A marine diatom with oblique lighting

[LouiseScot]

Came across this marine diatom on a prepared slide. Thought it was an interesting shape. 40x achromatic objective. Contrast enhancement brings out some striae (just about).

NewAdapt_Pleurax_40x_Obl_1crop_46pc_c.jpg (108.38 KiB) Viewed 4589 times

Unfortunately, some resolution seems to be lost on uploading

Louise

[MicroBob]

Hi Louise,
that looks very good! I would guess that this was circular oblique lighting - right?
Forum images can have max. 1024 pixels on the long side and 500kB file size. I haven't recognized that they are further compressed on upload.
You have been very quick in getting good micro images. Some people struggle forever and some give up after a while.

Bob

[75RR]

You are managing to pick up some fine detail there. Well done.

Dragged your image to the desktop and ran Get Info on it - it says 115KB, so there is room on your side to up the resolution a bit.

[LouiseScot]

Hi Louise,
that looks very good! I would guess that this was circular oblique lighting - right?
Forum images can have max. 1024 pixels on the long side and 500kB file size. I haven't recognized that they are further compressed on upload.
You have been very quick in getting good micro images. Some people struggle forever and some give up after a while.

Bob

Hi again and thanks.
Ah, right. The original is 1298 x 860 and you can see the striae on the centre diatom. Oh well. Next time maybe I'll post via links to Imgur. I think I took it with a darkfield stop over the Swift light source. I'd like to be able to get images as good as I've seen on here and taken with a Leitz Wetzlar Apo 63x but I can only work with what I have!

Cheers

Louise

[LouiseScot]

You are managing to pick up some fine detail there. Well done.

Dragged your image to the desktop and ran Get Info on it - it says 115KB, so there is room on your side to up the resolution a bit.

Hi - thanks. I'll try and be more mindful of getting the best out of posted images in future
Maybe this one is slightly better?

NewAdapt_Pleurax_40x_Obl_1crop2.jpg (114.28 KiB) Viewed 4571 times

Louise

[Hobbyst46]

I like the oblique illumination photos ! well done.

[MicroBob]

Leitz Wetzlar Apo 63x

Your 100:1 is not that far behind, it just offers a smaller field of view. When using monochromatic light or selecting colour channels you can get rid of the disadvantages of a simple achromat.

This here would be a nice task: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9199&p=79100&hilit= ... ura#p79100
Diatoms are differnt in their visibility an Amphipleura pellucida is fairly difficult to resolve. Once I got the illumination right a simple 100:1 achromat was enoght to resolve the pores.


Bob

[LouiseScot]

Leitz Wetzlar Apo 63x

Your 100:1 is not that far behind, it just offers a smaller field of view. When using monochromatic light or selecting colour channels you can get rid of the disadvantages of a simple achromat.

This here would be a nice task: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9199&p=79100&hilit= ... ura#p79100
Diatoms are differnt in their visibility an Amphipleura pellucida is fairly difficult to resolve. Once I got the illumination right a simple 100:1 achromat was enoght to resolve the pores.


Bob

It's so much easier to browse slides with a non-oil immersion objective. My own 60x plan achro is poor by comparison to a quality planapo (O for DIC too!) I'm also talking about more general image quality not just dead diatoms, and especially live specimens. Colour is so enriching. When I get around to it I'll do some focus stacking and also make some videos I must also get back to my focus rail microscope project - the Swift380T has taken over! Oh, I must have another look at my Pleurosigma formosa slide at 100x.


Louise

[LouiseScot]

Leitz Wetzlar Apo 63x

Your 100:1 is not that far behind, it just offers a smaller field of view. When using monochromatic light or selecting colour channels you can get rid of the disadvantages of a simple achromat.

This here would be a nice task: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9199&p=79100&hilit= ... ura#p79100
Diatoms are differnt in their visibility an Amphipleura pellucida is fairly difficult to resolve. Once I got the illumination right a simple 100:1 achromat was enoght to resolve the pores.


