Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

What equipment do you use? Post pictures and descriptions of your microscope(s) here!
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allgren
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Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#1 Post by allgren » Tue Sep 21, 2021 2:40 am

About 25 years ago I had an old microscope that I used during my prospecting expeditions, then one summer I was working road construction from a camp. The mechanic and his wife were home schooling their three children.

One afternoon I had lent the children my microscope, they were so thrilled with new discovery's, anyhow I gifted them the scope, I've always wanted to replace it with another, my two ebay purchases worthless bits of junk.

This Olympus was given to me this afternoon by a neighbor, the scope was used for blood work.

Would consider trading for an inverted scope.

When the lighting is better I'll post the numbers from the objectives and eye pieces all of the mechanical parts move freely but its very dusty. I'll not attempt to clean.

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MichaelG.
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#3 Post by MichaelG. » Tue Sep 21, 2021 6:51 am

I looks like one from the E series : https://www.olympus-lifescience.com/en/ ... o/1958_01/

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

Leitzcycler
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#4 Post by Leitzcycler » Tue Sep 21, 2021 6:54 am

I think it is FH. EH has separate fine focus while FH has coaxial coarse and fine focus.

Tom Jones
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#5 Post by Tom Jones » Tue Sep 21, 2021 3:29 pm

It's really hard to read in the photo, but if you look between the back of the stage and the arm, on the top of the stage mount, you will find the model designation stamped into the metal.

It appears to read FHA.

allgren
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#6 Post by allgren » Tue Sep 21, 2021 4:43 pm

Tom Jones wrote:
Tue Sep 21, 2021 3:29 pm
It's really hard to read in the photo, but if you look between the back of the stage and the arm, on the top of the stage mount, you will find the model designation stamped into the metal.

It appears to read FHA.
Thank you, yes it is an FHA with the following numbers ( 211710 ) stamped into the stage mount.

I'm new to this hobby and will reserve asking questions and do more research on what this scope is capable of doing, it may not be suited to my interests - prospecting and indicator minerals.

Thanks to everyone who assisted in identifying this scope.

MichaelG.
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#7 Post by MichaelG. » Tue Sep 21, 2021 6:00 pm

Leitzcycler wrote:
Tue Sep 21, 2021 6:54 am
I think it is FH. EH has separate fine focus while FH has coaxial coarse and fine focus.
:oops:

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

allgren
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#8 Post by allgren » Wed Sep 22, 2021 4:42 pm

Here are the objectives installed, Olympus and Zeiss read somewhere only the former color banded were correct has someone installed incorrect objectives.
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Rossf
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#9 Post by Rossf » Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:49 am

Hey allgren you have a decent clean up job ahead but it’s a very nice scope when all is working well-I have one-they come also with trinocular head or blind photo port without eyepieces if you want to take photos. You can put a vertical illuminator on it to look at minerals in reflected light-put a phase turret or darkfield condenser on it-and best of all it was free!
Good luck with it
Regards ross

allgren
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#10 Post by allgren » Fri Nov 19, 2021 12:45 am

Rossf wrote:
Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:49 am
Hey allgren you have a decent clean up job ahead but it’s a very nice scope when all is working well-I have one-they come also with trinocular head or blind photo port without eyepieces if you want to take photos. You can put a vertical illuminator on it to look at minerals in reflected light-put a phase turret or darkfield condenser on it-and best of all it was free!
Good luck with it
Regards ross
Thanks Ross, this scope has a dark field condenser ( Olympus Aplanat Achromat 1.4 ) ,did a bit of research and find the discipline very interesting.

Lamp house was broken, epoxy to the rescue, substituted for missing power supply 0/30 volts DC careful not to go beyond the bulbs limits.

Need to fabricate a new base cover and gasket to keep the lenses underneath free of future dust.

What are these lenses in the base used for.

https://youtu.be/xjJpC3XnrW0

deBult
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#11 Post by deBult » Fri Nov 19, 2021 4:03 am

If memory serves me: The lenses in the base are used to adapt the lighting to low (2*-4*) versus high power objectives.

Not sure all of your objectives are genuine Olympus, some have a Zeiss flavor in their appearance.
Having matched objectives and eyepieces of the same brand and era is of importance as part of the optical errors introduced by the objective is corrected by the eyepiece.

