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What is your microscopy history? What are your interests? What equipment do you use?
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DrMike
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:11 am

Just joined

#1 Post by DrMike » Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:43 am

Good morning fellow microscopists. I bought my XSP 13A scope back in the early 1980’s when I was a teenager. With some free time I pulled it out again and returned with teenage excitement. Things are somewhat easier these days electronically and digitally today than back in the 1980s! I used to take photos of samples then using a Praktica MTL5 camera and a metal adapter but exposures and film processing was a long-winded process of trial and error (and expense). These days, same scope, using a fixed mobile phone.... much easier! Here is a picture from this week to share.....
6903CAC7-0111-4E99-BD44-EF50E63BCFC2.jpeg
6903CAC7-0111-4E99-BD44-EF50E63BCFC2.jpeg (332.28 KiB) Viewed 1498 times

DrPhoxinus
Posts: 316
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2019 5:17 pm
Location: Rochester Hills, MI

Re: Just joined

#2 Post by DrPhoxinus » Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:23 pm

Welcome DrMike,

Yes things are so much easier these days.
I spent some of the late 70s shooting 5 second exposures with PanatomicX ASA 32 to get pictures of tiny minnow chromosomes at 1000x on top of a Zeiss in a vibration dampening mount.

What a lot of work.

Gerard

DrMike
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:11 am

Re: Just joined

#3 Post by DrMike » Wed Apr 07, 2021 2:04 pm

Thanks for the welcome. Indeed, almost do away with peering down the eyepiece by using a digital interface instead - somewhat less tiring. Done away with the mirror now too by using a £2 led light source from the local shop but modified for variable illumination and a USB 5V input rather than 4.5V batteries. Just stuck onto a plinth that neatly slides in / out under the condenser. In the olden days I used a car headlight bulb with a transformer and inductive load light dimmer with the bulb inserted into one of my old black plastic film holder containers. So funny, the heat that came off softened the plastic shroud and deformed it. No such problem with the led set up.
I wonder whether the newer scopes are as versatile as the older ones? When I was a student I made a rotating stage for my scope, a multi filter holder for below the condenser to house polarisers, colour filters etc.. which could also rotate and I’ve just got a steel tube cut to size to fit around the main tube snugly with a metal collar to support the phone properly all of which can rotate.
Eyepieces could be unscrewed to insert filters too. The optics of the newer ones I would expect and hope to be better but I suppose depends on what you are paying. My scope plus lenses, box etc... was £110 back in 1982 which was quite a lot of money then. Cheers!

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