Olympus BX45

[KurtM]

Here's a look at a stray Olympus BX45 that followed me home a few months ago. I normally buy and use American Optical/Spencer stuff because it's affordable and pretty darn decent mechanically and optically. But I got a deal I couldn't pass up on the big OLY.

The BX45 beats my work horse AO Series 120 for resolution, which should come as no surprise to anyone. But the AO120 is still my scope of choice because in addition to bright field, it also has dark field (using phase annuli as DF masks), phase contrast, and POL capability at the flick of a few switches and levers, and also has a trinoc head which I make good use of. Believe me, as much as I'd love to add these bells and whistles to the BX45, I have already verified that there's no way I can afford to buy any of the major league Olympus bits -- it's pretty much stuck where it is!

One of the BX45's big marketing points is its super duper fantastic ergonomics, which are very nice indeed. But lovely as it is to work with, the AO120 is by no means a pain to use for hours at a time, with actually very similar ergonomics if you ask me. Sometimes I think the most pleasant thing I've learned from the OLY is that my older AO stuff holds its own next to it (in my world), and isn't simply blown away.

Even though I hate being limited to bright field, I'm not quite ready to pitch the Beast Xtraodinaire (that's what 'BX' stands for, I think) in the dumpster just yet. At any rate, I hope y'all get off to a little OLY porn.

PS: Getting decent photographs of the monster is a real challenge since half of it is snow white and the other half pitch black, which strains the dynamic range of even so capable a camera as the Canon T3i. So if the photos appear to be tweaked half to death in post processing, it's because the light levels were stretched mercilessly in Light Zone, my favorite photo editing software because it's FREE (open source) and exceedingly capable.

[75RR]

Both are very very nice!

[gekko]

Congratulations on your new acquisition. Beautiful scope.

[apochronaut]

They look like they get along well, Kurt. The 120 is a great phase instrument. I'm not sure if you already have one or not but from your description, I suspect not; a dedicated dark field condenser for the 120, which are really scarce. The dark field market in N.A. became the sole province of the Bausch & Lomb Balplan during the production of the 120, because the Balplan had a beam splitter and the image could be directed to eyepieces and video simultaneously. The AO 120, with it's either or prism, was a hard sell as a dark field microscope. They rectified the problem with the 420, for which both were available but it was already too late; the Olympus BX series had taken over the dark field market, even from the Balplan.
However, almost always, the flange on the 10/20 dark field condenser is just high enough that it will fit on the 120 condenser carrier and those are very common and often very cheap( often less than 50.00). Even if the flange is too tight, which happens occasionally, it can be removed. The condenser doesn't lock into the slot at the back of the carrier but the fit is so good and there is no problem with centering and rigidity. A dark field condenser for an Olympus BX would be fairly pricey and I suspect you need both arms and or legs..
You will get much better results with a dedicated dark field condenser and the 120 has the lumens to bump up to 100x too, and get decent brightness.

[KurtM]

Hi Phil! Funny you should bring up the subject of dark field condensers for the 120, a couple internet buddies and I have been discussing the very thing for the past week or two. I have a dark field condenser for my older Spencer 160TL stuff, so know just how wonderful the views are with dedicated bits providing the show. I'm more or less on the prowl for one that'll work with the 120 (on the road a lot right now), preferably one that works with both the 120, and my bright phase equipped AO Series 10/1031.

Incidentally, the 120 has an LED conversion in the lamphouse, and I hope the 10 will too before long since I just obtained a 1036A lamp that appears to be an excellent prospect for LED conversion surgery. Anyway, be interesting to know how well the LED compares to the OEM lamp in lumens delivered, which I can't even guess at since mine came to me sans lamp holder & transformer.

Meanwhile, the BX45 seems to differ from the other BX series, and every other microscope in the known universe as well, in having a built-in condenser arrangement plus "universal turret" that accepts unique proprietary modules for dark field, POL, phase, etc. No way to swap condensers on the beast unless you know something I don't, which is entirely possible...?

[Charles]

Hi Kurt,

A very nice addition to your collection!

Will be interested in your 1036A conversion to LED.