Equipment Help, phase contrast.

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Dawson
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:22 pm

Equipment Help, phase contrast.

#1 Post by Dawson » Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:45 pm

Hello everyone, my first post here. I just had a package from EBay arrive, the seller had no idea what all these parts are and after googling... neither do I lol. So I bought this package for the PC condenser. I currently have only a Nikon 40x phase objective, I was able to get a nice contrast with that objective and I plan on using the condenser for dark field as well (works well so far at 4, 10,20x). My questions are: 1, what are all the other pieces? 2, after the package arrived (I can’t return it) I noticed this was not the correct condenser for a normal compound scope, I guess this for an inverted phase contrast scope... what are the issues I am going encounter using this condenser that is 0.55 not the 1.25 that I thought I was buying. As you know, phase contrast toys aren’t cheap! Should I just try to sell this or will I be able get usable photos and video? Thank you for helping me out!
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Sabatini
Posts: 464
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2019 3:09 am

Re: Equipment Help, phase contrast.

#2 Post by Sabatini » Fri Jan 01, 2021 1:10 am

Hi.
You are half way through the phase contrast, you still need the objetives.
But it would also help a lot to solve your question to know which are your microscopes.

Dawson
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:22 pm

Re: Equipment Help, phase contrast.

#3 Post by Dawson » Fri Jan 01, 2021 2:32 am

Thank you. I have a 40x phase contrast, Nikon plan 40 dm ph3, and I have an Olympus 10x phase contrast on the way. I have an AmScope, with trinocular head (I don’t know the model, was new about a year ago), halogen light, I replaced the factory objectives with Plan, and now obviously I have the 2 phase objectives. I’m assuming that 0.55 condenser is effecting my resolution, and I’m getting some heavy halos in dark field with the 20x.
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PeteM
Posts: 2989
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 6:22 am
Location: N. California

Re: Equipment Help, phase contrast.

#4 Post by PeteM » Fri Jan 01, 2021 2:47 am

As you surmised, what you received is a phase condenser and phase annuli for an INVERTED Olympus microscope. Not what you'll want or sensibly adapted for an upright stand. Good excuse, though, to add an inverted scope (those might be for an Olympus IMT) to your arsenal??

With respect to mixing and matching phase objectives and phase annuli from different makers - only a bit of luck will have them match up. It will help to get a phase telescope (maybe $50 used if patient, $70 or so new) to check alignment. You really want a near perfect overlap, with the condenser set for Kohler illumination, for the best phase contrast effect. If the objective rings and the condenser annuli are close, you can sometimes cheat a bit by raising or lower the condenser.

The new Amscope phase sets are pretty expensive (maybe $500++), but they sometimes come up for sale barely used.

Dawson
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:22 pm

Re: Equipment Help, phase contrast.

#5 Post by Dawson » Sat Jan 02, 2021 2:03 pm

Thanks for you reply! I was thinking this was too good to be true LOL, I got a pretty good deal on this gear (like I said, seller had no idea what it was). Maybe I'll try and sell it and save up for the phase kit from Amscope. ;o) Thanks again and happy hunting!

arb566
Posts: 47
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2020 5:47 am
Location: British Columbia Canada

Re: Equipment Help, phase contrast.

#6 Post by arb566 » Mon Jan 04, 2021 8:32 am

Hi Dawson,
I have an old Olympus inverted and would be interested in the phase sliders if you decide to get rid of them.
Cheers, Al.

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