A while back I got kind of overexcited and bought a big lot of these darkfield condensers and LED ring lights. I have a ton of them (all new in box), and while they are certainly useful I don't need this many. So I am selling a few of these off to get closet space back.
Darkfield condenser (95mm diameter) --- 20 bucks with free US shipping
LED ring light: 16 bucks with free US shipping
The darkfield condensers (if that's really the right term--it has a mirrored cone in the bottom and surrounding mirrors to take brightfield illumination and have it all come from the sides) work but do need a fair amount of light for best performance. They're used on gemological microscopes but I imagine would be useful for all sorts of things.
The LED ring lights are a pretty good add-on for any stereo and have other uses too. They're dimmable but I rarely actually dim them when I'm using them. They also come with an adapter for 48mm thread microscopes (so some Nikon SMZs, Olympuses and tons of chinese scopes).
Stereo Darkfield Condensers and LED ring lights (stocking stuffers?)
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Re: Stereo Darkfield Condensers and LED ring lights (stocking stuffers?)
My DF condenser arrived today. I have to say I'm impressed. Somehow, I was expecting a plastic/more flimsily constructed unit - not anodized aluminum. Thanks!
Re: Stereo Darkfield Condensers and LED ring lights (stocking stuffers?)
Hi. I believe these darkfield condensers "need a lot of light" to perform well. Does this ring light (sitting beneath) match with the condenser to provide good darkfield results? Thanks!
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Re: Stereo Darkfield Condensers and LED ring lights (stocking stuffers?)
That might work, but I think they would need a fair bit of separation to get enough light in, and at that point you can get darkfield from the ring light alone (which you could improve with a baffle, and even add switchable brightfield with an insertable frosted plate.