old brass Reichert microscope - "It belongs in a museum!"
-
shutterbug
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2023 4:09 pm
- Location: Vienna, Austria
old brass Reichert microscope - "It belongs in a museum!"
DELETED
Last edited by shutterbug on Sat Oct 28, 2023 8:52 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: old brass Reichert microscope - "It belongs in a museum!"
I have a similar one, I think one model newer, from 1920s with fine focus knobs on the sides. It does get some use occasionally, I love the looks and the mechanism.
-
shutterbug
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2023 4:09 pm
- Location: Vienna, Austria
Re: old brass Reichert microscope - "It belongs in a museum!"
Yes, it's very well made too, pretty much built like a tank!
It took me a while to figure out that the fine focus adjustment is the top knob of the center column. I remember coming from a super cheap kids microscope (branded "C.O.C. Zoom") and being amazed by the clarity and sharpness of this microscope.
It'll be very interesting to see how the AmScope stereo microscope will compare, especially the field of view and clarity at higher magnifications.
One thing I noticed is that there are a lot of internal reflections because the metal tubes of these microscopes aren't flocked.
EDIT: I did a comparison and it seems it's probably a bit "younger" than I had assumed? It looks like it was made around 1900, definitely lacked some of the later features.
It took me a while to figure out that the fine focus adjustment is the top knob of the center column. I remember coming from a super cheap kids microscope (branded "C.O.C. Zoom") and being amazed by the clarity and sharpness of this microscope.
It'll be very interesting to see how the AmScope stereo microscope will compare, especially the field of view and clarity at higher magnifications.
One thing I noticed is that there are a lot of internal reflections because the metal tubes of these microscopes aren't flocked.
EDIT: I did a comparison and it seems it's probably a bit "younger" than I had assumed? It looks like it was made around 1900, definitely lacked some of the later features.
-
apochronaut
- Posts: 6327
- Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 12:15 am
Re: old brass Reichert microscope - "It belongs in a museum!"
C.O.C. stands for Carton Optical Company. You seldom see many of them branded that way, since the company supplied most of the stencil brands ftom the 50's into the 70's. They left Japan and moved operations to Thailand.
The center column fine focus on your Reichert was a feature favoured by many microscopists who studied and trained in the 19th century when that type of fine focus was the norm. Some companies continued to make mIcroscopes with that feature even into the 1920s in order to attract that small share of the market. During the 1920s, Spencer for instance catalogued the series 7 as their flagship research stand but also catalogued the series 14, which was in all ways identical to the 7, except it included a center column fine focus whereas the 7 had dual side knobs actuating a different mechanism.
In some cases an older body design just continued to sell if it had a good reputation, respecially in volume to institutions so manufacturers were loath to discontinue a winner, despite being an ageing design.
The center column fine focus on your Reichert was a feature favoured by many microscopists who studied and trained in the 19th century when that type of fine focus was the norm. Some companies continued to make mIcroscopes with that feature even into the 1920s in order to attract that small share of the market. During the 1920s, Spencer for instance catalogued the series 7 as their flagship research stand but also catalogued the series 14, which was in all ways identical to the 7, except it included a center column fine focus whereas the 7 had dual side knobs actuating a different mechanism.
In some cases an older body design just continued to sell if it had a good reputation, respecially in volume to institutions so manufacturers were loath to discontinue a winner, despite being an ageing design.
-
shutterbug
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2023 4:09 pm
- Location: Vienna, Austria
Re: old brass Reichert microscope - "It belongs in a museum!"
Thank you, apochronaut, that's very interesting! And I can see why it was so popular, when you know how to work it it's very quick and safe and there's no chance you accidentally grab the wrong knob.
Regarding the C.O.C. - also very interesting, I've also seen identical toy microscopes branded als "MAX", "Browni", "ASTRA", "Lichter" etc, so I assume these were mass produced and distributed by various venders - just like it is being done today. So I didn't think C.O.C. was a company that sold actual optical equipment. It looks like they are still around, the catalogue consists mainly of the same type of stereo microscopes like AmScope etc.
Actually for what they are the image quality at the lowest magnifications are not that bad but everything else was just mush. The objectives were tiny, just for fun I kept them around and I just measured the threads; it's a 10mm (!) diameter. The lenses are...well...microscopically.
Regarding the C.O.C. - also very interesting, I've also seen identical toy microscopes branded als "MAX", "Browni", "ASTRA", "Lichter" etc, so I assume these were mass produced and distributed by various venders - just like it is being done today. So I didn't think C.O.C. was a company that sold actual optical equipment. It looks like they are still around, the catalogue consists mainly of the same type of stereo microscopes like AmScope etc.
Actually for what they are the image quality at the lowest magnifications are not that bad but everything else was just mush. The objectives were tiny, just for fun I kept them around and I just measured the threads; it's a 10mm (!) diameter. The lenses are...well...microscopically.