WTB Olympus BH2 DIC Set

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Macro_Cosmos
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#31 Post by Macro_Cosmos » Sun Nov 20, 2022 11:57 pm

Antartica wrote:
Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:14 am
PeteM wrote:
Wed Nov 16, 2022 11:36 pm
FWIW, the Ebay BX40 with a DIC nosepiece I PM'd you about, sold for under $1K. Someone managed a great scope at a low price - just the DIC nosepiece typically runs around $500 and the DIC nosepiece adapter another $300. With other components, currently available on Ebay etc., a complete BX40 DIC system could have been in the mid to upper $4K range.

It might also be that the complete $4K BH2 system noted above (maybe $4500 or so with tax and shipping) would be about as good as the price gets - with the issue that you'd have an extra stand to sell on your own. The systems are out there, but either a knowledgeable seller or a knowledgeable buyer is likely to offer something close to market price.
thanks pete. I did see that but I'm trying to stay with the Olympus Bh2 bhs. I really like the simplicity of it and its performance/price point. Also, I know I'm being petty, but I really don't like the stand of the BX40 :P

I'll just patiently wait until something good comes. Good things are always worth waiting for. And also, I really would like to get the Olympus Bh2-UCD nic condenser. Which I know is rare, but it has the versatility I'm after. An Olympus Bh2-NC would be good too. Well, I guess having both would be nice. :D
The polariser of the BH2-UCD and U-UCD is built in (ie cannot be swung out) and there are no options for the oil immersion top.
There is no slot for a waveplate. To use them, you need some convoluted adaptor thing (U-KPA and U-TAD) which also decreases your field number from 26.5 to 22.
The plate for those magnetic tags may also add too much height under the substage, making Kohler Illumination impossible with specific arrangements.

If you have the means, the U-UCD8 is still the way to go.

Antartica
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#32 Post by Antartica » Mon Nov 28, 2022 7:30 pm

Another bump

PeteM
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#33 Post by PeteM » Sat Dec 03, 2022 9:30 pm

I believe that a member here (neal Shields) has an Olympus U-UCDB DIC condenser for sale, which would likely work to hold BH2 individual prisms despite it being a BX part. Current price is about half the usual asking price. I recently bought a spare DIC prism from him and it was as described, carefully packed, and quickly shipped. Could be this auction would be a "win" for both of you?

Antartica
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#34 Post by Antartica » Mon Jan 02, 2023 7:29 pm

New Years bump

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#35 Post by imkap » Mon Jan 02, 2023 9:21 pm

Antartica wrote:
Mon Jan 02, 2023 7:29 pm
New Years bump
Happy new bump

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#36 Post by Antartica » Wed Jan 11, 2023 9:10 pm

Another bump

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#37 Post by woyjwjl » Thu Jan 12, 2023 12:43 am

Suggest an acceptable price. US $2000 (excluding transportation costs), available.
Micrographers from China, thanks to the forum for providing a platform for exchange

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#38 Post by Antartica » Thu Jan 19, 2023 8:35 am

Bump bump :)

Tom Jones
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#39 Post by Tom Jones » Thu Jan 19, 2023 7:21 pm

What is your budget for a BH-2 DIC set?

Antartica
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#40 Post by Antartica » Thu Jan 19, 2023 9:43 pm

My budget is flexible :) It depends on what’s included

Please pm me what you have and details.

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#41 Post by Antartica » Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:44 pm

Bump again

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#42 Post by Antartica » Wed Feb 08, 2023 6:00 pm

Bump still really interested

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#43 Post by Antartica » Wed Feb 22, 2023 5:44 pm

Bump Still needed. Please contact me if you have any of the dic condensers or dic components

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#44 Post by Antartica » Wed Mar 01, 2023 6:33 pm

Still patiently waiting. Anyone have anything? :?

PeteM
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#45 Post by PeteM » Wed Mar 01, 2023 10:41 pm

Patience is a virtue, but I doubt you'll find anything less expensive than the couple of better-quality BX40's that have come and gone or the BH2 offered earlier for $2K plus shipping.

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#46 Post by Antartica » Fri Mar 03, 2023 6:21 pm

PeteM wrote:
Wed Mar 01, 2023 10:41 pm
Patience is a virtue, but I doubt you'll find anything less expensive than the couple of better-quality BX40's that have come and gone or the BH2 offered earlier for $2K plus shipping.
A fully loaded bx40 with dic is going to cost ~$4k I already have the Olympus bh2 so I really don’t want to start over. I just need the dic so patience is my strategy for now. Good things are worth waiting for 😋

fero
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#47 Post by fero » Fri Mar 03, 2023 10:27 pm

I am waiting for 2 years, it only goes up, 2 years ago full set could be bought with luck for 1500 eur, now 2000 eur isa good price. Good luck ;-)

Scarodactyl
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#48 Post by Scarodactyl » Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:35 pm

Keep an eye on those E800s... they keep coming up with objective and condenser prisms........

