MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Hello,
I'm looking for a Nikon CF plan apo 60x dry objective. The newer CFN 60x plan apo oil objectives are much more common, but I'd like to stick with a dry objective for the fossil materialI work with. Please contact me if you know where I can find one.

Thanks!

There seems to be one available at dealcorner for $390: https://www.dealcorner.com/Nikon-Objectives/

One sold on auction on eBay in May for $249. I paid a around $225 for mine, but with a bit higher risk. That should give you an indication of what the lowest price you can reasonable expect to get one for without waiting a very long time for a bargain. If you really need it right now, I don't think that the $390 price is outrageous from a reputable seller. It's a lovely objective.

I am assuming these are transparent or sectioned and polished fossils? Just wondering how they are viewed with a coverslip.

Thanks for the heads up. I think I might bight the bullet and go for the objective at deal corner. I've got a 60x plan achro that I use quite a bit, but since I am making color micrographs for publication, I'm sure the plan apo will give me a bit better color rendering.

The plant and fungal fossils I work on are permineralized in carbonate-cemented concretions. So, to study them I make thin sections of the fossils by dissolving away the carbonate "glue" in dilute HCL, exposing a roughly 30 micrometer thick piece of plant material. Then, I melt the plant material to a thin sheet of acetone soluble plastic. Finally, I mount the plant material on either a glass slide with a coverslip for light microscopy or apply it to a stub and sputter coat it for scanning electron microscopy. Preservation is quite good, as cells walls are preserved by the carbonate cement. The final product looks much like a microscope slide prepared by embedding extant material in paraffin and sectioning it with a microtome.

i have the nikon cf 60x apo, you won't be disappointed.

PNWmossnerd wrote:... The plant and fungal fossils I work on are permineralized in carbonate-cemented concretions. So, to study them I make thin sections of the fossils by dissolving away the carbonate "glue" in dilute HCL, exposing a roughly 30 micrometer thick piece of plant material. Then, I melt the plant material to a thin sheet of acetone soluble plastic. Finally, I mount the plant material on either a glass slide with a coverslip for light microscopy or apply it to a stub and sputter coat it for scanning electron microscopy. Preservation is quite good, as cells walls are preserved by the carbonate cement. The final product looks much like a microscope slide prepared by embedding extant material in paraffin and sectioning it with a microtome.

Sounds a fascinating process

If it wouldn't disclose your 'trade secrets' ... could we please have some more detail, and see some examples ?

MichaelG.

PNWmossnerd wrote:Thanks for the heads up. I think I might bight the bullet and go for the objective at deal corner. I've got a 60x plan achro that I use quite a bit, but since I am making color micrographs for publication, I'm sure the plan apo will give me a bit better color rendering.

The plant and fungal fossils I work on are permineralized in carbonate-cemented concretions. So, to study them I make thin sections of the fossils by dissolving away the carbonate "glue" in dilute HCL, exposing a roughly 30 micrometer thick piece of plant material. Then, I melt the plant material to a thin sheet of acetone soluble plastic. Finally, I mount the plant material on either a glass slide with a coverslip for light microscopy or apply it to a stub and sputter coat it for scanning electron microscopy. Preservation is quite good, as cells walls are preserved by the carbonate cement. The final product looks much like a microscope slide prepared by embedding extant material in paraffin and sectioning it with a microtome.

Sounds like quite remarkable work. I'd like to see some of your images. I don't know that particular objective but you have at least one thumbs up on it, by a user. I can't even buy a 60X apo for my more modern plan systems....wish I could.

As I said, I also have it and give it both my thumbs up. It's quite a spectacular objective, virtually zero false color. A friend has compared it directly to the newer CFN 60x 0.95 version. The CFN apparently has a little higher contrast, but they are very close.

Sure, the very best modern infinity scopes may be a bit better in most ways and cover a larger image circle than Nikon CF and CFN series objectives. But the cost of those preclude most of us from owning them. I'm still blown away by the fact that I can afford to own something as exquisite as the Nikon 160mm planapos.

Thanks for the kind and helpful responses. I am excited to hear several glowing recommendations of the objective.

Tonight I will take some pictures of the process of making slides of my fossil material, and post some sample images.