Experiences with Amscope LED fiberoptic illuminators?

Here you can discuss different microscopic techniques and illumination methods, such as Brightfield, Darkfield, Phase Contrast, DIC, Oblique illumination, etc.
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enricosavazzi
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Experiences with Amscope LED fiberoptic illuminators?

#1 Post by enricosavazzi » Tue Jan 18, 2022 5:37 pm

Does anyone have a hands-on experience with the current Amscope LED fiberoptic illuminators? I am considering the 50 W model which is not excessively expensive compared to other brands (I need plenty of light for DIC, darkfield, epi illumination etc. on stereomicroscopes, photomacroscopes and compound microscopes), but it may be interesting to hear also about smaller models (20 W and 30 W).

enricosavazzi
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Re: Experiences with Amscope LED fiberoptic illuminators?

#2 Post by enricosavazzi » Wed Jan 26, 2022 10:11 am

Apparently no members have tested this illuminator. I now posted my review of the 50 W model on my web site:
http://savazzi.net/photography/amscopeled50w.html

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zzffnn
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Re: Experiences with Amscope LED fiberoptic illuminators?

#3 Post by zzffnn » Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:53 pm

Thank you for sharing the informative review again (I have previously read other reviews from you and found them helpful)!

How do you connect this LED light to your BX50 scope, do you place its fiberoptic output end directly to where BX50's light bulb was?

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Re: Experiences with Amscope LED fiberoptic illuminators?

#4 Post by Scarodactyl » Wed Jan 26, 2022 6:09 pm

Thanks for the review! Very thorough and informative (not to mention entertaining).
That all said, this seems like an application where the main disadvantage of halogens (heat) is not really an issue, while the main disadvantage of an LED (color spectrum) is. There is the more consistent color temperature in dimming (though that's less an issue on halogen sources with iris dimming) and longer lasting leds vs halogen bulbs, but I don't see those as compelling advantages for most amateurs vs buying a much cheaper used halogen source from a reputable brand (which could be under 100usd in the US). I'd guess that's probably why there are so few reviews from the community.
That said, if your jurisdiction makes it hard to buy halogens these may become more compelling. I know California has been doing that, so I think the review is pretty timely.

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Re: Experiences with Amscope LED fiberoptic illuminators?

#5 Post by Saul » Wed Jan 26, 2022 8:01 pm

Great review, thanks Enrico !
Is heatsink directly attached to the faceplate for the better heat transfer ?
How are vibrations from fans ?

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Re: Experiences with Amscope LED fiberoptic illuminators?

#6 Post by enricosavazzi » Wed Jan 26, 2022 8:29 pm

zzffnn wrote:
Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:53 pm
Thank you for sharing the informative review again (I have previously read other reviews from you and found them helpful)!

How do you connect this LED light to your BX50 scope, do you place its fiberoptic output end directly to where BX50's light bulb was?
I have not done it yet, but have some parts for this job. I don't think that just replacing the lamp with the end of an optical light guide would work, because in the BX series the halogen illuminators have a large aspheric collector placed quite close (10 mm or so) to the halogen bulb filament in order to collect almost half of its omnidirectional light emission. They also have no reflector behind the lamp, so the other half of the light is wasted. The end of a light guide, without additional optics, would illuminate only a small central part of this collector. It may work better by replacing the halogen lamp with a sufficiently small LED (LED cobs with multiple chips are also no good for this application).

I bought and intend to try using a U-LGAD adapter, which accepts a light guide up to 14 mm in diameter and has a collector specifically designed for this light guide. The collector's diameter is only 25 mm on the microscope side, so it might not work well with low magnification objectives like the 4x. The halogen iluminators have 50 mm or 53 mm wide collectors on the microscope side, but are also much more recessed within the body of the illuminator, so the small collector of the U-LGAD, which is almost level with the mount dovetail, might work well enough after all. The U-LGAD is not designed as a replacement for the transmitted light illuminator, but as a replacement for the incident light illuminator, so there might be problems and disadvantages I am not yet aware of.

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Re: Experiences with Amscope LED fiberoptic illuminators?

#7 Post by enricosavazzi » Wed Jan 26, 2022 8:43 pm

Saul wrote:
Wed Jan 26, 2022 8:01 pm
Great review, thanks Enrico !
Is heatsink directly attached to the faceplate for the better heat transfer ?
How are vibrations from fans ?
No, the heatsink is attached to the mostly plastic collet and mount for the light guide, which in turn is attached to the front panel. The clamp for the optical guide is mostly white plastic inside, and only clad in aluminum on the outside.

Noise and vibrations seem very low, but with a long floppy light guide the illuminator can sit on the floor or on another table as the microscope.

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