My first impressions of DIC on the BX system and BX prism compatibility

[erikwetterskog]

Hello,

I just managed to put together my BX-61, and finally received the DICT slider the other night. Let me just start by saying: WOW!

I had extremely high expectations! I was not disappointed, in a way but I feel like I'm born again. Differential interference contrast is really something else, which sort of justifies the $$$ i spent on this system.

OK, I currently have the BX61, and a set of prisms: DIC10s, DP-20, DPA-40, DIC-60 and DIC-100. On top of that I now own a pretty large collection of objectives. Listing what I have (10x and above).

UIS: Plan APO 10x/0.40, Plan APO 40x/0.85, Plan APO 40x/0.95, Plan APO 40x/1.00 Oil iris, Plan APO 100x/1.35 Oil iris

UIS2: Plan FLN 10x/0.30, PlanSAPO 20x/0.75, Plan FLN 20x/0.5, LMPlan FLN 20x/0.4, Plan FLN 40x/0.75

My main woe starting this was that I thought that using prisms with incompatible objectives would yield meaningless results. But I'm surprised to say that, just like in the Nikon system it seems possible to find combinations that work. I'm not exactly sure what people are using as an indicator if the combination works or not. In my opinion, some combinations show a lot of background variation regardless of the color background fringe setting. In some cases, some color fringe settings look a bit muddy, but it's possible to find a sweet spot where it looks fine.

I will try and do a more thorough list later, but I have found a number of "unholy" combinations that I think work!

DP-20 with USI2 LMPlan FLN 20x/0.4 (+++++, good poppy contrast, even background at all settings), DP-20 with Plan FLN 20x/0.5 as well as PlanSAPO 20x/0.75 (looks by comparison worse)

DPA-40 with UIS 2 Plan FL N 40x/0.75. (+++++, to me looks pretty much identical to UIS Plan APO 40x/0.85 which it's intended for).

DPA-40 with UIS Plan APO 40x/1.00 Oil iris (+++/++++, my oil technique is lacking but looks great at some, but perhaps not all settings. Very even background, but perhaps not the strongest contrast). I like this combo!

DIC-100 with UIS Plan APO 100x/1.35 Oil iris (+++/++++, it's a bit weird but possible to tame. Still it's DIC at 100x). To say that this objective cannot be used for DIC at all, its also weird.

I have not tried any of the 10x combinations, I don't have a condenser with small slots yet. I am yet to try the 40x/0.95. In the end, I just don't think I'm at the level where I agree with the bar set by Olympus for what is considered acceptable. Perhaps for critical photography it's one thing, but for general browsing of the microcosmos I think some of this is just nonsense. Considering how difficult and expensive it is to find good combinations, a bit of experimentation can offset some of the cost and add some flexibility to the system. With that being said, this is just a first impressions review, and I really just have 1 correct combination in my microscope to use as benchmark.

What are your thoughts? I will add some images later on, but I'm really not in the mood for taking pictures and stacking right now. I just want to browse and observe.

EDIT: To clarify, all combinations look "good". For instance, the UIS2 PlanSAPO 20x/0.75 gives a great and very detailed image and extremely contrasty DIC with DP-20. But there is a clear variation of the background color shift. If you can live with that, it looks absolutely amazing. The inherent contrast of each objective is of course inherently different, so its all in all very subjective.

[PeteM]

These days, admission to an art museum is $20. Owning great art can be orders of magnitude more expensive. Your BX is like having lifetime rights to a spectacular collection—actually collected, curated, and often at least partly created or arranged by you.

"Wow" is an apt description.

[Scoper]

Got pictures for the combinations?

[erikwetterskog]

Got pictures for the combinations?

It's coming! I'll try to arrange it later this week.