What was your First Microscope?

Everything relating to microscopy hardware: Objectives, eyepieces, lamps and more.
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Roldorf
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What was your First Microscope?

#1 Post by Roldorf » Tue Sep 03, 2019 10:56 am

When did you get your first microscope?
Why did you choose it?
What did you use it for?
Do you still have it?
Last edited by Roldorf on Tue Sep 03, 2019 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Wes
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#2 Post by Wes » Tue Sep 03, 2019 11:08 am

An oldschool monocular Zeiss Junior from the 50s I believe. It was originally destined to go to Africa for some expedition but the whole thing failed and a relative of mine took hold of it. It was forgotten for decades and at some point I expressed an interest in microscopy so eventually managed to get my hands on it. I had a lot of fun using it for brightfield, polarized and darkfield microscopy. My favourite thing to look at used to be histological sections.

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Roldorf
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#3 Post by Roldorf » Tue Sep 03, 2019 11:30 am

Hi wes

How long ago was that?
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#4 Post by Roldorf » Tue Sep 03, 2019 11:53 am

When I was 8 (some 65 years ago) I used to play in the boxes and jars of my dad's 'bits'. Nuts bolts and other assorted odds and ends that he had accumulated over the years.
I remember a tube made out of 'tuffnel' it had a rack and pinion bolted to the side with various bits an pieces attached to it which fascinated me. I asked him what it was for and he explained that he head tried to make a microscope. He also had a number of glass lenses and a couple of eyepieces that he had tried to build this 'microscope' with, but it hadn't worked, however I did get to look through the bare lenses at dead flies and other things, so I guess that was my first inkling that there was more to see than what could be seen with the naked eye.

Studying for my HNC some 20 years later, in engineering was the first time I had ever looked through a real microscope, a dic scope looking at metallic structures which I found totally boring and very difficult to understand.

It has taken me 64 years to get my own microscope so I guess I am making the most of it. :D :D :D :D
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#5 Post by MicroBob » Tue Sep 03, 2019 12:41 pm

Hi together,

my first microscope was from Quelle-Versand, a "mail order" shop with a big catalog that sold most things one could need. It has cost 250 DM which was quite a bit of money then. Unfortunately the microscope wasn't really worth the money. It offered 1200x magnification (60:1 dry and a zoom eyepiece 10x to 20x). Without much of a condenser you can imagine how the image quality was. I was able to improve it so it worked for the lower magnifications. I later bought a microscope set from Kosmos on a flea market that included a simple but working microscope that had to be assembled from plastic parts. The best of this kit was the instruction book and a few things to prepare slides. Then a long gap and in 2002 or so I bought a Will monocular course microscope and some mountants and stains.
This was a acceptable microscope but no bino, simple kitchen oven light and I hated the beige colour. I still have the instuction book of the Kosmos kit, the rest is lon gone. I actually sold the Quelle-Versand microscope - should better have scrapped it but needed the money. :oops:

@Wes: That was a great first microscope! The Junior is one of my absolute favourites.

Bob

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75RR
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#6 Post by 75RR » Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:12 pm

Mine was a Standard Junior as well, bought at a local internet flea-market in 2014. Beautiful microscope.

As can be seen by the time I took this photo I had upgraded the eyepieces and the objectives. Have since sold it, yet I am still using the very same eyepieces and objectives on my WL!
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#7 Post by Wes » Tue Sep 03, 2019 3:00 pm

Roldorf wrote:
Tue Sep 03, 2019 11:30 am
Hi wes

How long ago was that?
That was 20 years ago. Most memorably observations were when I first saw living bacteria, protozoans and crystals under polarized light. It was absolutely mind blowing. Eventually I upgraded the x-y stage and added a binocular head but kept the mirror (it just gave better illumination than the bulb that you can purchase for this microscope).

Too bad I'm running out of space cause I'd like to get add an inverted one, a stereomicroscope and a WL to my modest collection of Junior and Phomi.
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#8 Post by Dave S » Tue Sep 03, 2019 4:10 pm

My first Microscope was purchased around 1957/58, and it cost £12.

Can't remember the name, but it was all metal construction, and step above the toy plastic ones.

At this time I was earning around £4 per week, so it was 3 weeks wages to buy it :o

My biggest fascination was putting some Hay in a bowl of rainwater, and waiting for the Paramecium to appear.

No idea what eventually happened to it but I know when I reached 17 years of age, some 60 years ago, microscopy was forgotten, and my attention turned to girls, and cars. :D

Now 60 years, and 55 years of marriage later, with grown up children, and grandchildren (one of whom is serving in the Royal Navy), the interest in microscopy has returned.
Last edited by Dave S on Tue Sep 03, 2019 6:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#9 Post by Roldorf » Tue Sep 03, 2019 5:21 pm

Good on you Dave, and we wish you many more years of fascinating microscopy. The average weekly wage in the UK as of June 2019 before tax is 505 pounds, so you would have 1515 pound to spend on a microscope today. Less tax of course, not a bad scope. :D
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#10 Post by Roldorf » Tue Sep 03, 2019 5:36 pm

Microbob,

I am sure whoever bought your Quelle-Versand microscope got their moneys worth out of it.
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#11 Post by Roldorf » Tue Sep 03, 2019 5:39 pm

75RR

The 'Standard Junior' if you look through the posts on this website still seems to be a popular oldtimer and well loved by it's owners.
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#12 Post by 75RR » Tue Sep 03, 2019 7:14 pm

"The 'Standard Junior' if you look through the posts on this website still seems to be a popular oldtimer and well loved by it's owners."

I must remember to have a look around ;)
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#13 Post by MicroBob » Tue Sep 03, 2019 7:51 pm

The Junior was fairly modern in design with interlinked concentric focus knobs and a fixed arm and moving table, but traditional in the superb build quality. The fine focus is a bit courser than on most microscopes but runs very smooth on a serviced microscopes. I use this feature for diatom arrangeing.
There was a Pol version, a field microscope version and it can be equipped with PZO DIC (not yet tested by myself).
The gearbox is on the sturdy side when assembled properly and it can handle field use, what I wouldn't suggest for the GFL.
The typical n.a. 0,9 condenser doesn't work well with a lamp over the hole in the foot. Better use a PZO or Leitz condenser.
When dismantling one has to look out for aluminium foil strips that have been used to optimize clearances. Especially the table rack and pinion have to have the right, very small play.

Bob

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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#14 Post by sailor_ed » Tue Sep 03, 2019 8:06 pm

When I was about 14 (1958) my uncle lent me his microscope. He had purchased it for med school and now had little use for it so it was on semi-permanent loan. It gave me several years of observing the life I found in local ponds, lakes, and any place I could find water laying around. My uncle is now in his 90's and probably still has it tucked in his attic.
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Re: What was your First Microscope?

#15 Post by Scarodactyl » Tue Sep 03, 2019 9:36 pm

This baby right here!
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We picked it up when a local store was closing (they were so cheap my dad bought a bunch for the cousins too). I remember my dad was kind of impressed with the quality for the low price, though I was pretty young at the time.
Pretty cute setup actually--it has an internal turret with "10x" "60x" and "200x" objectives, though who knows what their power actually is, a nice little focusing stage and LED lighting.
I've tried a few times to get it to work, but it's been long enough that compatibility is a hard problem. Someday I might open it up and retrofit a more modern camera just to see.
My first real scope was an amscope gemological stereo, which was just good enough to get me hooked and just limited enough to make me want better equipment.

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