PZO PhS

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JWW
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PZO PhS

#1 Post by JWW » Sun Jul 21, 2019 8:37 pm

I was experimenting with my PZO Biolar and the K3Ph condenser and PhS objective accessory kit the last few days. Does anyone have direct experience with the PZO phase setups and this arrangement, meaning positive phase contrast PhS? Looking for some explanations if there are any to give since I have no experience with positive phase contrast and what it should actually look like. I did some searching and read a few articles on PPC but most are out of my understanding. I know this is phase because of the halos surrounding the diatoms, the false colors, and the circle artifacts outside of the focal plane. To me it looks more like my PZO Anoptral phase contrast setup but then again that would be new to me as well. The stock PZO bulb liiumination lamp was used with the first image below. It was extremely difficult to get the illumination correct without seeing the filament in the background so I put a diffuser on top of the field lens. It's just a one shot image, no stacking.

https://spockssister.com/2014/01/22/dia ... -contrast/

-JW:
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JWW
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Re: PZO PhS

#2 Post by JWW » Sun Jul 21, 2019 8:42 pm

The image below was shot with the same setup (PhS setup) but using the LED illumination in place of the stock PZO bulb illuminator. I still had the same problem, meaning seeing the LED in the background. The illumination was turned way down with nearly dark background. Obviously I've cleaned up the background in Photoshop. This is a stacked image, 100 images in Zerene.
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JWW
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Re: PZO PhS

#3 Post by JWW » Sun Jul 21, 2019 8:43 pm

This is what it looked like through the eyepiece using the LED illuminator and shot with my smartphone. You can see the halos surrounding the diatom, the false colors and the circle artifacts.
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JWW
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Re: PZO PhS

#4 Post by JWW » Sun Jul 21, 2019 10:02 pm

... and another.
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JWW
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Re: PZO PhS

#5 Post by JWW » Sun Jul 21, 2019 10:04 pm

... last one.
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apochronaut
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Re: PZO PhS

#6 Post by apochronaut » Mon Jul 22, 2019 12:24 am

For phase with average N.A. achromats, those look pretty good to me.

Your issue with seeing the lamp filament sounds like the condenser hasn't been focused properly?......but the image quality is nevertheless pretty good.

JWW
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Re: PZO PhS

#7 Post by JWW » Mon Jul 22, 2019 7:25 pm

My main reason for posting was my lack of knowledge in what Positive Phase Contrast (PPC) is supposed to look like since I simply don't know. From my searching it looks more like what is described as Anoptral Phase Contrast. I would also like to see a few "examples" of what amplitude-phase "objects" are for viewing with positive phase contrast?

apochronaut
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Re: PZO PhS

#8 Post by apochronaut » Mon Jul 22, 2019 8:46 pm

Companies use somewhat differing terms for their phase systems. but typically anoptral phase has a brownish background and somewhat less of a halo, than either standard positive or negative phase systems. Positive and negative or also called dark and bright phase, normally have a grey background.
In systems I have used , I have been able to produce a brownish background colour with positive and negative phase by de-focusing the condenser, using a different type of condenser and also by mixing objective and condenser mfg.

Phase microscope systems seem like they are a discreet collection of static pairs of annuli but the principle of the concept allows for a considerable degree of variability in the materials the anuli are made from as well as their dimensions.

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