Hello- I'm new and looking for a scope

[BenzieScope]

Hi-

I'd like a scope to look at soil samples for various things. Nematodes and similar, as well as smaller bacteria. These would be field prepared slides.

I'm thinking binocular, and phase contract capable. Probably American Optical brand.

Thanks!

[75RR]

Hi BenzieScope, welcome.

Unless you are planing on taking photographs a binocular will be fine.
If however you think that you might at some point in the future want to take photographs then it is usually more economical to get a trinocular as part of the original purchase rather than as a subsequent one.

AO is an excellent value for money brand and Phase Contrast is one of its strengths.

[BenzieScope]

What a great reply, and thank you so much!

Stereo would be fine. Not looking at photography at the moment.

I don't have a budget - I'd rather assess what I might like and see what the heck it costs.

So I'm on the right track. Great. I'm wondering if it makes sense to consider one microscope body to view everything from insects to bacteria. Changing out a platform or optics package might not be bad if there's an efficiency.

EDIT- That Zeiss of yours is very sweet!!!

[75RR]

I'm wondering if it makes sense to consider one microscope body to view everything from insects to bacteria.

Most microscopists end up with two microscopes: a compound microscope with magnification in the 40x - 1000x range for the small stuff (animalcules) and a stereoscope 6x - 40x for larger things.

That Zeiss of yours is very sweet!!!

Thanks - I am very pleased with it!

[apochronaut]

[quote="BenzieScope"]What a great reply, and thank you so much!

Stereo would be fine. Not looking at photography at the moment. [ quote]

I think you misunderstood. Stereo , means a type of microscope. It's a lousy term, because it gets confused with the term binocular. Stereo microscopes are a type of inspection microscope( they can also be monocular but rarely), magnifying relatively large objects, such as insects for a closer view, and the illumination is usually incident( shining on the subject). The advantage of a stereo type inspection microscope is that there is a parallax built into the viewing , similar to your eyes, which gives a three dimensional image, unlike a monocular inspection microscope.
A biological or light microscope can also be monocular or binocular but more and more , binocular is being sought out. There is much less of a parallax and although there is some three dimensionality, it is minimal. Biological microscopes are used for high magnifications of subjects that are prepared in such a way as to be very thin......such as pond samples, animal tissue sections or smears, plant sections, etc. Light can pass through the subject therefore and they are sometimes called transmitted light microscopes.

As you obviously realize, adding a third optical tube, allows for a camera to be attached.

[quote] I don't have a budget - I'd rather assess what I might like and see what the heck it costs.[quote]

Cost on microscopes, is a crap shoot. Sometimes, a perfectly good unit will go on ebay for sale and just sit there and then later on a poorer unit will sell quickly and for more money. It helps to be patient and check your searches regularly, if ebay is the vehicle you are choosing. Personally, I think it is the best option. AO is a good choice, your $s will go a lot farther, with no sacrifice in image quality.
Here is one, I saw recently. It only has the 40 and 100x as phase objectives but the 1240 and 1242 phase condenser components are there and the phase telescope too. The benefit is they are bright phase, which are difficult to find. The dark phase objectives can be picked up later, and much easier. AO, is one of the few , who offered an array of phase objectives, giving the user much more latitude. It will not sell, very high.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/American-Optica ... Sw9OFZMBex

[lorez]

WOW ! Another chance to downsize. A couple dozen more and I'll be done with the top shelf. Send me a pm if you are interested.

lorez

[apochronaut]

You wouldn't have a 10x AO bright phase objective, would you, lorez?

[BenzieScope]

Apoch- thanks for the clarification.

There sure are a lot of variables...

I'm going to focus on the compound with phase contrast. I'll look at a stereo scope later.

AO seems like a good brand to hone in on. But again, so many variables.

Lorez- I'd love to consider a scope you might have, but I can't PM yet because I'm new.

[mikejonson750]

hi and welcome, nice to meet you, I am new here too