Lafayette Radio and Electronics Microscopes circa 1960

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AntoniScott
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Joined: Tue Dec 24, 2019 3:54 pm

Lafayette Radio and Electronics Microscopes circa 1960

#1 Post by AntoniScott » Wed Dec 29, 2021 8:03 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEvHe1hmJqs


Three mid to high end amateur to low end academic/professional microscopes offered by Lafayette Radio and Electronics during the late 1950 to early 1960's are demonstrated by microscope collector, Antoni Scott.

Lafayette Radio and Electronics offered a wide range of microscopes of varying optical quality and price. Considering the time (late 1950's), the range of microscopes available by this company was remarkable by any standards. The high end microscope in this collection, the Micro-Standard, offered objectives of the standard thread "short" design and of superior optical quality. Sold as an acdemic /professional microscope, this microscope had above average optical quailty compared to the 900x and 1200x.

The time (the late 1950's to the mid 1960's) could be considered the heyday of the Japanese low,mid and high quality microscope era that put these semi precision to high precision optical instuments into the hands of amateurs with limited budgets, never paralled, even today. In addition, Lafatette Radio and Electronics did not waste the opportunity to supplement the microscope buying market interests with a large selection of accessories, including stain sets, professionally prepared slide sets, microtomes,mechnical stage add-ons, microphotography accessories, etc as well as and books.
Antoni Scott

DrPhoxinus
Posts: 316
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2019 5:17 pm
Location: Rochester Hills, MI

Re: Lafayette Radio and Electronics Microscopes circa 1960

#2 Post by DrPhoxinus » Wed Dec 29, 2021 11:14 pm

I enjoyed your post.
When I was 9 (1961) my parents bought me my second microscope, a Monolux 1200x.

I will I still had it. Now I have 16 others

Chas
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Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2021 3:11 pm

Re: Lafayette Radio and Electronics Microscopes circa 1960

#3 Post by Chas » Thu Dec 30, 2021 2:48 pm

I really enjoyed that video.. not that I have a Lafeyette.
However there is something enjoyable about having a microscope without a condenser.
-I spent a lot of my Christmas play-time messing about with a Chinese XSC-06 which looks a bit similar except that it doesn't have those stage-moving screws :-(
Resting a small (~2" square ) led video light on top of the mirror with a metal RMS plug in the middle of it gave a nice darkfield effect.
..I saw a camera adapter add-on in your catalogue ..and I have something very similar-looking (Prinz Optics) winging its way in the post :-)

EDIT:
Here are pics the DF-effect from the bung. A purchased desmid slide (stacked):
x10 objective:
xsc with bung x10.jpg
xsc with bung x10.jpg (62.97 KiB) Viewed 4182 times
x40 objective:
XSC df x40 stack.jpg
XSC df x40 stack.jpg (31.03 KiB) Viewed 4182 times

Mr Galasphere
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:08 am

Re: Lafayette Radio and Electronics Microscopes circa 1960

#4 Post by Mr Galasphere » Sun Jan 09, 2022 7:53 pm

I picked up a Lafayette several years ago. Doesn't look as if it was ever used. Even had the sales receipt! Excellent build quality. I don't really collect these scopes, but one of the higher end models would probably be pretty nice to have.
Attachments
lafayette.jpg
lafayette.jpg (74.5 KiB) Viewed 4038 times

apochronaut
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Re: Lafayette Radio and Electronics Microscopes circa 1960

