MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I bought a pack of 10 of these a month ago and got stingy and just reused them over and over, dipping into the same tank to draw out protist samples. Is there a downside to this? I just ordered 50 more as they are very cheap but I don't want to throw them away after each use unless there is a valid ...

If the results are as good as illustrated here; finding out how best to use them would be very worthwhile: https://sciencellonline.com/blog/how-to-take-quality-microscopy-pictures/ MichaelG. Pretty good link MG, a lovely synopsis of Focus, Exposure, and the need to configure the scope correctly. So...

Many thanks for posting this, coominya ... very helpful. For additional reference, here's a link to Ron Green's excellent paper on collimation: https://archive.org/details/APracticalGuideToBinocularCollimation Despite the slightly ambiguous title: Yes, it's about Microscope heads MichaelG. Thanks M...

I hope those larvae don't eat all my protists, there are dozens of them in the tank now They did they DID the mongrels!!! There must have been 100 swimming around in the end and not a single protist over 10 microns. I have flushed the whole tank out and will start again. Who would have thought...

Pulling apart a precision instrument is not something I take lightly and anyone without some experience in fine mechanical work should not attempt this sort of thing. There are a myriad of learned techniques, like applying firm pressure to (the right) screwdriver when removing old screws, so as to p...

Thanks, just checked my posts and the same same. They are all heading to pay by use I'm afraid, the glory days of the web are over.

Hi coominya, I focus by seeing on the smart phone screen. The smart phone is Samsung Galaxy S6. Suphot I use an samsung S5, but freehand, and am amazed how the focus always adjusts perfectly. I have a tungsten lamp in my scope though and use the incandescent setting on the camera. It's ok, but not ...

That first picture is nice but the second one really impressed me. Oblique Illumination certainly defines the detail to my eye. What type of lamp are you using in the microscope, an LED, Halogen? And what do you set the camera's light setting to, auto?

If I could get a super cheapo phase scope for $350 then I'd consider that as a fun, quick, welcome-to-the-neighborhood. But I can't. I bought this Nikon phase contrast off ebay a few weeks ago for $350 Australian, I live in Australia. They are out there, just look around https://s6.postimg.cc/7g5if...

Cleaning them properly required removing one or the prisms, and a long, slow trial and error process of getting the images in both tubes lined up again. I imagine the factory had special fixtures and alignment tools for this job. I imagine they would DR, it's why I have put this job off on my ece (...

A secondhand phase contrast microscope from one of the big 4 manufacturers can be had at a great price. Even the ones from the 1960's, if in good condition are worth having, lots posting here use such to great effect. In my humble opinion what makes a scope is good engineering in the optics and in t...

Hobbyst46 wrote: Incidentally, how does one save a post ? there are great posts here that I would save!

I run the latest firefox with the "Save page WE" add-on. I just click the button and it makes a copy of the whole page with all posts.

Very sharp detail for that level of magnification 75. Well done, beautiful colors too.

This is a good thread Hobbyst46, I have a seriously degraded mirror in one of my external OLY lamps that will need a fix one day, I saved this out for reference.

Very well detailed images, thanks for posting.

Thanks for taking the trouble to post. p.s. Your images are beautifully crisp, clear and well-balanced. John B. Thank you for the encouragement, I should have stated I was using a 100x combination, a 10x objective. I would usually crop it to remove the round EP silhouette but I would have lost part...

I successfully removed one using vice grips and a wrap of rubber around the objective. I liked the fact that I could vary the pressure on the vice grips and 'dial' it up slowly with no danger of applying too much extra inward force while applying the circular force needed to undo it. The grips come ...

Interesting question. I find my eye drawn to the smallest image. Probably something to do with initial assimilation of information and how much we can process to begin with. I suppose ideally you would either post two images (one larger than the other) or be able to increase the size of the first (...

In this test I want to get an idea of what the optimal size is for particular subject matter. Bigger certainly shows more detail but I sense this can sometimes detract from the image by drawing the viewer away from the over-all structure. If that makes sense? A case in point is the mosquito larvae I...

John B. knows a lot more about this subject than I do, but here's a link to look at until he gets back to you. I tried some freehand sectioning many years ago with limited success. With lots of practice one can get a few good ones suitable for making permanent slides. http://www.ableweb.org/volumes...

Welcome miche, sounds like you have the same condition I have. I started with one a few months ago and now have 4.

Great project mrsonchus. Are you keeping the slides you prepare as a record, or just the photos? Hi coominya, yes I keep all my slides - they are all permanently stained, mounted in resinous mountant and will out-live me by many decades! :D :D I have made many hundreds (a few thousand maybe?) in th...

Great project mrsonchus. Are you keeping the slides you prepare as a record, or just the photos?

So spore of a fungus that has just undergone mitosis. Ok, I can live with that.

Mine came with a little bottle but it's jammed in the circular wooden holder at the very back of the box. The 100x objective was not in the turret either but separate in the ep/obj holder and may have never been used. The older woman I bought it off said she bought it new when she was at uni for her...

The 100X oil immersion was useless, producing a fuzzy image only at the edge of the field in the 2 o'clock position. I guess that would be bad optical centering. 2000 hey? Well that should have been an older one I'd imagine. Over the next couple of days I'll test the oil obj on mine and post a pic ...

Nice find !! ... It looks a very 'honest' instrument. MichaelG. . Edit: I've just found this video of a Harman, with the same model designation ... Is this its successor ? Good find Michael, definitely a much later model based on the objectives. If I would hazard an opinion I would say it's a Chine...

I was trolling gumtree and came across this little $30 offering, and since it was close, decided to have a look. Needless to say I bought it, quite a decent monocular and if nothing else a great ornament for the shelf. The mechanics are all smooth, bar the condenser rack (stiff old grease) and the o...

I saw this in a creek sample, it's 60 um long and exhibited no activity. Is it a plant or animal?

I can't seem to see the differences apochronaut, what should I be looking for?