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#49 Post by Antartica » Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:40 pm

Scarodactyl wrote:
Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:35 pm
Keep an eye on those E800s... they keep coming up with objective and condenser prisms........
What is an e800? Sorry, I’m not familiar with that.

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#50 Post by Scarodactyl » Sat Mar 04, 2023 12:01 am

I mean the Nikon E800. They're very heavy and bulky which is one reason they likely go for less.

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#51 Post by Antartica » Sun Mar 12, 2023 2:24 am

Somebody help me please lol :roll:

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#52 Post by Antartica » Sun Apr 02, 2023 10:05 pm

Bump still looking

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC Set

#53 Post by Antartica » Sun Apr 09, 2023 9:18 am

updated first post and still looking

Tom Jones
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC Set

#54 Post by Tom Jones » Sun Apr 09, 2023 4:28 pm

There's this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/115761745957?h ... R_CR5uzsYQ

It still needs the prisms, but those aren't as hard to find, (except for the UNP60x Oil which I just found after two years for $550 out the door) and you get the bonus of phase inserts with this one. Doesn't help with the intermediated tube and slider either. But it's a start!

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC Set

#55 Post by PeteM » Sun Apr 09, 2023 8:01 pm

This will be a long post, Antartica, but I wanted to give you a detailed response to your personal message.

It sounds like your quest is to find a good DIC system at a reasonable price.

Most any day, a good transmitted BH2 DIC system can be bought on eBay for around $9-10K with tax and shipping. That might seem "reasonable" if your other hobbies involve boats, planes, race cars, horses, gambling, collecting art, attending the Super Bowl, or maybe golf course fees.

Most of us might hope for something at half that cost - and ideally some spectacular deal. I don't know any spectacular deals, but can help fill out the picture for saving a bit of time and money.

The plan for BH2 and BX Differential Interference Contrast systems is similar, with a pair of polarizers and pairs of matched DIC prisms (along with DIC-compatible objectives, which are generally easy to find). Either a BH2 or a BX system might cost around $4000 with a bit of luck and patience once fairly complete:

1) Between the stand and the microscope head you need an intermediate piece with a single DIC prism slider and a polarizer above it. This intermediate part with a good prism and polarizer typically costs around $800 (a relative bargain) to $1500 or more. An intermediate piece with just a polarizer will not work. These parts (mainly the prism) are hard to find for the BH2 and easier for the BX series. For the BX, the slider fits in a DIC turret instead of an intermediate piece. It's pricey, but fairly commonly available. BX polarization turrets will work and can be had for around $300 minus the DIC slider/polarizer.

2) Below the stage, you need a condenser with an assortment of DIC prisms and another polarizer below it. This polarizer is often integrated below the DIC condenser or, if missing, replaced with one placed above the field lens. These condensers and prisms are pretty easy to find - at a price - for either Olympus BH2 (BHT, BHS) or BX systems. The DIC condensers for BH2 can be as little as $500 for ones with fixed prisms. The DIC condensers for BH2 or BX with individually replaceable prisms might run from $1000 to $2000+ after populating them with prisms.

Where the systems differ is that BH2 "finite" objectives have a converging beam exit their back end, while BX "infinite" objectives have a parallel beam leave their back end. This parallel or "infinite" bundle is then converged in a "tube lens" to form an image at the eyepieces (or directly to a camera sensor). The tube lens is usually located at the bottom of the infinite head.

The so-called infinite portion allows additional accessories such as fluorescent and epi-illumination, analyzers, extra camera adapters, magnification changers, or confocal heads to be inserted in the optical path without needing extra lenses to re-converge the image for a 160mm tube length. It's now the standard for research-grade instruments.

For finite microscopes, each additional intermediate piece (such as a DIC intermediate adapter) typically adds about 1.25x magnification and also additional lens surfaces to gather dust or scatter light. Since researchers might often want to add two or more of these intermediate pieces (thus adding cost, extra lens surfaces, and possibly pushing objectives into empty magnification), infinite optics have become the standard for research-grade microscopes.

Given that computer-controlled lens grinding machines are used for almost all objectives these days, we also see infinite optics at the low and mid-range, even from suppliers who don't have much in the way of intermediate pieces to sell. It doesn't cost more to grind the lenses for an infinite objective. The research-grade ones will have better glass, coatings, corrections, and precisely parfocal and parcentered housings. However, an ordinary plan achromat, built to sell at a modest price, might just as well have infinite as finite optics.