(Repair) manuals: http://alanwood.net/olympus/downloads.html#ef

allgren
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#12 Post by allgren » Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:03 am

deBult wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 4:03 am
If memory serves me: The lenses in the base are used to adapt the lighting to low (2*-4*) versus high power objectives.

Not sure all of your objectives are genuine Olympus, some have a Zeiss flavor in their appearance.
Having matched objectives and eyepieces of the same brand and era is of importance as part of the optical errors introduced by the objective is corrected by the eyepiece.

(Repair) manuals: http://alanwood.net/olympus/downloads.html#ef
Thank you deBult, the manual fully explains each function of the FH scope.

Yes some of the installed objectives and the eye pieces are Zeiss, need to see how well the old girl cleans up before investing further.

allgren
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#13 Post by allgren » Sat Nov 20, 2021 9:59 pm

deBult wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 4:03 am
If memory serves me: The lenses in the base are used to adapt the lighting to low (2*-4*) versus high power objectives.

Not sure all of your objectives are genuine Olympus, some have a Zeiss flavor in their appearance.
Having matched objectives and eyepieces of the same brand and era is of importance as part of the optical errors introduced by the objective is corrected by the eyepiece.

(Repair) manuals: http://alanwood.net/olympus/downloads.html#ef
I'm sure you meant well but after reading this article there must be a logical reason that the laboratory have used Zeiss eyepieces.
https://microscopyofnature.com/right-c ... d-eyepiece

Conclusion

Combinations of objectives and eyepieces from the same manufacturer do not always give the best results. Especially with plain achromats, it is recommended to experiment a bit. To get the best out of achromats, different eyepieces are required. Higher power achromats need compensation whereas low power achromats do not or need less correction. The proper objective-eyepiece combination is best determined experimentally and by critically assessing the microscopic image with suitable test slides.

Scarodactyl
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#14 Post by Scarodactyl » Sat Nov 20, 2021 10:10 pm

allgren wrote:
Sat Nov 20, 2021 9:59 pm
there must be a logical reason that the laboratory have used Zeiss eyepieces.
This is true, but the logical reason often boils down to 'fits mechanically? Works ok enough? Sure whatever." Anyone who's done much with university labs will have stories of this sort of thing, often with distinctly suboptimal optical results.

deBult
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Re: Unknown Olympus - Please help indentify

#15 Post by deBult » Sat Nov 20, 2021 11:59 pm

I'm sure you meant well but after reading this article there must be a logical reason that the laboratory have used Zeiss eyepieces.
https://microscopyofnature.com/right-co ... d-eyepiece

Conclusion

Combinations of objectives and eyepieces from the same manufacturer do not always give the best results. Especially with plain achromats, it is recommended to experiment a bit. To get the best out of achromats, different eyepieces are required. Higher power achromats need compensation whereas low power achromats do not or need less correction. The proper objective-eyepiece combination is best determined experimentally and by critically assessing the microscopic image with suitable test slides.
Fair, for nearly every rule there is an exception. Rolf Vossen is a master of experimentation and often challenges common “Internet” knowledge. He even combines parts of 2 Zeiss eyepieces to achieve a photo projection eyepiece with excellent results.
I learned a lot reading his website and exchanging mails.

Long time Olympus user here (recently changed my 2 E-series scopes and the BH to a bit more modern BH2), the HSC is still in use as a field scope.

WITHIN my recommended “same era - same brand” eyepiece & objective combination there is already sufficient complexity.
In the era of Olympus E, G and F type scopes Olympus supplied 2 or even 3 sets of eyepieces as “standard” with each scope:
* simple correction Huygens type for the lower power objectives,
* P marked objectives with color correction for observation, projection and photo
* the WF series with correction for wide field the higher power and fluor / Apo corrected objectives.
* the FK photo projection eyepiece was a late addition to the series
From the Olympus documentation:
H. R: are particularly effective when used in combination with low power objectives.
P denotes eyepieces which compensate for chromatic aberration and distortion of the objectives.
K signifies eyepieces that are corrected for chromatic aberration of the objectives and that are particularly effective when used in concert with high·power objectives or Fl objectives.
W. F: denotes eyepieces with high exit pupil providing a large and flat field of view use of these eyepieces enable the microscopists to see the edge of the field with the ir eyeglasses on . Bi indicates eyepieces for use on binocular tube.
Have only limited experience using the Zeiss scopes of that era, there were similar series of compensation eyepieces as well.

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