DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OBJECTIVE

[Ange20]

hello everyone, I wanted to know the difference between the different objectives.
For example the difference between:
PLAN
S-PLAN
D-PLAN
and so on
thank you all very much in advance!

[apochronaut]

Plan is not as strictly a defined term in microscope optics, the way for instance apochromat and achromat are.
Generally, plan refers to the field of view having planarity but the planarity can be over an 18mm field or a 24mm field. or any other field so one needs to know the field over which the image is plan. A plan image with a 20mm eyepiece , when used with a 25mm eyepiece would not likely be plan and more likely S or semi-plan. Plan and semi-plan refer to degrees of performance when used to cover a certain field size and are fairly universal across manufacturers. Semi-plan is also denoted by Splan, Spl and Micro-plan as well as other short forms by different manufactures to denote a degree of semi- planarity over a certain field..

Terms such as D-Plan or A plan are proprietory terms used by individual mfg.and generally denote a defined degree of planarity too but more specific to that given mfg. than within any recognized or common standard.

[Ange20]

thank you very much!!!
one more question... I found a used Nikon Labophot 2 with the condenser for phase contrast observation. The microscope has the following objectives:
Leitz 10x/0,25 PLAN (NOT phase)
Nikon Plan 40x/0,70 160mm Ph3
Nikon 20x/0,40 160mm Ph2
As I am new to the world of microscopy and was looking to purchase my first microscope.. What does "Ph2 and Ph3" mean on the objectives?
Can they also be used for bright field and dark field microscopy or only for phase contrast?

[Scarodactyl]

Ph2 and ph3 refer to which setting on the condenser you would use with that objective. The letiz objective will work on the nikon stand but with significantly degraded performance. You can use phase objectives for brighrfield and darkfield with some loss of performance, though not catastrophic.

[Ange20]

thank you!!
i will consider this announce...

[Hobbyst46]

AFAIK, if you refer to OLYMPUS objectives, SPlan means super plan. Dplan is slightly less planar than SPlan.
They are described by Alan Wood on the Olympus web site.
Whatever the nickname, I have used both Splans and Dplans and they are great.

[Phill Brown]

The Nikon phase 2 condenser should have DF which is excellent for up to 40x .65.
Nikon 20x 50 plan is good.
Nikon 4x is easy to find.
The weakest link for the Labophot 2 is the power supply.
LED is not an upgrade.
Focus is repairable if it fails, usually from being picked up by the stage or transported without the stage blocked in full down position.
Lamp housing is also fragile and obsolete.
Trinocular head is not too hard to find but there are more than one type of Nikon eyepiece, not 100% compatible.
Plenty help here if you go for it.
Not all Labophot stages accept the phase condenser fully as the slot needs to be wide enough for the top lens in full up position flush with the stage or DF won't work.

[Scarodactyl]

Almost all nikon eyepieces are cross-compatible, even stereo to compound on the 30mm ones. You just have to avoid the really old ones or s series student eyepieces.

[Scoper]

Is there a site that discussed which brand eyepieces work with which brand objectives?

Another good sticky candidate…

[Ange20]

THANKS TO EVERYONE!!!
so it is not possible to mount a more powerful LED light on the Labophot?
I have now found a used LEICA MICROSTAR IV with the following lenses at a very good price (around €300).
If it is a good deal I would be very interested in buying it over the Nikon... The only problem is shipping from the US, live in Italy..
I accept advice on both microscopes!!!
PS: is it possible to mount a more powerful LED on the Leica instead of the halogen lamp?

!!!UPDATE!!!
i bought the Leica microscope at a reduced price. now i'm just waiting for it to arrive

[Ange20]

these pdfs are the microscopes I have talk about.
The LEICA MICROSTAR IV si 120V.... Can work in Italy with the 220V (in Italy the electricity is 220V)???

[Phill Brown]

Almost all nikon eyepieces are cross-compatible, even stereo to compound on the 30mm ones. You just have to avoid the really old ones or s series student eyepieces.

Some Nikon eyepieces have 3 detents that fit into the tube in the head, some don't.
The detents are to stop the 100% compatible eyepiece body turning when focusing.
The tube types are not interchangeable in the head as the hole pitch is different.
Just saying as it is.

[PeteM]

Ange -- you'll want to sort out the objectives when your Microstar IV arrives. Judging by your photos, you have Zeiss and Nikon finite objectives mixed in - and they're not compatible. The Microstar IV (also badged "Reichert" and "Cambridge" and of "American Optical" heritage) is a decent scope. Proper (usually branded "Reichert" US-origin infinity) objectives are widely available for it. You might find someone to swap what you have for what you need.

You'll want to use the proper "181" version eyepieces, if the microscope doesn't already have them. Once complete, it can provide excellent images.

[Scarodactyl]

Almost all nikon eyepieces are cross-compatible, even stereo to compound on the 30mm ones. You just have to avoid the really old ones or s series student eyepieces.

Some Nikon eyepieces have 3 detents that fit into the tube in the head, some don't.
The detents are to stop the 100% compatible eyepiece body turning when focusing.

True, but once you have them adjusted to your eyes that shouldn't be a huge deal as long as you don't share the scope. The only ones I have seen that on are the ultrawides which work fine on non-detented nikon stereo microscopes. Maybe an issue with putting ultrawides on the lower end eclipse heads if they won't sit low enough?

