MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I need some help, I am really new to microscopes so I really don't know much. I purchased a Leica Stereozoom 4, I would like to use a 0.5X barlow lens on my scope. There are lots of M48 / M42 0.5x barlow lenses for sale on Amazon, problem is (I think) my scope uses a M38 for the objective thread. Can anyone point me to an adapter that would allow me to connect a M42 or M48 barlow lens to my scope? I have seen several but I am not certin they will work correctly. Thanks in advance!
Travis

A Leica stereozoom 4 is a Bausch & Lomb stereozoom 4. The catalogue # for the .5X supplementary lens complete assembly is 31-26-18. When the brand Leica was applied to the Bausch & Lomb products usually they took out the hyphens, as in 312618 or maybe a longer # with that buried in there.

Supplementary lenses are usually quite specific in that in addition to applying the needed magnification adjustment, they are required to not alter the corrections for flatness of field, so don't be surprised if a generic one doesn't work perfectly. In looking at the schematic in the B & L manual for the .5X , I see an achromatic doublet, with the facing surface of the front element being concave and the cement surface being an equivalent convex curvature . The cement surface of the back element is obviously a mating concave surface and the back surface a much shallower convex curvature. The part # for the bare lens assembly is 312618-025. Sometimes these parts are still around at former dealers.

These are still available fairly commonly kn eBay, and easy to spot by their silver color and coarse knurling. But they're also popular because the sz4 is still widely used and recommended for doing fine work under and everyone wants a 0.5x to go with it.
There are also copies made in China, but they're expensive and the quality is uncertain. https://bolioptics.com/0-5x-b-l-auxilia ... z02144211/
Bolioptics has their thread as m38x0.75 which I assume is a close enough metric equivalent to the real thread.

Scarodactyl wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 20, 2022 5:38 pm

These are still available fairly commonly kn eBay, and easy to spot by their silver color and coarse knurling. But they're also popular because the sz4 is still widely used and recommended for doing fine work under and everyone wants a 0.5x to go with it.
There are also copies made in China, but they're expensive and the quality is uncertain. https://bolioptics.com/0-5x-b-l-auxilia ... z02144211/
Bolioptics has their thread as m38x0.75 which I assume is a close enough metric equivalent to the real thread.

Thank you, maybe I am searching for the wrong thing on ebay but this is currently the only one on ebay. Should I be searching for something different?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/133971073239

Go to Amazon and search for a 38 to 48mm camera lens adaptor or whatever size you need. It was my easy way to go from 48 to a different size.
Greg