New Toy!

What equipment do you use? Post pictures and descriptions of your microscope(s) here!
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LouiseScot
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New Toy!

#1 Post by LouiseScot » Fri May 13, 2022 10:46 am

My Amscope T720QC arrived from the Netherlands/Germany this morning :) . I think I'm quite pleased with it. Everything seems to be working ok. I like having a centrable condenser with R+P. It's a little bigger than the Swift 380T but not hefty.
Here are a few pics:


No head attached yet, and illuminator section removed:
T720Q_1024.jpg
T720Q_1024.jpg (56.01 KiB) Viewed 4446 times

Condenser:
T720Q_1224.jpg
T720Q_1224.jpg (76.18 KiB) Viewed 4446 times

Alongside the Swift:
T720Q-380T_1056.jpg
T720Q-380T_1056.jpg (74 KiB) Viewed 4446 times

Head attached and alongside the Swift:
T720Q_380T_12438.jpg
T720Q_380T_12438.jpg (70 KiB) Viewed 4446 times

EPs are 30mm 10/22 so nice big fov. It comes with 4x, 10x, 20x, 40x, 100x plan infinity achromats, RMS. Have had a go with the Kohler illumination adjustment - seems ok too. I'll be fitting a camera of one sort or another to the trinocular tube, at some point.

Am expecting delivery of a T680A finite scope also, but could be another week or so. It's coming from USA and may be in the UK now, not sure.

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

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FatBassPlayer
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Re: New Toy!

#2 Post by FatBassPlayer » Fri May 13, 2022 10:59 am

Very nice! And Happy New Microscope Day!

Look forward to seeing some images & video. :)
Picasso is dead,
Mozart is dead,
Einstein is dead,
And I ain't feeling great.

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#3 Post by LouiseScot » Fri May 13, 2022 11:03 am

FatBassPlayer wrote:
Fri May 13, 2022 10:59 am
Very nice! And Happy New Microscope Day!

Look forward to seeing some images & video. :)
Thanks! I will do some imaging once I get a camera set up and when I get around to it :)
Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Phill Brown
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Re: New Toy!

#4 Post by Phill Brown » Fri May 13, 2022 12:17 pm

Happy days,hope you have found what you where looking for.
It's a rabbit hole trying to decide,in the end it has to be a compromise as none are all things.

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#5 Post by LouiseScot » Fri May 13, 2022 12:29 pm

Phill Brown wrote:
Fri May 13, 2022 12:17 pm
Happy days,hope you have found what you where looking for.
It's a rabbit hole trying to decide,in the end it has to be a compromise as none are all things.
It's just a basic Chinese microscope - nothing special. I thought it would be good to get an infinity scope to compare to my diy rail infinity system. I got an unexpected 10% extra discount, so that was good, though I know Amscopes are maybe a bit expensive compared to buying direct. As mentioned above I have the 160mm Amscope T680 on its way also. I'll probably substitute it for the Swift 380T which was cheap and cheerful.

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Hobbyst46
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Re: New Toy!

#6 Post by Hobbyst46 » Sat May 14, 2022 2:56 pm

Congratulations. In your knowledgeable hands, it will probably provide exciting results !

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#7 Post by LouiseScot » Sat May 14, 2022 3:05 pm

Hobbyst46 wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 2:56 pm
Congratulations. In your knowledgeable hands, it will probably provide exciting results !
Thanks! However, I'm well out of practice - I've not really done any proper microscopy in a long time... Sometimes I need to indulge in some retail therapy in order to rekindle an interest.

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Javier
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Re: New Toy!

#8 Post by Javier » Sun May 15, 2022 1:59 pm

Congrats on the new toy! Looks amazing.

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#9 Post by LouiseScot » Sun May 15, 2022 2:07 pm

Javier wrote:
Sun May 15, 2022 1:59 pm
Congrats on the new toy! Looks amazing.
Thanks, the Amscope 720Q is nothing special but ok as a basic infinity trinocular.

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Javier
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Re: New Toy!

#10 Post by Javier » Sun May 15, 2022 2:09 pm

Just curious, how do the optics compare to standard Chinese achromatic ones? Do you notice a big improvement on on-axis sharpness, resolution and color?

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#11 Post by LouiseScot » Sun May 15, 2022 2:28 pm

Javier wrote:
Sun May 15, 2022 2:09 pm
Just curious, how do the optics compare to standard Chinese achromatic ones? Do you notice a big improvement on on-axis sharpness, resolution and color?
The Amscope T720Q just comes with Chinese infinity plan achromats - possibly based on a generic Olympus design. No compensation needed. I've not done anything with it and don't have a similar scope to compare it to I'm afraid. I do have a generic, cheap infinity plan 20x (and plan 60x) as well as an actual Olympus UIS2 Plan N 40x to try on it at some point. There may not be a world of difference to my old eyes!

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Javier
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Re: New Toy!

#12 Post by Javier » Sun May 15, 2022 2:54 pm

Thank you!

Greg Howald
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Re: New Toy!

