New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

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intrasight
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New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#1 Post by intrasight » Fri Dec 08, 2017 6:21 pm

My daughter asked for a microsope for Christmas. I found and purchased this on CraigsList. Seems to be in fine working order.
It came with an illuminator that I assume was an add-on accessory. There is a working bulb in the illuminator but I want to make sure that she has a couple spare bulbs.
I've not found a source for these 120v 20w bulbs. Another option perhaps is to upgrade the illuminator with something more current - if that's even possible.
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MichaelG.
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Re: New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#2 Post by MichaelG. » Fri Dec 08, 2017 7:49 pm

That looks very promising.

The illuminator is 'unsophisticated' but should be entirely adequate.
The bulb itself has a large-area filament, to give a soft source.

It should, therefore, be a very simple matter to adapt the illuminator to take an LED source.

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

Charles
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Re: New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#3 Post by Charles » Fri Dec 08, 2017 10:10 pm

A quick search on ebay came up with one which looks like yours.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-USHIO- ... Sw4CFY2JM5

If it's the right one, I would buy all five at that price.

MichaelG.
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Re: New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#4 Post by MichaelG. » Fri Dec 08, 2017 10:30 pm

Charles,

I agree that's an excellent price for the Ushio bulbs.
One slight concern [and I admit I may have mis-interpreted the photo of the original Nikon bulb]
... The Ushio has an integral reflector.
... is this appropriate to the Nikon lamphouse ?

MichaelG.
.
Edit: I note that Nikon does indeed list a 1/2 Reflector bulb:
https://www.nikoninstruments.com/en_GB/ ... b-Selector
Filtering for Tungsten + 120V + 20W returns model MXA20163
Last edited by MichaelG. on Fri Dec 08, 2017 10:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Too many 'projects'

Charles
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Re: New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#5 Post by Charles » Fri Dec 08, 2017 10:37 pm

I thought the same thing at first until I zoomed in. I don't think it's a reflector but just the reflection from the bubble wrap it's on and reflection of the camera to take the picture.

MichaelG.
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Re: New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#6 Post by MichaelG. » Fri Dec 08, 2017 10:40 pm

Charles wrote:I thought the same thing at first until I zoomed in. I don't think it's a reflector but just the reflection from the bubble wrap it's on and reflection of the camera to take the picture.
Oh dear ... Now I'm really confused

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

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lorez
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Re: New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#7 Post by lorez » Sat Dec 09, 2017 1:13 am

Oh dear ... Now I'm really confused
The Ushio bulb does have a 1/2 silvered envelop, but will work well in your illuminator if it is not too long. Nikon used quite a variety of similar bulbs in their inventory. The Ushio was used in the Alphaphot model and in that situation was a dimmable bulb. The reflector improves the amount of light coming into the objective.

I would also buy all the bulbs... :roll:

lorez

Charles
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Re: New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#8 Post by Charles » Tue Dec 12, 2017 1:06 am

The bulbs do have the silver reflector on one side and they are a little over 2.75 inches long...according to the seller.

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KurtM
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Re: New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#9 Post by KurtM » Tue Dec 12, 2017 2:55 am

To OP: I like your style! That looks like a perfectly wonderful way to get Daughter the microscope she wants for Christmas! I wish my parents were like you (about fifty years ago). Your old Nikon "black beauty" (our affectionate nickname for these vintage scopes) looks like a great and very high quality stand from what I can see in the pictures.
Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas
email: ngc704(at)gmail(dot)com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67904872@ ... 912223623/

ajmckay
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Re: New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#10 Post by ajmckay » Wed Dec 20, 2017 5:36 pm

Nice find! Like you, my daughter also wanted a microscope for Christmas. I've also wanted one for a while, to look at some of the microorganisms present in my aquarium. So I used this as an opportunity to pick one up :) It should be quite fun!

Unfortunately my craigslist/Facebook offerings locally were not very good so I had to resort to eBay and pay for shipping...

On a side note - that light housing looks like it would be very simple to convert to LED if you wanted to do away with changing bulbs. You could modify it using flashlight internals to make it battery powered or you could get a LED driver that's AC rated and use that. There's the added benefits of lower energy use and reduced heat to your specimens as well.

Hobbyst46
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Re: New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#11 Post by Hobbyst46 » Wed Dec 20, 2017 5:57 pm

And if an expenditure of about 150 USD is not too much, RetroDiode of Texas (US) provide powerful LED illumination setups for old microscopes. The Nikon S series is mentioned on their site. The advantage is that the LED lamp fits very well mechanically, in addition to the high illuminance (10+ Watts) and various color temperatures. For me it works very well.

billbillt
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Re: New (for me) Nikon S. What do do about illumination?

#12 Post by billbillt » Wed Dec 20, 2017 10:43 pm

LED illumination is a very good option to convert a microscope to.. I have done some work with them and have nothing but praise for their performance.. They has a life span measured in years instead of hours..

BillT

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