Oh thank you very much.
Although it's merely a coincidence that i have this collection.
I'm an Olympus fan since i was young, owning several old camera's like OM-1, OM-10, OM-4.
And i was always very fond of their optics.
Then into the digital era with the first series like the E500, later the E-30 and now the mirrorless OMD-E1.
Same thing, the optics of the 4/3 and m4/3 are (most of the times) sharp to razor-sharp.
I think they offer a good value for what you pay, despite some other brands like Nikon, Canon.
They have their positives too, like the MP-E 65!! No need to turn this into a brand war.
But once you own a system you like... well hey, why should you change? I'm not a brand freak.
I always liked macro photography, and i started like everyone start i guess. With front glasses +1/+2/+3, then macro objectives, then a bellows.
What was and still is great that everything is so compatible, just some adapters and you can play around mixing old material to new camera's.
So rolling from the Olympus camera system into microscopes seems a very logical step.
Hooking up modern OLY camera's to Micro would be a breeze, I thought before, haha, NOT.
I'm not really that long into microscopy, and the learning curve is still ongoing.
But you know when you want to learn and invest in something, one starts with some basic material, but quickly turns into a search for better.
First a T1-Bellows set with matching stereoscope, not good enough.
Then a CHA, but i did not have a DIC or PL set. So looking for that you stumble onto new occasions.
The SHZ10 and BHB i bought together with the ringlight/swanneck.
A stereoscope is a fantastic tool to work with, but no good for image stacking because of the shift happening.
The BHB is on my desk atm. Testing all kinds of things and learning every day. Playing around with setups.
But last weekend the Vanox3 came in play, just some far friends from friends who had a death case in the family, and that old man owned it.
Don't know how he got it. Most have cost him a fortune.
They came to me, because they knew I was into microscopes and they offered me a price I could not resist.
Believe me, it was almost scandalous that I paid so little, but they were happy to get rid of it, and it got a nice second life.
It's a large machine and weighs 35kg... Hence the metal workhorse stands, I needed something quick and sturdy.
Never thought i would buy such a nice scope when you see the prices on ebay (even without objectives), that was waaaaay over my budget.
Sometimes you can have some luck in play when finding the right equipment.
So, I think the Vanox will be my "final" step in actual photo-production, still finding out how to connect my camera the best way.
And some errors that need to be solved, like the minor stage movement and some fine coarse delay/creep.
I like my gear to be in perfect working state, so fixing what needs to be fixed first.
And a lot of dust cleaning.
But the BHB with DIC stays my fav at this moment.
These scopes are going to be a joy to work with for the rest of my life i guess...
When you make the most fantastic discovery, a lot of people want a piece of it...