#13 Post by Greg Howald » Sun May 15, 2022 2:55 pm

Hi Louise. As you know, I have a t720q. I made an extension tube for it with the 3d printer. If you keep the height under 1 1/4 inch, there is no loss of field of view at higher magnification. I made mine a little too high, but wanted it to be robust and stable. It's a trade off. I enjoy the scope very much. I don't have the 680 yet. I think I'll have to talk to Santa Clause about that. Have a great day. :)
Greg

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#14 Post by LouiseScot » Sun May 15, 2022 4:03 pm

Greg Howald wrote:
Sun May 15, 2022 2:55 pm
Hi Louise. As you know, I have a t720q. I made an extension tube for it with the 3d printer. If you keep the height under 1 1/4 inch, there is no loss of field of view at higher magnification. I made mine a little too high, but wanted it to be robust and stable. It's a trade off. I enjoy the scope very much. I don't have the 680 yet. I think I'll have to talk to Santa Clause about that. Have a great day. :)
Greg
Ok, thanks Greg. I'll have a proper look when I get around to it. With my infinity diy rail system I have a mirrorless camera with its sensor at the focal plane of the tube lens. I think I'll need to take out the trinocular insert tube from the T720. I see the tube lens is in the base of the head. Just looking through the base suggests the tube lens fl is quite short. That might be because the original stand design was for both finite and infinite optics. So, drop a short fl tube lens in and you have an infinity system. With my diy rail system I fine focused the camera to the (208.33mm) Raynox DCR-150 tube lens just by pointing the mounted camera + tube lens at a distant object (approx infinity). It's hard to tell what the length of the EP to tube lens light path actually is - cos of the prisms etc. The distance from the plane of the tube lens to the top of the trinocular port is quite short. The manual is a bit vague about attaching a camera. What camera have you attached, Greg? Do you have a pic of it? Did you work out the tube lens focal length?
One can do calculations re tube length etc. e.g. https://www.edmundoptics.co.uk/knowledg ... bjectives/ But I think there is usually some leeway.

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#15 Post by LouiseScot » Sun May 15, 2022 6:08 pm

A quick pic of my rail system (in case anyone is interested. The condenser is currently not in situ though - you can't see that!:

Rail_Fuji_185439.jpg
Rail_Fuji_185439.jpg (50.21 KiB) Viewed 4212 times

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Greg Howald
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Re: New Toy!

#16 Post by Greg Howald » Sun May 15, 2022 8:53 pm

Having just completed the extension tube I haven't started working out the camera yet.

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#17 Post by LouiseScot » Sun May 15, 2022 9:01 pm

Greg Howald wrote:
Sun May 15, 2022 8:53 pm
Having just completed the extension tube I haven't started working out the camera yet.
Oh ok. Tomorrow I'll have a go with the (mono astro) camera I have attached to the Swift EP holder (above photo). It should be easy to use it to find the right distance. Then I'll 3D print an adapter. If all goes well I'll post some pics and images :)

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Greg Howald
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Re: New Toy!

#18 Post by Greg Howald » Sun May 15, 2022 9:02 pm

Your camera setup is way beyond my capability at this point. I'd like to spend a day with you to better understand it.

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#19 Post by LouiseScot » Sun May 15, 2022 9:18 pm

Greg Howald wrote:
Sun May 15, 2022 9:02 pm
Your camera setup is way beyond my capability at this point. I'd like to spend a day with you to better understand it.
On the Swift (which is a finite system) I have an eyepiece attached to the trinocular and that projects to a Canon lens and dslr. As mentioned, there is also a small astronomy camera attached to the left side of the binocular and in place of the EP. The reasoning behind the setup was to use the mono camera for high resolution pics using a mono 415nm LED as an illumination source (short wavelength = higher resolution). The dslr is just for colour imaging with a white light LED. I think I'll just attach a mirrorless camera to the T720 trinocular - keep it simple! I'll just use the mono camera as a device to help find the optimum sensor placement. Hope that doesn't sound too complicated!

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Greg Howald
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Re: New Toy!

#20 Post by Greg Howald » Mon May 16, 2022 1:22 am

Well.... I'm interested enough for trial and error. We'll see what happens with it. ;)

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#21 Post by LouiseScot » Mon May 16, 2022 6:06 pm

After some fiddling about printing an adapter and fiddling some more to get the camera going (perennial usb issues...), I finally got my first image from the T720Q. The camera is an Altair Astro GPcam3 6MP 178M (mono) so images are in monochrome. I've just done one image so far and used a prepared slide of some kidney section:

With the 40x objective (much reduced from the 6MP original):
Kidney_30pc.jpg
Kidney_30pc.jpg (88.72 KiB) Viewed 4090 times

Here is pic of the setup:
T720Q_GPCam3__181754.jpg
T720Q_GPCam3__181754.jpg (49.88 KiB) Viewed 4090 times
After closer inspection I realised there was an extra lens in the trinocular port. Unfortunately, that lens seems to reduce the distance to the focal plane of the camera sensor considerably - so I decided I'd have to remove it. The insert in the trinocular port just unscrews (at one's own risk, of course!). Anyway, I was then able to ascertain that the tube lens was the Olympus 'standard' of 180mm. I put together a 40mm, T2 extension tube, a helical focuser, and a T2 to 23.2mm adapter. Also made a 3D printed adapter which sits in the trinocular port.

