Stereomicroscope stand

[wstenberg]

I had a photomicrography stand, just taking up space in the closet. I needed an extended range stereomicroscope stand, and this seemed to work out fine.
When I cut the tube, there was paper inside. It was an empty cigarette package from Germany. An old style, looked like from the 1960s. Maybe someone at the factory got bored and stuck it in there. Too bad it wasn't money!

Anyway, here's photos of the finished product.

[Scarodactyl]

Well done! Looks super snazzy.

[MicroBob]

Hi William,
that is a nice setup with lots of space for the objects and a variable orientation of the head. Do you actually use the analog camera?

Bob

[wstenberg]

This is the first roll of film in the analog camera. Trying for some fine grain monochromatic photos. I'm using the original Zeiss controller. Once I get it working with the 35mm, I'll switch to the 4x5 inch format. I've already bought the large film, but holding off until I get the bugs worked out.
The Darkroom is still in the future...

I'm also using this stand for my Tessovar, since it shares the same mounting configuration as the stereomicroscope. I'm hoping to shoot some analog photos with that as well.

Thanks for asking.

[MicroBob]

I did some b/w photography over the years and much preferred bigger film formats like 645 or 6x9cm over 35mm.
When enlarging a 35mm image the grey areas soon start to break up into the grain dots. Also every little dust particle is enlared a lot and distracts much more than on a bigger format negative.
So I think that experimenting with 4x5 inch b/w can be quite worthwhile and unique. I think it will work best on objects that look good for their smooth creamy gradients from light to dark.

[wstenberg]

OK, that sounds good.
I would like to use the B&W film for monochromatic fluorescence microscopy. Then scan the negatives and convert greyscale to color. Then digitally merge the images taken with different filter combinations.
I know people once used film for fluorescence microscopy back in the day, but the availability of films and processes is a lot different now. I think the 4x5 format B&W film would give good resolution and could be processed at home.

Anybody have any experience with this?