MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Recently purchased BestScope BS2081 with DIC, epifluorescent attachment, semi-APO objectives (N-PLFN, 2x, 4x, 10x, 20x, 40x and 100x oil) and super wide-field plan eyepieces (SW10x/25mm). My choice of this scope / vendor was based on excellent review by Farnsy at this forum (viewtopic.php?f=24&t=13375#p107572)

Scope arrived in two large boxes securely packaged. Had great time assembling the scope, overall the scope was of excellent quality both in terms of optical and mechanical build. Will not go over the details, as these are already documented by Farnsy.

My intention was not to use C-mount cameras, but instead adopt mirrorless Olympus micro four thirds (MFT) D-EM5 Mark 2 or EM1-Mark 3 cameras for photomicroscopy. MFT cameras have higher resolution, more flexible user defined controls and live view etc. Immediate challenge was connecting MFT camera to BS2081 trinocular camera port.

On the trinocular head photo port, I used 44 mm microscope dovetail to M42x1 male thread adapter (https://rafcamera.com/adapter-dt44mm-to-m42x1m) to connect M42 mm focusing helicoid (Ebay # 264634686105) without any optical element. Camera itself mounted on the focusing helicoid via MFT camera adapter (Image # 1), and helicoid extension adjusted for para-focality. Olympus capture software used for live imaging, focusing, white balance, composing / exposure etc. (image # 2). See the compressed sample images (photoMic # 1-3), these needed minimal adjustment in Photoshop.

It would be good if you could post some photos of unstained material some day.
Those seem to be a really well built and well thought out scope with several permutations around, fitted out by several companies using the same basic stand.
I almost bought one of them about 6 months ago but eventually had to realize that aside from the wider 25mm field, it wouldn't really be much of an improvement optically over what I am using, except for the DIC . Definitely not in phase and high resolution DF., which are fixed at fairly pedestrian planachro levels on that microscope. I also constantly had to question the rationale of using an abbe condenser on such a microscope. The Indian version proffered by Radical has a 1.4 N.A. achromat aplanat available, something the Bestscope does not. It is always possible to buy the Radical condenser separately. Might be a consideration if one wanted to invest in the Planfluor objectives for BF or DF and not DIC, something I considered.
I dilly dallied over it for about 2 years and then dropped the ideaf ultimately due to cost not being prepared to spend over 5000.00 on the DIC alone. I passed the torch to Farnsy at some point and I gather he is pleased with his purchase too.
Bestscope is a well run and diverse company and easy to deal with. They even made it easy for me to pay, with a bank acct. out of Toronto. I can't say enough about how good to deal with they were. Eventually I did buy a BS 3090 stereo . The option of being able to achieve higher than 100X stereo with an 18:1 zoom ratio and planapo too was way more than I could hope to achieve with any other easily available options and I consider the 3090 well priced at just under 4K.

.
Congratulations!

On your camera setup - have you placed the camera sensor at the intermediate image plane i.e. Direct Projection?

It would be nice to see some Diatom Test side photos using DIC

Forum accepts (drag and drop) 1024 x 1024 and 512KB size images, larger if you link to an image hosting site.

I, too, would love to see some DIC photos off this system. I've only seen one but it did look great.
Apo, did your stereo come in? I'm very curious what you think of it.

Yes I would very much like to know how the BS 3090 is performing as I have been considering a used Olympus szx16 vs a new BS3090. Your reviews tend to be quite detailed and informative.

einman wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 1:33 am

Yes I would very much like to know how the BS 3090 is performing as I have been considering a used Olympus szx16 vs a new BS3090. Your reviews tend to be quite detailed and informative.

DHL gobbled it up. It's there and on it's way but they've been slow to process it through customs ( 3 weeks). Customs folks are probably trying it out. Looking at chipped nail polish, split ends, that sort of thing. The boss think's he has a chance now to finally solve the mystery of how they get the caramel inside the Caramilk bar! They're inquisitive prople!

I'll let you know.

Awesome.Looking forward to it!

Good luck! I've decided to swear off high end stereos, but not because I don't like them (quite the opposite). It does kind of feel like the economics of used high end stereos are going to be pretty different in the future of the price of these doesn't go up a lot.