Close-up of camera + adapters:
GPcam-Adapt_184839.jpg
GPcam-Adapt_184839.jpg (30.62 KiB) Viewed 4090 times
With the trinocular lens and holder taken out, it leaves a 30mm diameter hole. So 3D printed the adapter to fit the 30mm hole plus added a 'lip', as in the pic.
Obviously one has to fiddle a bit to get the camera parfocal with the ocular view but it's not difficult. Of course, Ill have to make another setup to use a dslr/mirrorless camera.

PS The T2 to 23.2mm adapter can be found on Ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403549316726 ... SwQsliNHaj
Also on Ebay you can find the T2 extension tubes and 1.25" to T2 helical focuser, if you do a search

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Greg Howald
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Re: New Toy!

#22 Post by Greg Howald » Mon May 16, 2022 9:04 pm

You keep it up and you can be really proud of the ingenuity you've put into it. But, alas,,, it still won't plug the coffee pot in come morning. :lol:

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#23 Post by LouiseScot » Mon May 16, 2022 9:07 pm

Greg Howald wrote:
Mon May 16, 2022 9:04 pm
You keep it up and you can be really proud of the ingenuity you've put into it. But, alas,,, it still won't plug the coffee pot in come morning. :lol:
It was all very straightforward. It's not a problem, I don't have a coffee pot!

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Greg Howald
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Re: New Toy!

#24 Post by Greg Howald » Mon May 16, 2022 9:40 pm

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Greg

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#25 Post by LouiseScot » Tue May 17, 2022 3:45 pm

New Toy2 (T680) arrived a little while ago. I'll unpack it tomorrow :)

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Greg Howald
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Re: New Toy!

#26 Post by Greg Howald » Tue May 17, 2022 4:21 pm

:P Well, , let me know about it. I don't have one and you have peaked my interest. Greg

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#27 Post by LouiseScot » Tue May 17, 2022 6:22 pm

Greg Howald wrote:
Tue May 17, 2022 4:21 pm
:P Well, , let me know about it. I don't have one and you have peaked my interest. Greg
Hiya
I don't think it's anything to write home about but should be a step up from the Swift 380T, though is 20W halogen rather than LED. I'll post some pics etc
Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

dtsh
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Re: New Toy!

#28 Post by dtsh » Tue May 17, 2022 6:45 pm

LouiseScot wrote:
Tue May 17, 2022 6:22 pm
Greg Howald wrote:
Tue May 17, 2022 4:21 pm
:P Well, , let me know about it. I don't have one and you have peaked my interest. Greg
Hiya
I don't think it's anything to write home about but should be a step up from the Swift 380T, though is 20W halogen rather than LED. I'll post some pics etc
Louise
IMO, 20W is a fair bit of light. The 20W halogen in the AO10's Cat.1031 illuminator provides more than enough for brightfiled, phase contrast, and works well with a darkfield condenser too, so should serve you reasonably well.

LouiseScot
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Re: New Toy!

#29 Post by LouiseScot » Tue May 17, 2022 7:10 pm

dtsh wrote:
Tue May 17, 2022 6:45 pm
LouiseScot wrote:
Tue May 17, 2022 6:22 pm
Greg Howald wrote:
Tue May 17, 2022 4:21 pm
:P Well, , let me know about it. I don't have one and you have peaked my interest. Greg
Hiya
I don't think it's anything to write home about but should be a step up from the Swift 380T, though is 20W halogen rather than LED. I'll post some pics etc
Louise
IMO, 20W is a fair bit of light. The 20W halogen in the AO10's Cat.1031 illuminator provides more than enough for brightfiled, phase contrast, and works well with a darkfield condenser too, so should serve you reasonably well.
Yeah, my old Brunel microscope had a 20W bulb and was ok-ish though they do give off a fair bit of infra-red/heat. It's not difficult to convert to LED anyway. At the same time you obviously get a continuous spectrum from a filament vs the discrete one from a LED and which is dependant on the particular device. Maybe better colour reproduction from a filament though colour temperature varies with brightness and bulb age. I'll maybe do a comparison using the same camera. Of course, images can easily be tweaked digitally.

Louise
A Nikon CF plan 20x; A Swift 380T; A DIY infinity corrected focus rail system with a 40x/0.65 Olympus Plan, a 10x/0.30 Amscope Plan Fluor, and a 20x/0.75 Nikon Plan Apo

Greg Howald
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Re: New Toy!

#30 Post by Greg Howald » Wed May 18, 2022 12:04 am

I'm excited for you. New stuff always brings renewed innovation and ideas. I've had my 720q for about a month now and an still making accessories for it. My brother says that if you stop learning or stop trying, you begin to die.

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