[Ange20]

Ange -- you'll want to sort out the objectives when your Microstar IV arrives. Judging by your photos, you have Zeiss and Nikon finite objectives mixed in - and they're not compatible. The Microstar IV (also badged "Reichert" and "Cambridge" and of "American Optical" heritage) is a decent scope. Proper (usually branded "Reichert" US-origin infinity) objectives are widely available for it. You might find someone to swap what you have for what you need.

You'll want to use the proper "181" version eyepieces, if the microscope doesn't already have them. Once complete, it can provide excellent images.

Thank you PeteM!!!!
unfortunately I didn't know that and I thought that price was a good deal, instead of buying a Swift or something...
Once it arrives, again if you can, I'd like to ask you what lenses are compatible instead of these nikon ones!!!
Do you think you notice the difference so much and that the images are really bad, or in my eyes, those of an amateur, the images are good for someone who has just entered this world??!
I hope I made a good purchase for just over 300€...

[Ange20]

Another question...
Where I can find a simple iPhone adaptor for the ocular to take some photos...
I would like to have a Trinocular head but for being my first microscope, I think it is just fine

[Phill Brown]

Don't put 220v 50hz into a 110v 60hz.
Sure you can sell the objectives.

[Ange20]

Don't put 220v 50hz into a 110v 60hz.
Sure you can sell the objectives.

what is the 220V 50hz?
if is the electricity I have a adaptor that change 220v in 110v

The objective is that bad? they are gonna to produce a bad images?

[Ange20]

I HAVE CANCEL THE ORDER... I have see the objective are so different, 2 infinity, 2 plan 160...
THANKS TO EVERYONE
i'M going to find another scope....

[Scarodactyl]

Almost all nikon eyepieces are cross-compatible, even stereo to compound on the 30mm ones. You just have to avoid the really old ones or s series student eyepieces.

Some Nikon eyepieces have 3 detents that fit into the tube in the head, some don't.
The detents are to stop the 100% compatible eyepiece body turning when focusing.
The tube types are not interchangeable in the head as the hole pitch is different.
Just saying as it is.

Oh, do the detentes cause issues with the 30mm non-uw compound heads? They haven't with non-detented stereos I tried but I am not 100% sure I have tried a non-uw nikon head.

[Phill Brown]

It's the 23mm type as fitted to Labophot era CF.
My best guess is some optimising was done.
Light path alignment is dictated by the condenser to iris, field lens doesn't have much adjustment either.
Filament is only adjustable for length but has a little wiggle room in the socket.
Getting everything centred and parfocal for a mixed set of objectives isn't realistic.
The phase condenser on the pdf Labophot 2 is a low power which is excellent for most things.
A 1.25 Nikon conditioner for 100x is easy to find.
DF at 40x .65 with that condenser might be a challenge, 1.25 Phase 2 condenser is good but don't see them so much in the budget range recently.
Probably keep looking, something better will turn up soon enough.
There's an as new Chinascope (Yenway?) on eBay UK as CX40 at the moment.
It's probably fairly good at £399.
Think it sold at auction a while ago at £280.
I have too many scopes already or I'd maybe pick it up at £350 if they accepted the offer.
Probably work out cheaper than pick and mix. Not phase but I rarely find that useful over DF or polarised.
Good luck.

[Ange20]

It's the 23mm type as fitted to Labophot era CF.
My best guess is some optimising was done.
Light path alignment is dictated by the condenser to iris, field lens doesn't have much adjustment either.
Filament is only adjustable for length but has a little wiggle room in the socket.
Getting everything centred and parfocal for a mixed set of objectives isn't realistic.
The phase condenser on the pdf Labophot 2 is a low power which is excellent for most things.
A 1.25 Nikon conditioner for 100x is easy to find.
DF at 40x .65 with that condenser might be a challenge, 1.25 Phase 2 condenser is good but don't see them so much in the budget range recently.
Probably keep looking, something better will turn up soon enough.
There's an as new Chinascope (Yenway?) on eBay UK as CX40 at the moment.
It's probably fairly good at £399.
Think it sold at auction a while ago at £280.
I have too many scopes already or I'd maybe pick it up at £350 if they accepted the offer.
Probably work out cheaper than pick and mix. Not phase but I rarely find that useful over DF or polarised.
Good luck.

Thank you a lot Phil Brown
On Ebay I am finding many used microscopes, Olympus and so on, but with normal achromatic objectives. My intention was to get Plan objectives and not change for a while.
I have found some microscopes with Plan objectives but I don't know what the brand is like.
It's called GXM 180M Series. it has these objectives called SP, I don't know if they are plan...
I also saw some Kyowa Medilux with all 4 original objectives and achromatic, but I don't know what brand it is..
There are also some Leica ATC200 with infinity and original objectives, but I don't know if it is a good microscope.
Leica objectives
1 x Red Leica 438 Achro 4/0.1 ∞ /0.17
1 x Yellow Leica 439 Achro 10/0.25 ∞/0.17
1 x Blue Leica 440 Achro 40/0.66 ∞/0.17
1 x White Leica 467 Achro 100/1.25 OIL ∞ /0.17
I am a neophyte unfortunately I have many doubts still....