MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I did biochemistry in university but ended up working in video games, haha. The material was very interesting but the profession required long, dull lab hours and it turned out I wasn't in to that.

Very nice work. Get some rest, you have an early day for us tomorrow. Thanks for sharing!

The anticipation is killing me, haha!

Looking forward to more updates Louise!

Great post crb5, thanks. I'll try the 21mm stop again and fiddle with the condenser height. I think the 350/380 have the same overall optical path.

I too have noticed chromatic aberration that shows up much more dramatically in a photo than to the eye.

Outstanding Louise! Looking forward to your findings. Thanks for being our test subject.

Thanks!

Since you work at a shelter with a scope, they probably have a Diff-Quick kit or similar 3-bottle stain kit. It's what is used for ear cytology, a common vet tech chore. Looks like it is also good for blood and other kinds of cells too, but I am just learning about it so I don't know all the applica...

It's easy to buy a cheap Chinese microscope and it's very easy to buy an expensive Japanese or European microscope. It is not at all easy to find good information on something in the middle. I spent a while looking at used listings and couldn't find anything good. So I bought a Sow's Ear 380T, and I...

I too wondered if more light might help. If you try that let us know what you find out.

I also wonder if a replacement, superior condenser might be possible.

The condenser height is adjustable on the 380T. I have found that by adjusting height I can sometimes improve contrast, but at a cost in sharpness. Leaving the condenser in the uppermost position usually seems best. The scope only has one iris--in the condenser, just above the filter holder. In this...

Thanks much for that link!

I made darkfield stops from 10mm - 24mm to identify the best size for different views. I'd like to understand the theory better, because my observations don't make any sense when looking at the expected patch sizes for a given objective. I may still be making operation errors, though. With my 10x ob...

Darkfield patches version 2, now with numbers and radiused corners.

https://i.imgur.com/Hilijm5.png

Thanks @crb5, very helpful. Sounds like the Amscope with optics is not a great option for the money. I may get simple T adapter since they are about $10 and just see how it goes. Which USB camera did you get? I am reluctant to spend a lot on a microscope-specific camera since I don't really know how...

I have a Swift 380T, so I have a standard 23mm top tube. While I am considering a camera made specifically for a microscope, since I have a Nikon full-frame DSLR I first want to investigate making use of that. Is the Amscope DSLR adapter any good? I don't really see any other adapters (with optics) ...

WOW, super cool!

> With my Swift 350 scope I found 22 mm stop worked with the 40x 0.65NA objective and an 18 mm stop with the 10x 0.25NA objective. Interesting! With my Swift 380 and the same 40x objective, I have no light left for observation if I use even a 10 mm darkfield patch. It's just black. The bluish image ...

I was able to get a better dark field in a 400x view with a bigger patch, but that isn't pictured. I didn't realize when I started goofing around that good DF with the 40x objective is so much harder. It is pretty easy to make patches so I am going to make a whole series where the patch size increas...

Yes, 1.25 NA condenser.

I too noticed a strong visible gradient with the oblique insert at lower magnification.

Thanks for the tips! Lots to think about. This makes regular photography look trivial in comparison.

When I realized I could use my laser cutter to make filter inserts I had to give it a shot. I don't have any thin clear acrylic for Rheinberg illumination yet, but I did have some 1.5 mm opaque black acrylic on hand so I tried making darkfield and oblique filters. If anyone has ideas for new shapes ...

Food for thought, thanks Louise!

The phone pics came out surprisingly well but holding it up to the eyepiece is already getting old!

I have a good pocket camera and a full-frame Nikon DSLR... I need to investigate the mounting options and compare with a standalone camera like yours.

I've just had my 380T for one evening and don't have a proper camera for the top tube yet. I'm getting fair results with my phone camera, though! Here's a zoomed in view of brewer's yeast at 1000x. You can resolve some of the interior structure... pretty cool. https://i.imgur.com/19KyUvh.png Onion c...

The 10x eyepiece is definitely sharper and brighter but it's nice to get up to 1000x without oil via the 25x and 40x objective.

The right used Olympus, Nikon, or Zeiss never came along so I buckled and got a Swift 380T. For the price the quality seems really great. I've only looked at one slide of aquarium water so far but was very pleased with the quality of the optics and controls. Here's a sample shot at 1000x (25x eyepie...

Wow, $273! Great find.

After a year of poking through used scope ads looking for the right Nikon or Olympus to come along... I gave up and decided to get a Swift SW380T. It happens to be $30 off as of this posting. Happy hunting!

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N7TPSP7

I almost could have written that post... I have similar interests except I can pass on the stereo capabilities and I am hoping to spend $1k or less. Trinocular for camera support is a must. I have several cameras, I don't even care which one I hook up... DSLR or pocket camera would be fine, whatever...

I'm here to get my post count up then, Pete, I would like the PDF too! My dream setup is a brightfield trinocular scope so I can begin using a camera right away--but I want to find a platform that may be expandable to darkfield or other options, as my interests develop. I'm willing to spend maybe $7...