Zeiss Opton Stativ W

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Fen
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Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#1 Post by Fen » Sun Sep 20, 2020 2:09 pm

Thought I share some (badly shot) pictures of my first microscope. It has sat in the basement storage of a lab since the 70's and with a big move they had to throw out a lot of old stuff, (and yeah, those olympus objectives were fished out of the dumpster)
So from the lab basement, it resided for years in my parents attic until I opened the case and fell in love with this goofy looking thing at first sight.

It has been a bit of a project to get it working properly again since it couldn't stay in focus, so I took it all apart, carefully cleaned it and applied some nye grease and is now fully working again. Lighting was a bit of an issue since since the only bulb it came with was blown and after seeing how difficult and expensive it is to get a new one, I bought a BA15D socket with a collar and after some modification it fits perfectly without modifying the lamp housing permanently.

Sadly the optovar polarization (I think?) lens is badly delaminated, so not sure if that is fixable. It works fine without it though and I'd love to score some more phase contrast objectives. I only have the 16x and 25x
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Mounted are
Olympus A10
Zeiss Winkel Ph2 Neofluar 25
Zeiss Neofluar 40
Olympus Dplan 100
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On the right the old lamp and fitting. It sat inside a metal holder that was held in place with a spring. The new one on the left (Could only order per 4 on amazon) had the collar filed smaller and sits in front of the old holder. I'm still waiting for better bulbs that I ordered, but this'll do for now.
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That Leitz looks like a diamond scribe? I wonder what that's used for.
The third is a Zeiss Jena 5177 4mm n.A 0.95 160mm. A bit of a weird one with a focus ring and doesn't work well with the others.
Last edited by Fen on Sun Sep 20, 2020 3:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hobbyst46
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#2 Post by Hobbyst46 » Sun Sep 20, 2020 3:31 pm

Congratulations. A nice microscope. I like the stage.

The Olympus DPlans are very good objectives. They will not be exactly parfocal with the Zeiss objectives so, it is more convenient to have a set of objectives from the same brand and line - if possible. Also, the Olympus and Zeiss objectives and eyepieces differ in optical corrections (chromatic aberration for example). This is mostly visible in photography.

Wonder what the shiny metal sub-stage assembly is - a special turret condenser ?

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Fen
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#3 Post by Fen » Sun Sep 20, 2020 4:10 pm

Thanks! Yes, it's a bit of a mixed bag, but for the money I didn't pay for it I'd say it was well worth the investment.
Under the stage is the condenser for phase contrast and bright-field. The knobs are for centering the rings. (2 for each)
Well.. one knob is missing. :cry:

Here is a nice article about this microscope I found.
https://greenmicroscope.wordpress.com/2 ... s-wissens/

I'm still trying to figure out a lot myself. :D
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75RR
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#4 Post by 75RR » Sun Sep 20, 2020 7:35 pm

Lovely microscope!

I imagine you already have this brochure: http://www.science-info.net/docs/zeiss/ ... ochure.pdf
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

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Fen
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#5 Post by Fen » Sun Sep 20, 2020 7:49 pm

Yep! Printed out and everything already. :D
Too bad I couldn't find the technical drawing anywhere, would have made made the disassembly a lot less nerve wrecking since I didn't know what to expect. Luckily all went well.
If anyone knows of its existence, I would love to have it.

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Fen
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#6 Post by Fen » Sat Oct 17, 2020 1:44 pm

Just got the camera adapter delivered today from china, so I fiddled around a bit with it. I borrowed my brothers Canon 600D, but since I have zero experience with DSLR's, i'll have to figure that out too.
Sadly I can't get it parfocal. The adapter can be extended to some degree, but not far enough. One option is to extend the phototube somehow, since lifting it a bit higher works fine. Sounds a bit like a hassle, so if putting something between the camera and adapter also works, I'd love to get some advise on that. I need to lift it 1cm or half an inch thereabouts.
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75RR
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#7 Post by 75RR » Thu Oct 22, 2020 4:19 am

Perhaps an extension tube or macro lens adapter would work. You might want to look at second hand if you want an OE part.