#5 Post by apochronaut » Mon Jan 10, 2022 12:16 am

Most of the cast iron and cast aluminum body Japanese hobby microscopes made between the mid-50's and 1970 or so were made under contract by Carton Optical, who are still in business, although they have moved production long ago to Thailand.
Carton made few microscopes in that hayday period branded for themselves but you occasionally see a C.O.C. microscope around. The more common contract brands were mostly Tasco, Selsi, Monolux, Lafayette, Edmund, Sears, SPC and Lumex. In Canada we also had Hobby and Lumex. The bodies were usually black enamel and then a few grey enamel. Selsi and Hobby were grey. A few Tasco were turquoise around 1970. The fuller lines that included professional models probably morphed from monocular Carton sub R.M.S. models to R.M.S. models made by Kyowa but there were other small optical companies too.
There was a fairly set model series irregardless of brand although some distributors skipped some models and others had an extended series right into a professional line. Layfayette was the latter, with a seamless series of nice black scopes from 300X right up to 2000X. It was usually de rigeur to have the maximum magnification proudly announced on the front of the optical tube. We didn't have Lafayette in Canada but I had a few catalogues and remember drooling over the offerings, especially the listed " society size" models, the top one of which was binocular. Edmund had a similar line . Tasco had by far the widest market and in addition to the standard Carton series , had some professional Kyowa microscopes as well as a few superior hobby scopes that have all the earmarks of being made by Olympus.
The standard series went like this : 300X 3 objective with coarse focus, 450X 3 objective with coarse focus, 600X 3 objective with coarse focus, 750X 4 objective with coarse focus, 900X 4 objective with coarse focus, 1200X 4 objective with coarse and fine focus. R.M.S. 600X, 900X , 1200X, 1500X and 2000X 3 objective or 4 objective microscopes were also available in some brands, enamelled and branded seamlessly but not likely made by Carton. Early on the smaller scopes had fixed or single 10X eyepieces, then as the price went up 10 and 15X or 10 and 20X eyepieces were in the kit. The top of the line 1200X with fine focus had an 8X W.F. , 15X and 20X. In almost all cases, only the lower magnification eyepiece was useful and by the late 60's narrow field zoom eyepieces replaced the multiple Huygens types. The 1200X microscope for instance was useful with the 8X W.F. eyepiece at 4 magnifications up to 480X but had a restricted field with the zoom eyepiece and poorer resolution. . There was a small quite decent mechanical stage available and untill the late 60's each model came in a dovetailed Luan wood case. In 1965 the standard hobby line prices were 300X , 7.95, 450X , 9.95, 600X, 13.95, 750X, 17.95, 900X, 21.95 and 1200X 29.95. Some optimistically had an N.A. on the objective barrels. 45X .40 I seem to recall on a turquoise bodied Tasco. There was also a 3 eyepiece 15X, 30X , 45X stereomicroscope produced by Carton at 34.95. The R.M.S. microscopes were considerably more, starting around 79.95 for a 3 objective 600X model.
By the early 70's the writing was on the wall as far as Japanese production being possible at the previous quality level and price point and China hadn't entered the picture yet, so there was a restructuring of the model line. Some companies ceased altogether because the possibility did not exist to have a decent range of qualty scopes . This was the era of the red Tascos, which were mostly diecast and plastic construction. They eventualy had plastic lenses, I believe. Cases became styro lined cardboard.
Last edited by apochronaut on Mon Jan 09, 2023 8:52 am, edited 2 times in total.

Mr Galasphere
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Re: Lafayette Radio and Electronics Microscopes circa 1960

#6 Post by Mr Galasphere » Mon Jan 10, 2022 3:48 pm

I like these scopes. I you have realistic expectations, they can be fun to play around with. I would definitely avoid any with a zoom eyepiece.

apochronaut
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Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 12:15 am

Re: Lafayette Radio and Electronics Microscopes circa 1960

#7 Post by apochronaut » Mon Jan 10, 2022 6:26 pm

I agree. The rack and pinions are fairly precise and the nosepieces can usually be arranged to be reasonably parcentered. Parfocality isn't the best. The version usually sold as a 1200X with the fine focus is quite fun to use and gives fairly good imaging up to that 480X limit with the 8X W.F., previously mentioned. There is a simple condenser lens in the stage aperture and a disc diaphragm. Until about 1967 everything was cast or machined, with chrome on brass objective barrels.
The more expensive Carton Optical models (900X and 1200X....maybe the 750X too) copied the nosepiece design of the Wild M11, using an integrated optical tube/nosepiece casting. Quite sophisticated, actually.

AntoniScott
Posts: 108
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Re: Lafayette Radio and Electronics Microscopes circa 1960

#8 Post by AntoniScott » Sun Jan 08, 2023 6:42 pm

The posting of my Lafayette Radio and Electronics Microscopes circa 1960 ( actually 1959) article has certainly generated some interesting responses. I was fortunate to live in a time when the inexpensive brands of microscopes of acceptable optical quality were plentiful and at resonable prices within the reach of beginners and amateurs. It is true that most of the microscopes mentioned were manufactured by very few companies in Japan but their output was huge. Purists can criticize that these microscopes were "junk" but they certainly filled the niche that they were meant to do. At the time that I purchased my 1200x microscope, most similar microscopes only offered 900x. The additional 300x didn't offer anything as far as optical quality, but at my impressionable age, more was always better.

All that being said, I can't speak for all the other similar microscopes, but considering the price the Lafayette 1200x had a decent optical quality, resolution with little color fringing or Chromatic abberation and it fulfilled my amateur microscope needs 100%.

Regrettably, the vintage microscopes all suffer from some fungal growth on the inner surfaces of the objectives along with dust accumulation. Probably, these scopes were left without an eyepiece in the tube. A similar issue was present with the eyepieeces but they were easy to disassemble to clean.

It is always a treat to occassionally look at slides through these vintage microscopes.

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