscope for only a few dollars: https://www.youtube.com...

Yes the last crystals in the last picture are strontium. The beer crystals, I am not sure - they could be sugar, starch or protein - getting beer to crystallize has been difficult. I am going to try some precipitants to see if that might help promote crystallization. I have been boiling the beer to ...

Most crystals are pretty easy to prepare for photomicrography, either melt them on the slide, or dry them from a solution of water or alcohol - a coverslip isn't necessary, but helps keep the crystals flat. Proteins and other substances e.g. beer are more difficult to crystallize. I have been trying...

Hi Jochen - I used a full 550 nm wave plate (full lambda plate) and when I turn the Zeiss DIC prisms above the objective I can achieve different coloured backgrounds with DIC. The wave plate or a quartz wedge also works with a polarizing microscope as you probably already know. I have found that mic...

Hi - to answer your questions - I am confident of the resolution of the raphe being 0.9 microns with 40X dry objective. I determine the magnification on the digital image using a micrometer slide and eyepiece ocular to measure the length of the Diatom and and then I use Photoshop to measure the numb...

I just received some cleaned Diatoms in a small tube that I ordered from the Netherlands for 10 euros per tube. I ordered them from their web site: https://www.diatoms.nl/search.html?search%5Bkeywords%5D=diatoms&_a=category&token=e5023feb8eb5f63a83aba54178ee6bd9 I ordered both samples that they offe...

Thank you for kind words. I hope to try some more of this type of photography and also see if I can photograph the birefringence in snowflakes this winter. I will post the photos and\or article later this winter.

It's pretty cold outside here in Calgary, AB and I had read that ice is birefringent (anistropic) or has 2 or more refractive indices which result in different colours when observed through a microscope using a polarizer and analyzer. A full wave plate can also enhance the colours. I took several mi...

I tested Zerene, Helicon Focus and Photoshop for photomicrography. Helicon performed best and I could use it with RAW files. I still use Photoshop for quick tests with my RAW files and it also works well most of the time. See my test pictures and article here if interested : https://www.canadiannatu...

I am interested in the Olympus adapter both parts and the FK 3.3X eyepiece. I have two of them already but own three Olympus microscopes. If the cost is reasonable I might purchase them. I am located in Calgary, AB so would also need to know the shipping cost from your place to mine in Calgary. What...

Hi Jochen - I saw your pictures of mini-aquarium slides. I use petri dishes with coverslip bottoms with my inverted microscope. I don't have picture of all my microscopes but will include a photos of some of them. I have an Olympus E with phase contrast, Olympus IM inverted I purchased recently off ...

Oblique illumination can often be achieved by simplying having a filter tray under the condenser partlially blocking the light, one can also use various shaped filters below the condenser - these filters can be made with a sheet of glass and black tape or other opaque material cut in various shapes....

Welcome from Oregon - I think you will find lots of microscopists interested in fresh water meiofauna - I love to photograph ciliates, rotifers, diatoms, desmids, cladocera, hydra, Gastrotrichs etc. I am semi-retired but doing as much photomicrography as possible. Have a few pictures posted on this ...

HI snowbear - maybe you should consider searching for water bears - they are almost everywhere I have looked for them in moss, lichen, my backyard and in ponds. As for viewing specimens in winter I set up a small invertebrate aquarium so I can view them through the winter - no heater only aeration. ...

Rheinberg lighting is cheap and easy to try. Rheinberg filters are named after Julius Rheinberg who proposed his Multiple Colour Illumination Method to increase contrast of unstained specimens in microscopy in 1896 at a Quekett Microscopical meeting. A set of Rheinberg filters can be purchased on E-...

Hi before you buy a microscope - be clear about what you want to view or photograph. Any microscope with 400X - 1000X magnification will allow you to see bacteria, but having Phase contrast or Darkfield will let you see them more easily. Also in my opinion bacteria are not that diverse in shape and ...

I am including some photomicrographs, some I took 45 years ago and others from the past year. I believe photomicrography can produce art as do many others and hoping to share some "artsy" photomicrographs from time to time. I purchased a DIC microscope about a year ago and to justify the expense I t...

Nice photomicrographs of live diatoms.

Hi I used the green flourescence wavelength on my Nikon Optiphoto - believe its 550 nm.
I only have blue and green flourescence excitation filters.
Cheers

Beautiful photomicrographs well done.