MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Thanks for the ID suggestions, as a novice it is wonderful to have access to the expertise this site provides. Thanks everyone. Ive added another couple of images, they show a more “relaxed state” as suggested by actinophrys, the other shows a clearer view of the tail and its possible papillae. The ...

I am having difficulty identifying this organism, found in a sediment in a freshwater pond in coastal British Columbia. It is quite a “shape shifter”, moving from being a fat ball to a slender ovoid with tail frequently, and sometimes developing the shape shown in the picture. The pinkish cast at on...

Well I did it! Thanks for the support in telling me it could be done- I persevered. Even if it took clamping the ring in a vice and the strength of my adult son wrenching on the lens tool, not to mention 48hrs of wd40 and heat being applied. Amazingly after all that, the unit sees to work still. I'm...

I've been trying to remove the Leitz dovetail from my Heine condenser with a camera lens tool, but despite soaking the seam with WD40 it doesn't want to budge. There seems to be the head of a pin visible that could be indicative of a locking pin, though other sources don't mention this. I see that o...

Thanks for the various suggestions and answers to my questions Aenima, 75RR and MicroBob, it was all very helpful. I'll now try making the changes you suggested, wish me luck!
Michael

I’m wondering how other DSLR users set their cameras for micro-photography. I’m using a Canon 60Da with a relay lens adapter (so called “2x” but actually much higher) on the trinoc. tube of an Olympus BH2 at 4-40x objective. I think that my images are quite good but they could be better, especially ...

After 2 years of looking through pond water samples I finally located an amoeba proteus today. Are they really so elusive?
Michael

Image was taken with Canon DSLR+2x relay, Olympus BH2, 10x objective

Thanks apochronaut, I have followed your guidance and got a very acceptable result, I was only trying it at 40x. I think i had been too conservative with the amount of oil I'd been using earlier. I had realised my error in calling it a cardioid type when it is in fact a toric one, and yes the dimple...

I have this AO1096 cardioid darkfield immersion condenser on an AO110 microscope and I'm finding it very hard to centre, at any magnification level. The poor darkfield results I get seem unaffected by whether I use water or oil, the manufacturers literature simply says "immersion". So my question is...

I have an Olympus BH2 with “Long Barrel” objectives and I’d like to start gathering the pieces to allow me to use it for Phase Contrast. I can find used BH2 phase condensers and some BH2 phase objectives quite easily but none of the objectives seem to be of the Long Barrel type. So my questions conc...

My new oiled darkfield condenser is giving great views in the eyepiece but not on the Canon 60Da DSLR camera in the trinoc. port. The camera images seem blurred and the colours are strange. I’ve tried a variety of settings of Tv,P,Av and speeds but all the results have been disappointing. I’m includ...

Thanks everyone for the ideas and advice. I think I'll be using oil with the condenser as a routine and cleaning occasionally with isopropanol.
Michael

I just took delivery of an Olympus darkfield condenser for my BH2, it is their "wet" model (DCW Oil immersion). It works very well when oiled to the slide but it seems to work almost as well when I use water as the medium. Since oil is messy to clean up, what do I lose by using water routinely? Seco...

Thanks everyone for the Euglena suggestion, I now think that's what they are. I researched further and found a video of E.mutabilis on the Euglena Wikipedia page, it certainly looks very similar in size, shape, colour and movement to the properties of my specimens. I re-sampled my source and really ...

Thanks for the reply hkv. I was never able to see flagella, so I don't think it is Euglena, it was also much larger (3x) than the Euglena I've seen before.
Thanks for the comment on the image!
Michael

I found many examples of this organism in a sample from a local marsh. The organisms are about 150 microns long , when extended, bright green, and are continuously twisting and turning, stretching and compressing. I'v attached a couple of DSLR images taken with 40x and 20x objectives. Thanks
michael