Bob

Hi again

Just wondered if you've had any experience with the Leitz NPL fluotars for 160mm scopes (or for infinity ones). I've seen a 100x/1.32 fluotar 160mm on Ebay for £380 which is affordable. Not sure how great an improvement it might give - maybe better contrast?

Louise

[MicroBob]

Hi Louise,
the NPL Fluotars are near planar to Leitz extremely high standards. So they were planar over a 24mm! field, not 28 (?) like the Leitz "Plan" of the time.
These are very good objectives, not far away from planapochromats.
While 100:1 objectives on amateur microscopes are often more or less unused these were bought for a purpose, and were often employed in routine work. So some might be already quite worn. These are 1980s objectives and not much in use in institutions today so 380 pound ist a very high price (do you want one for 379 from me? ).

Generally such a good objective should preferrably be used with a highly corrected achromaticcondenser. So you might be much better off by using your microscope as it is and perhaps someday buy a complete one with lots of goodies. This is usually much more cost effective.

Bob

[Roldorf]

Hi Louise, if you want to have the full resolution image displayed here you can upload your images to https://postimages.org/. The link can then be posted here. You wont use any of you precious allowance and can click on the image to take you to the full resolution on the postimage website.

An Example:

[LouiseScot]

Hi Louise, if you want to have the full resolution image displayed here you can upload your images to https://postimages.org/. The link can then be posted here. You wont use any of you precious allowance and can click on the image to take you to the full resolution on the postimage website.

An Example:

Hi - thanks. I actually have Imgur and Instagram accounts but not sure if people would be happy to click on the links. I did once post some images using just imgur links but not sure if anyone viewed them! Does the forum have a plugin for postimages.org - I guess that would cost the Admin money?
Alternatively, I could just post smaller pics plus the links so there is the option to view higher res images - best of both worlds! I'm mindful that not everyone has a fast broadband connection.

Cheers

Louise

[MicroBob]

One problem with external image hosts is that they give up one after the other and the images are lost. Remeber Geocities or the Photobucket photo hijack? This lets the forum posts without images. In many cases these posts will be interesting in the future as others look for the same information.
So in my view for general use the forum image host is best, but for full resolution photos it makes sense to post them additionally somewhere else - best of both worlds is true.

Bob

[LouiseScot]

Hi Louise,
the NPL Fluotars are near planar to Leitz extremely high standards. So they were planar over a 24mm! field, not 28 (?) like the Leitz "Plan" of the time.
These are very good objectives, not far away from planapochromats.
While 100:1 objectives on amateur microscopes are often more or less unused these were bought for a purpose, and were often employed in routine work. So some might be already quite worn. These are 1980s objectives and not much in use in institutions today so 380 pound ist a very high price (do you want one for 379 from me? ).

Generally such a good objective should preferrably be used with a highly corrected achromaticcondenser. So you might be much better off by using your microscope as it is and perhaps someday buy a complete one with lots of goodies. This is usually much more cost effective.

Bob

Ok, thanks. I just happened to see the 100x Fluotar on Ebay. I wasn't sure what, if any, corrections they need - EP's or condenser, but being old tech I assumed none. I actually hadn't heard of achromatic condensers! It wouldn't be easy to change the Swift one but would be possible on my infinity rail system. The prices for Fluotars do generally seem quite high - supply and demand? I'm not sure about any extra costs for importing from the EU now.. I always find it frustrating that there are many objectives on sale from the States but the total prices with import and postage to the UK seem to spiral upwards. I've seen some Nikon 100x /1.35 plan apo 160mm objectives going for a similar price to the Fluotar, albeit from the USA. Tempting. I have a 20x Nikon CF on the Swift which works well. However, the high NA of the apo might be problematic.

Louise

[Roldorf]

Hi Louise, there is no plugin required to post images from postimage and the service is free. I also still have all the original images saved offline in case the service stops.

[LouiseScot]

Hi Louise, there is no plugin required to post images from postimage and the service is free. I also still have all the original images saved offline in case the service stops.

I know not required but it might be more trusted if it was available. Of course, I keep all my images whether posted or not!

Louise