SOLD Bausch and Lomb Microzoom II with 5 objectives 600 obo, super long working distance upright image

[Scarodactyl]

[Sold]Bausch and Lomb Microzoom II trinocular microscope, all set up and ready to go.

Includes 5 objectives: 2.25x, 3x, 8x, 25x and 50x B&L "industrial" objectives (extra long working distance), halogen coaxial illumination, trinocular port set up for canon camera, excellent hefty base with coarse and fine focus. Note it has olympus stereo eyepieces rather than the original B&L 30mm ones. I don't think the originals were compensating but I haven't ever had a pair to try.


(quick stack shot of petroleum inclusions in quartz)
More pictures in the album here, including coaxial illuminated single shots of the surface of a crystal, mostly included to show everything works--you could certainly do better than these.
https://imgur.com/a/DemFCtz
Hi everyone. I picked this microscope up on a deal because I wanted to try it out for taking pictures of gems and minerals. Its combination of very high magnification (up to a 50x objective), very long working distance, zoom factor (zoom from 1-2x in the head, plus an additional 1-1.5-2x rotating magnifier add-on) and upright image give it many of the advantages of a stereo scope with more horses under the bonnet, similar to a photmacroscope like the Wild M420. It was one of Bausch and Lomb's last gasps before being eaten by the Leica machine, a successor to their excellent Stereozoom 7 as wafer work got more and more demanding.

Not much is said about these guys online for whatever reason, though the objectives are known to photomicroscopists. The scopes are most often seen in probing stations on eBay with insane ask prices and local pickup only in California, so it tracks that they're usually not available. I got this beautiful standalone one on a great deal, lining it up with one of eBay's sales for maximum savings. I only had to replace one objective too, and everything else is working.

Overall, I'd say it's a pretty remarkable scope, particularly in this price range. The base is hefty and well-built, the working distances make using it easy to get lighting set up. It's the best version with the extra magnification add-on, five-objective nosecone and all the main objectives--they also made a 0.8x and a high resolution short working distance 50x, but those are less common and less uniquely useful. I think some great work could be done with this scope.

So, why am I selling it? Two issues. One is that the objectives do show axial (I think?) chromatic aberrations at higher magnifications, which isn't the worst issue but needs to be taken into consideration when stacking. The other is that, while I was able to adapt my canon camera to the trinocular port, the length of the tube combined with the weight of a dslr means vibration is an issue. Note that this microscope does focus by moving the head up and down so having a disconnected camera isn't the easiest option. There would likely be ways to significantly improve the adaptation, I was just using some parts I got in a bulk lot of microscope parts years back, but I have too many projects going to try more. Most pressingly, my brother (/business partner/housemate) is getting antsy and I just ordered a big lot of microscope heads so I need some good will before they come in.

[apochronaut]

There are some black objectives around .5X, 1X, 1.5X,2X and 3X;...maybe 2.5X as well, all very long W.D. and all with iris diaphragms, just labelled plan. They are usually under the Leica brand but I have seen them as B & L . They are R.M.S. and have a fairly large diameter barrel; kind of look like mini photo lenses. Were they not for that microscope too?

[Scarodactyl]

They aren't listed in the manual, but they might work? Kind of sounds like what Leica puts on their forensic comparison scopes. Oddly they didn't mark the industrial objectives with the infinity symbol or a finite length so it is hard to be sure.

[PeteM]

I've had a couple of these (still have one) and agree they're pretty nice scopes -- especially the ones with both transmitted and reflected illumination. They can be used as a shop scope (measuring, inspection) if fitted with an x-y table as well as most of the usual stuff. Someone who just wanted pictures for documentation could fit something like a USB scope or a small HDMI video/photo camera and be very happy with it. The scope does want a dedicated place to sit -- so you might also try selling it under "tools" in the local Craigslist? It would also be a bargain, here, with the free shipping.

As you've said one of the advantages of these is the working distance. Another is the availability of low magnifications and that handy zoom (which may contribute, at higher powers, to the slight aberration you're not happy with??). It would be a very good scope for bugs and the like.

FWIW, a Leica branded version of this sometimes shows up.

[wporter]

Is this one of the objectives for it (screenshot from ebay)?

[Scarodactyl]

Yup, that's the relatively rare 0.8x I believe.
(I say relatively rare because I think I've never seen one on a complete microzoom listed for sale, and they don't come up on eBay as much as the standard set, but they are still relatively available and not insanely expensive. The only one I've never seen is the high resolution 50x with a short working distance).

[Rorschach]

Whoever bought this from you, has he reported back on using it? Perhaps found a reason/solution to the CA probems? Maybe there is no real solution as the lenses aren't APO. Which, is maybe the only major weakness compared to a Mitutoyo, am I right? Mitutoyos glaring weakness obviously being the very high price...

I have its earlier brethren, Microzoom I, with the same lenses excepting the 50x, on an absolutely huge industrial stand with a multitude of various controls. It cost me only 85 euros but the shipping doubled the price At that price, I figured its probably easily worth it to get a ULWD setup as a side project.

Would you consider these as 'poor mans Mitutoyo' or what would be the appropriate epithet?

[Scarodactyl]

In retrospect I was expecting too much from non-apo optics, and worse, the samples I chose for testing were very unflattering. The buyer was quite happy with it and it has apparently been getting good use on microfossils.
I think poor man's mitutoyo wouldn't be inaccurate. The finescope series was likely partially modeled on it given how similar they are. They do occasionally pop up at criminally low prices and are impressive instruments. Nkt as good as a mitty for photography but probably quite similar for inspection. If only they'd offered epi DIC as an option!