MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I'm trying to make a final decision on a DSLR and was wondering if the camera is used for live view onto a monitor, does the sensor heat up? If so, is it wise to consider a camera with a faster processor that uses less energy and therefore produces less heat during an extended viewing? Or is the hea...

Found this giant amoeba yesterday and it has something stuck to its posterior. The glob is more reddish than the image shows and there may have been a diatom stuck to it also. I've a cool video but it's in the wrong file extension. The amoeba moves by creating a clear bubble out in front of it with ...

Hi Heather, It is interesting how much these rotifiers vary in their ways of life. We have probably already killed lots of these species before understanding their role in nature. Bob Agreed. The more I look under the microscope, the more I'm convinced that microorganisms drive the health of the en...

This sessile rotifer was super cool to find in the pond. It seems to be a Ptygura pilula who built itself an impressive house of excrement. The lateral antennae are visible and from my observations, when the rotifer retreats to the encasement, the lateral antennae poke out first before the creature ...

Thank you for the detailed info, Gastrotrichman.

That's fantastic! I had to look it up - great capture right down to the thecal pores.

Here is a link to a 2008 article by David Walker on Optical interference filters: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artaug08/dw-filter.html Thanks for this link. Clever how the excess field iris light was blocked out to avoid reflections using a c...

Thank you. Very nice drawings with detailed labeling. I've bookmarked this.

Do you slow these guys down for viewing with methyl cellulose too or something else?

Wes wrote:Moments like these make me wish I had a stereomicroscope because then I could isolate individual organs and systems.

What?! You did this without a stereomicroscope??? That's impressive. Very nice work. I find myself hoping you get a stereomicroscope so we can see isolated organs and system slides.

This is very interesting. Thank you for posting. Intuitively it seems the filter would go between the light source and the objective but could it also be placed between the objective and eye piece? I’m curious about the set up used, having not heard of interference filters before. Would you see simi...

Thanks for the ID help! Much appreciated.

So far small dots have achieved no noticeable changes and larger dots have given very nice dark field. It's possible the dot needs to be directly on the lens or very close.

Thank you for the information on upgrading scopes, PeteM. I had been wondering the same thing.

Beautiful images and a nice haul too. Life takes so many forms it's a bit mind boggling.

Hobbyst46,

For my first attempt I'm going to try placing dots of various sizes on plastic discs, made from salvaged plastic packaging. There would likely be some distortion from the plastic but it could be enough to prove concept without putting dots directly on the objective lens.

This rotifer looks a lot like a Lapadella spp. or per Freshwater Biology, Microcodides but only appears to have one long toe (not split), though I could be mistaken. Any ideas? Still using a cell phone but working on getting a better set up for nicer images. Possibly there is not enough detail for i...

mrsonchus wrote: Perhaps I should post the Ivy sections here when they are ready about a week from now for further processing and eventual sectioning as that was the one I started the thread with!

Many thanks for the FFA recipe. And yes please, keep us posted on the sectioning progress.

Heather

Thank you for the clarification. I'll give this method a try.

So based on this thread, it could possibly help long-term eye health by putting a UV filter over a halogen light source?

Although led lighting is cool, many such sources release high levels of uv light. UV light in high concentration is a microbe sterilant and in fact is used industrially as such. Well this is interesting. I too am on the 'catch and release' program for pond microbes and hadn't considered harm from U...

Has anyone tried this method? If so, what does the author mean when he says "Imagine a small opaque (black) disk attached in the middle of the objective lens..." (near top of second page)? Does the dot need to be in the middle of the objective lens or could it be at the top/readily accessible part o...

Thank you for posting this. Very nice slide image. Anyone who's ever tried to make a slide knows how difficult it can be to get good results.

What specific fixative do you recommend for plant tissue?

Heather

MichaelG,

It's possible the scope would work better with newer Apple products. My iPhone7 is a bit dated. Also the scope comes with a short cable. Possibly with an adapter, it could be connected to the phone for less lag?

75RR wrote:A good catch is always worth sharing!

I wonder though (hard to be sure from just one image) if what you have there is a Vorticella reproducing?

Looks like you are correct. Not an egg.

Freshwater pond rotifers. Much to my delight, one has a egg attached to it.

Cell phone image taken @ eyepiece with 20x objective, DF. Low end photography but seemed worth sharing.

Attached is the best image obtained so far, taken by my friend. Black bee wing. This one was likely taken using the midrange resolution option, which is the default. A few more observations: iPhone7 has too much delay and it was almost impossible to take good pictures. Newer Android - no delay. Take...

Is that a red algae? Your DIC images are amazing.

Many thanks, Apochronaut.

The person in question who managed to orchestrate that particular lot of rot, pretty much ignored my advice and went out and bought a huge German fermentor, himalayan salt, a mandolin and probably even a pair of lederhosen and a Tyrolean hat for all know. That is so funny. Well, I like their enthus...

Making sauerkraut is what recently got me back into using my microscope. And I too have had the experience of sauerkraut gone wrong, namely, a mushy mess. Glad to see my conclusion (yeast overgrowth, and also some coccus bacteria) is in alignment with thoughts in this thread. I like this paper with ...