Today's infinite optics generally don't require eyepiece corrections. This is sometimes an advantage in fitting cameras of various sensor sizes to a microscope. For example, an APS-C mirrorless camera might be great for videos, and would easily adapt to a BX stand. Otherwise, you need to find just the right projection optic for both image size and image corrections.

The bottom line, for a hobbyist, is that more than one intermediate piece, adding 1.25x magnification, is rarely needed and something like Olympus SPlan or Plan Apo objectives (or their Leica, Nikon etc. equivalents) are so good, that a more modern (and expensive) research-grade microscope doesn't make sense. It seems natural you should just be able to add DIC as well. Olympus BH2 2.5x projection optics are also widely available and work fine for full-frame cameras. As a point of reference, back around 2007, the amazing and mulitple-award-winning micro photographer, Charles Krebs, put a system together like this. Sixteen years later, he's apparently only looking for one more prism.

The reason you might keep an eye out for a BX-series microscope is that many of us have waited years to find a BH2-NIC intermediate adapter or just the BH2-NA prism up for auction - and then found others bidding it up to semi-insane prices. If a knowledgeable user has a BH2-era DIC prism they'll probably want a fair price for it. If a dealer finds one, he will likely want to incorporate it into a complete system. So, you're not likely to find a cheap one on eBay or a microscope forum. Meanwhile, at least two dozen of the newer BX upper prisms have sold in the $800-$1200 range.

This is why it was suggested that you consider buying either a complete BH2 DIC system when you see one reasonably priced or consider a newer BX era system (or even another brand) for not much more. It may be a long wait to find just the prism. Meanwhile, DIC could surely add something to your already-wonderful synth-accompanied videos.

I'd add that if you find a complete and good DIC system at a bargain price for Leica (DM), Leica (DM) Nikon (-phot or Eclipse), or Zeiss (Standard versions or Axio), they all provide excellent images. As witnessed by several posters here. In any case, here's what you'll need for Olympus DIC:

BH2

1) An upper BH2-NIC system or at least the BH2-NC prism (which could then be mounted in a polarization intermediate piece). An older Vanox transmitted prism can also work if it is labeled "LB" for Long Barrel. This is the hard part to find.

2) A DIC condenser. Tom's post, above, for a BH2-UCD is an example. There are at least four other options: an older Vanox-era LB DIC condenser modified to mount on a BH2, the BH2-era DIC condenser with fixed prisms, and either the U-UCDB or U-UCD8 condensers for the BX, fitted with four or so BH2-era interchangeable prisms. You have options here, from about $500 to $2000 or more.

Plus, the polarizers and compatible objectives

BX

1) A turret with a slot for polarization or DIC, plus a U-DICT prism to fit that slot. BX40 systems are often sold a very reasonable price, but you have to make sure they have the adapter to take interchangeable nosepieces. Most of the other BX systems will take interchangeable turrets. There are also high-resolution and high-contrast versions of the DIC prism, requiring matching condenser prisms. The U-DICT is the most common. It's likely to be easier and cheaper to find - and well suited to tasks like making videos starring various protists.

2) A DIC condenser with interchangeable prisms to match your objectives. The older finite BH2-UCD could house these. The U-UCDB (5 positions) and U-UCD8 (8 positions) condensers are the official choices. All these options tend to be somewhat expensive, but easily available. I've also modified a regular Olympus phase condenser to house a mix of PZO and BX prisms and found it works well.

Plus, the polarizers and a turret with infinity objectives. These will be best (cheapest) found along with a DIC-compatible BX stand.

Good luck. If you broaden your search a bit, to include full BH2 systems, BX compatible systems, maybe even Leica, Nikon, or Zeiss - you may double or triple your chances of finding a bargain. Meanwhile, you're already making some great videos.

Antartica
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC Set

#56 Post by Antartica » Fri May 05, 2023 7:15 am

Bump

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC Set

#57 Post by Antartica » Wed May 17, 2023 5:17 am

Bump Not giving up

einman
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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC/NIC

#58 Post by einman » Wed May 17, 2023 2:24 pm

Tom Jones wrote:
Wed Nov 02, 2022 2:21 am
I'm about to turn 74. :shock: And I used microscopes professionally, with patient lives dependent upon the results, for over 40 years.

Now I do things like this for fun: https://www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleri ... er-feeding

And this: https://www.exploremicroscopy.com/

Your move. 8-)
That is so cool!

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC Set

#59 Post by Antartica » Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:29 am

Bump

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Re: WTB Olympus BH2 DIC Set

#60 Post by Antartica » Mon Jun 12, 2023 10:14 pm

Bump still very interested. Please contact me

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