Not sure if this one would suit but this is the idea: https://www.ebay.com/itm/EXCELLENT-Cano ... SwePdfg-fv

Good catch on the photo, a blue filter should get rid of the yellow cast.
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#8 Post by Fen » Thu Oct 22, 2020 10:39 am

I'll give it a go then, but since that one costs more then what I paid for the complete camera adapter, I'll try my luck again on alixpress. :D
I already have a blue filter fitted, but the yellowing in this case was mostly because I had the wrong camera settings.
Last edited by Fen on Thu Oct 22, 2020 9:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Scarodactyl
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#9 Post by Scarodactyl » Thu Oct 22, 2020 3:28 pm

If you have a friend with a 3d printer a small eyepiece riser would be trivial to make.

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Fen
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#10 Post by Fen » Thu Oct 22, 2020 9:26 pm

I am that friend with all the tools everyone wants to borrow from. :roll:

Sadly no one around with a 3D printer, but that has been on my wish list for a while now, maybe next year.
I did find some macro extension tubes for a few bucks, so I'll try that out.

cesarius
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#11 Post by cesarius » Thu Dec 03, 2020 1:35 am

Hello Fen,
nice to see someone else with a wonderful Stativ W.
As in your case it was my first microscope and I got a lot of info, tips and tricks for it.
Just send me a PM if you like and we can discuss further.
Greets,
cesarius

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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#12 Post by BramHuntingNematodes » Thu Dec 03, 2020 2:16 am

Don't need no 3d printer just a press and some forstner bits
1942 Bausch and Lomb Series T Dynoptic, Custom Illumination

Scarodactyl
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#13 Post by Scarodactyl » Thu Dec 03, 2020 4:17 am

BramHuntingNematodes wrote:
Thu Dec 03, 2020 2:16 am
Don't need no 3d printer just a press and some forstner bits
Very true, but having done it both ways I know my preference :)

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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#14 Post by Fen » Thu Dec 03, 2020 2:01 pm

Thanks cesarius, I appreciate it. :)
BramHuntingNematodes wrote:
Thu Dec 03, 2020 2:16 am
Don't need no 3d printer just a press and some forstner bits
Too late! Black friday is over and now I have a 3D printer.
I also don't have the right size forstner anyway and for it not to look and work half arsed, a 3D printer or a lathe would have been the optimal solution. The printer was the most sensible choice. :lol:

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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#15 Post by Fen » Sun Aug 15, 2021 4:40 pm

What was the saying again... once you go black? :roll:
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MicroBob
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#16 Post by MicroBob » Sun Aug 15, 2021 6:58 pm

Hi Fen,
thank you for showing your nice microscopes! The Zeiss W microscope is fairly interesting as it was the first microscope developed by Zeiss West after WWII, but was very soon replaced by the Zeiss Winkel GF and GFL which is different in every detail and was made in the old Winkel plant in Göttingen. Probably they have misjudged the oncoming market and went a bit over the top with the engineering of the W model.

Bob

Hobbyst46
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#17 Post by Hobbyst46 » Sun Aug 15, 2021 8:26 pm

Nice view ! is the refractometer in use, or just a collector's item ?

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Fen
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#18 Post by Fen » Sun Aug 15, 2021 8:52 pm

Hobbyst46 wrote:
Sun Aug 15, 2021 8:26 pm
Nice view ! is the refractometer in use, or just a collector's item ?
50/50
I'm a hobby brewer. Mostly beer and mead. For beer the hand refractometer left of it works fine, but for mead it tops out.
A hydrometer works fine or could have bought another one with a higher scale... buuut, who are we kidding, of course it's a perfect reason to go all out and add something to the collection. :D

I just got it this week and after some new damping grease on the hinge and some light descaling, it looks almost like new. Case and all. For 80 euro it was hard to resist.

Hobbyst46
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Re: Zeiss Opton Stativ W

#19 Post by Hobbyst46 » Mon Aug 16, 2021 8:59 am

With a source of yellow light (588nm), a constant temperature waterbath and a circulator pump, one can determine accurate nDs.
Those Zeiss refractometers were really precision instruments and still are.

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