I went Leitz crazy!

[Rossf]

I’m not sure how it happened but wanted to update my old Olympus inverted and came across a Labovert FS in great condition-I already had just about all the L EF and fluotar objectives for it already (phaco and bright field) as I liked their look so I grabbed it. That will be interesting-it.can do BF,DF,oblique,phase,polarisation and DIC with a very expensive add on (won’t bother with that!) but I was also just day dreaming on Brunelmicroscopes in the UK used equipment page thinking ‘one day I’ll get a heine phase system” and there it was! Late 60’s Lobolux D trinoc with heine condenser and 10,20,40,90 Pv n objectives described as in unusually good condition-I have bought objectives from them in the past and always been in very good shape. This is the first time buying a used scope from a dealer. Does anyone have images of what the different phase types look like (n,h,-h,is there a -n?) any recommendations on a standard condenser (it only comes with the Heine) the 600 type or the Berek? There seems to be a confusing array of tops for the 600 condenser...oh is the dovetail mounting the same in later scopes? Can a later model condenser be put on the labolux D? Now off to the buy/sell section to see what other objectives I can procure for this...
Regards Ross

[Charles]

Congratulations! You can use the Heine condenser for brightfield, darkfield and phase.

[Rossf]

Thanks Charles-Oh for some reason I thought the heine didn’t do bright field well-not that I would know-I’ll find out when it arrives.

[viktor j nilsson]

Well, the manual claims that it can do bright field, and you will get a bright background in the lowest setting, but in all honesty it's very uneven and not very good looking. But I don't think you bought it for the bright field!

http://microscope.database.free.fr/Acce ... denser.pdf

[Rossf]

Hey Viktor j Nilsson -I may just get one of those boat shaped 600 type maybe with Plano head-they seem fairly cheap on eBay- how’s the Vannox coming along-with your Apochromat upgrade? I see the odd posting on eBay and think “should I let Viktor know about this?” but I’m sure you are going at the pace required when married with kids-hope you got some time to look down an microscope ! Oh I still want to see what the 100X PlanAPO looks like if you can take photos.
Regards Ross

[viktor j nilsson]

Hey Viktor j Nilsson -I may just get one of those boat shaped 600 type maybe with Plano head-they seem fairly cheap on eBay- how’s the Vannox coming along-with your Apochromat upgrade? I see the odd posting on eBay and think “should I let Viktor know about this?” but I’m sure you are going at the pace required when married with kids-hope you got some time to look down an microscope ! Oh I still want to see what the 100X PlanAPO looks like if you can take photos.
Regards Ross

Hi Ross!

Please feel free to pass on interesting items on eBay, I'm sure I miss some good ones.

Sounds like a good idea about the 600 series condenser. I have little experience with the Leitz stuff, besides owning a Heine. But Leitz equipment is often temptingly priced and much of it appears to be top class.

The Olympus Vanox is progressing quite well, I've sorted out most of the kinks now. Focus mechanism is fixed, stage has been serviced, and I've made a pair of condenser centering screws. So I've finally been able to properly set it up for DIC.

I've been trying out the Apo's enough to make some comments. The 4x Planapo is excellent, but i rarely use that low magnifications, so it's a little overkill. But the scope didn't come with a 4x so it made sense to get it. The 10x planapo is very nice. The 40x (non-plan) Apo is really crisp and sharp in the center and drops off quite a lot at a field number around 15mm or so as you know. Not a big deal with living subjects. It's very nice and contrasty. Glad I got it!

The 100x 1.30 planapo has been a bit of an disappointment. It has good resolution, good field flatness, and very little chromatic aberrations as you would expect, but contrast is surprisingly low. Maybe it's because it's such a complex design with many air-to-glass surfaces; maybe it's because the coatings weren't as good back then; or maybe it's because it has a small mark on its front lens. Would be interesting to know if anyone else has used one.

I've compared it directly to the 100x 1.30 Fluorite, and for visual use i absolutely prefer the Fluorite. Much higher contrast (but clearly not plan with 18mm FN eyepieces) and very clean image overall.

I'm still a bit undecided whether I am going to keep the scope as it was originally intended, however. I haven't used any other "off the shelf" DIC system, but it is my impression that the DIC effect isn't the best with the old olympus system. I can't get nice medium grey backgrounds with it, and i know that it's the same for others with the old BH DIC system. The best effect is with a sort of light greenish blue background, which looks okay but not perfect.

I have previously built a DIY DIC system around some Nikon Epi-DIC prisms on my wild m20. It's finicky, but products really beautiful DIC at 10x and 20x; a bit worse on 40x. I'm actually drawing up some plans for how to adapt it for the Vanox and make it work better at higher magnifications. It might be that I end up using the Vanox more as a stable base for my diy experimentation, rather than using it as it was designed. In that case, I'd probably move away from the short-barrel Olympus objectives in favor of my Nikon CF ones. But right now I'm exploring both options.

And, as you know, half of the fun lies in the experimenting and learning about the strengths and weaknesses of different systems!

[Rapidray]

As long as it’s something you enjoy - you never have to many!