Hi folks! I currently have an olympus BH2 and although I don't have a DIC set up, I am most definitely going to have one in the future with this set up. I have a full set up of S plan objectives and am considering the S plan APO line for the higher NA. The brochures seem to recommend the S plan objectives for DIC over the S plan APO's, but I am not sure why. Does anyone have a reason for this? Do the S plan APO's perform better than the S plan's in DIC?
I understand that the APO's have a slightly less depth of field that comes as a limitation to the added resolution, does this make DIC more difficult to visualize?
Thank you all for the help!!
Olympus S plan vs S plan APO for DIC
Re: Olympus S plan vs S plan APO for DIC
The SPlanApos will work for DIC, but you may not find the significantly higher price for a set worth it. Some reasons why:
- The depth of field issue you've noted.
- The Apos uses additional lens elements that, even with coatings, tend to reduce contrast.
- Not sure it's a problem (I haven't noticed it in my samples), but it would be harder to end up with completely strain-free Apo for polarization/DIC.
- Depending on what you're viewing, the slight improvement in chromatic corrections with Apos may go largely unnoticed due to the 3D and "sectioning" DIC effects. For brightfield work, you might appreciate the difference.
The Olympus SPlan Apo 60x or 100x objective are ones you might consider adding if you need the ultimate resolution their higher numerical apertures (1.40 and 1.35) can provide.
- The depth of field issue you've noted.
- The Apos uses additional lens elements that, even with coatings, tend to reduce contrast.
- Not sure it's a problem (I haven't noticed it in my samples), but it would be harder to end up with completely strain-free Apo for polarization/DIC.
- Depending on what you're viewing, the slight improvement in chromatic corrections with Apos may go largely unnoticed due to the 3D and "sectioning" DIC effects. For brightfield work, you might appreciate the difference.
The Olympus SPlan Apo 60x or 100x objective are ones you might consider adding if you need the ultimate resolution their higher numerical apertures (1.40 and 1.35) can provide.
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Scarodactyl
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- Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 9:09 pm
Re: Olympus S plan vs S plan APO for DIC
If you are serious about wanting DIC it's important to be flexible. Rather than building a particular system and hoping you find the right DIC set you will probably have a lot more luck (and probably spend a lot less) casting a wider net and finding a dic system, any dic system, to build the rest around. Getting a BH2 dic setup is pretty difficult and expensive--I got my Nikon setup for a lot less than thr going rate for a BH2 setup even though it's newer and presumably shinier.