Seeking original camera adapter for B&L Dynoptic 1968

[John W. Briggs]

Hi Folks--

I know telescopes, but my wife and I are relative novices in microscopy. We have just acquired a Bausch and Lomb Dynoptic microscope in good condition, made circa 1968, and are working to activate it. It's probably going to be the best microscope in our collection (and generally, we look at pond water and the like!).

One thing I would love to add to the Dynoptic is a B&L camera adapter of the sort offered for it when the instrument was new. I'm also looking for a screw-in cover for the camera port at the top of the microscope. Our instrument seems wonderfully complete, but that's the one missing part. I have a lathe and can make my own -- but I bet there's a basket-case Dynoptic out there form which a camera-port cover can be salvaged, like a hubcap from an old Chevy!

Let me know if you have anything helpful. And let me know if you ever have questions about telescopes -- they are my forte!

Cheers--
--John W. Briggs,
Magdalena, New Mexico

[Dubious]

Hi John,

Chasing pond critters is fun!

Page 13-2 of the linked manual shows the adapter for a 35mm camera, assuming your Dynoptic is of this series:

https://www.quekett.org/wp-content/uplo ... ctions.pdf

I see that "b&l camera adapter" does get some hits on Ebay, but no idea if one would work for you. It can be difficult to find camera adapters for microscopes of that era. There are also a couple of sellers on Ebay who make camera adapters for various of the vintage microscopes, and you might check with them.

In addition to the mechanical tube, you may also need an appropriate B&L eyepiece to serve as a relay lens. Most manufacturers of the era used their eyepieces to correct aberrations introduced by their objectives. I don't know if this was the case for Dynoptic, or whether you already have that part of the camera optical train.

[apochronaut]

The detailed nature of the camera adapter for a Dynoptic depends on whether it is the older 36+ mm parfocal 160mm tube version or the Flat Field version. The Flat Field version required a built in telan lens, like the one in the visual optical train. Since you reference a thread in the trino. tube, I am guessing it is a 160mm. For that, you just need a straight through tube to create a 160mm tube, with as flat a field and well corrected an eyepiece you can find sitting in it. What that eyepiece is, depends on what your objectives are. If they are standard B & L achromats ; there is a B & L photo framing eyepiece that would work o.k., once you remove the reticle or maybe better an older 6X Wild compensating or photo.

[John W. Briggs]

Thank you, folks, for your replies and encouragement!

As a newcomer here, I fear I misspoke regarding my microscope. Writing more carefully, my wife and I have a B&L DynaZoom flat field photo binocular, with body catalogue number 31-18-03. (Not the "Dynoptic!") Another new friend here pointed me toward a B&L camera adapter on eBay that I've ordered at a reasonable price. I'll eventually post a report regarding exactly what the adapter is and regarding my attempt to machine a new interface for the adapter, allowing it to be used with a modern electronic camera. That's my goal, anyway! Cheers, and thank you again--

--JWB in New Mexico.

[apochronaut]

Good luck with that. Hopefully it has both the needed telan lens and a photo lens in situ.