Hello,
I'm looking to purchase my first personal microscope for home projects—I work as a research associate in a biomedical research lab, but have interests in microbial ecology, some physical/atmospheric science/geological interests, etc. (and a formal background in the arts); looking to explore some of these interests a bit more via microscopy. I'm curious to know if there are any microscope configurations (perhaps on the Olympus BH2 model, for example) that work well for both transmitted-light and reflected light samples, without all too much reconfiguration (or ideally, may be used interchangeably). I'm interested in both standard biological samples (tissue sections, etc.), aqueous samples, but also geological sections and/or materials/physical samples, and haven't been quite sure where to start configuration wise—don't want to rush into an expensive purchase and find that the microscope I've purchased is in a highly specialized configuration, or not optimal for the applications I'm interested in. Passed on an Olympus BH2 with a UMA reflected light module and M-plan objective set out of fear that it wouldn't work well for biological samples, but have been kicking myself on the deal, and curious to know if these concerns were unfounded. Happy to read through any resources, hear folks' insight on microscope configurations and their respective applications, suggestions re: modular microscopes, models, and/or configurations, and if it's a bit of a misnomer that one could have a microscope that works equally well for both transmitted and reflected light samples.
Thanks!
Microscope Configurations for Transmitted and Reflected Light Samples
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Re: Microscope Configurations for Transmitted and Reflected Light Samples
You can certainly configure a stand that will work with either, but above 10x you would need different objectives for epi illumination and transillumination, since epi samples usually don't have cover slips while biological samples usually do, and your objectives need to be set up for one or the other.
You could set one up with both illumination methods and two sets of objectives on intetchangeable nosepieces and swap them out as needed, but honestly it would probably be easier to get two scopes, depending on your budget range.
You could set one up with both illumination methods and two sets of objectives on intetchangeable nosepieces and swap them out as needed, but honestly it would probably be easier to get two scopes, depending on your budget range.
Re: Microscope Configurations for Transmitted and Reflected Light Samples
AALT, As noted above, MPlan and other objectives for reflected light won't work well with any specimen that requires cover slips once you get to a 40x or so objective. Even a 20x (200x total magnification with a 10x eyepiece) won't be quite right for photo work. Up to about 200x, you might not notice the difference. Transmitted light objectives are typically designed and corrected for use with that thin bit of glass above them, unless they are used for something like blood smears. In that case, Olympus would label them some like "NC" for no cover.
The BH2 chassis can certainly be used for both excellent transmitted and reflected light systems, but if you have the room for two or three scopes (add in a stereo?) then used prices are such that you might find it cheaper to buy one of each as Scarodactyl suggests.
With your multi-interest background, including art, I'd urge you to get a scope that's easily configured for simple polarization. Images of things like chemical crystals, mineral specimens, and even some biological specimens (bone etc.) can look spectacular.