[quoteby apochronaut » Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:01 pm

It would be good if you could post some photos of unstained material some day.
Those seem to be a really well built and well thought out scope with several permutations around, fitted out by several companies using the same basic stand.
I almost bought one of them about 6 months ago but eventually had to realize that aside from the wider 25mm field, it wouldn't really be much of an improvement optically over what I am using, except for the DIC . Definitely not in phase and high resolution DF., which are fixed at fairly pedestrian planachro levels on that microscope. I also constantly had to question the rationale of using an abbe condenser on such a microscope. The Indian version proffered by Radical has a 1.4 N.A. achromat aplanat available, something the Bestscope does not. It is always possible to buy the Radical condenser separately. Might be a consideration if one wanted to invest in the Planfluor objectives for BF or DF and not DIC, something I considered.
I dilly dallied over it for about 2 years and then dropped the ideaf ultimately due to cost not being prepared to spend over 5000.00 on the DIC alone. I passed the torch to Farnsy at some point and I gather he is pleased with his purchase too][/quote]

Hi Apochronaut - Thank you for the comments... I will post some DIC images later. I will look into Radical 1.4 N.A condenser.

75RR wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 06, 2021 10:47 pm

.
Congratulations!

On your camera setup - have you placed the camera sensor at the intermediate image plane i.e. Direct Projection?

It would be nice to see some Diatom Test side photos using DIC

Forum accepts (drag and drop) 1024 x 1024 and 512KB size images, larger if you link to an image hosting site.

Yes, images taken through direct projection on to camera sensor..no other optics in the phototube. For later posts, I will use 512KB images.

Thank you,

I'm glad this scope is working out for you, Vish! You seemed to have no trouble finding a matching dovetail. Makes me feel a little silly for buying the c-mount adapter from them and then using a c-to-e mount converter. Mine is not height adjustable (though it is very close to parfocal). I have two of these BS2081's now and I have not yet rigged a camera to the second one. I might look for a micro 4/3 as it seems like the sensor is a more appropriate size for a direct projection setup than the crop sensor in my a5100.

Having the 25mm c mount as a bottleneck probably isn't helping matters if aps-c is having issues. I woud expect these optics to cover aps-c if they can cover 25mm eyepieces (even if the extreme corners degrade they only make up a small part of the image after all). I could probably model an adapter to 3d print if you can't find an off the shelf solution.

apochronaut wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:33 am

einman wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 1:33 am

Yes I would very much like to know how the BS 3090 is performing as I have been considering a used Olympus szx16 vs a new BS3090. Your reviews tend to be quite detailed and informative.

DHL gobbled it up. It's there and on it's way but they've been slow to process it through customs ( 3 weeks). Customs folks are probably trying it out. Looking at chipped nail polish, split ends, that sort of thing. The boss think's he has a chance now to finally solve the mystery of how they get the caramel inside the Caramilk bar! They're inquisitive prople!

I'll let you know.

Hey Apo any update? I haven't been around for a while as I have business interests in Costa occupying my time but should soon be back at the bench.

einman wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 08, 2022 4:10 pm

apochronaut wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:33 am

einman wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 1:33 am

Yes I would very much like to know how the BS 3090 is performing as I have been considering a used Olympus szx16 vs a new BS3090. Your reviews tend to be quite detailed and informative.

DHL gobbled it up. It's there and on it's way but they've been slow to process it through customs ( 3 weeks). Customs folks are probably trying it out. Looking at chipped nail polish, split ends, that sort of thing. The boss think's he has a chance now to finally solve the mystery of how they get the caramel inside the Caramilk bar! They're inquisitive prople!

I'll let you know.

Hey Apo any update? I haven't been around for a while as I have business interests in Costa occupying my time but should soon be back at the bench.

He did get it in and had good things to day viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14436&p=115155
I'd still love to see some pics from it.

Eventually. My uploading ability from my mirrorless Sony is not capable right now. I don't think a tablet will do it justice.

Thanks! I am in the process of moving to Costa Rica so I want to consolidate my stereoscope collection down to one maybe 2 high quality stands. One will be my Leica M80 given I have a plethora of accessories and I'm considering one other maybe a Leica M205 or 165.

I am new to the forum. I am interested in any reviews of the BS 2081 DIC. Any pics or videos available from current users.