MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Hi my name is Dan I’m a phycologist (algae scientist) in the UK. I own an awesome Reichert polyvar trans with DIC. I photograph Microalgae for work and fun, and have an obsession with Desmids (who doesn’t ).

Here’s a Pic of my microscope


Here’s a pic of Micrasterias rotata i took last week from Dartmoor. Image is a stack of 6 viewed at 400x


Longtime lurker of the forum, Use it ALL the time, it’s been my go to resource for years! So helpful, so THANK-YOU all for that! Hoping to continue learning here, as well as sharing.

Thanks Dan.

A beautiful microscope, Dan ... and obviously in very capable hands !

I am green with envy [approximately the colour of your specimen]

MichaelG.

Very fine. Scope and image. Just for my own reference. That was with the 40X 1.0 oil planapo?

apochronaut wrote: ↑

Wed May 12, 2021 7:18 pm

Very fine. Scope and image. Just for my own reference. That was with the 40X 1.0 oil planapo?

Thanks Apochronaut, yes its the 40x PlanAPO Iris, its an incredible objectibve. I have the 100x PlanAPO Oeliris also, which is every bit as good.

Heres a stack of a cymbella using 100x from a strew slide i made.

MichaelG. wrote: ↑

Wed May 12, 2021 2:32 pm

A beautiful microscope, Dan ... and obviously in very capable hands !

I am green with envy [approximately the colour of your specimen]

MichaelG.

Hahahaah thanks Micheal! its a fabulous microscope perhaps a little large its vintage is 1982 so a baby compared to some of the amazing microscopes people have here. Microscopy is both work and fun for me so i though i knew a thing or two, but this forum makes me feel like a newb, so much to learn.

Thanks Dan

Awesomealgae wrote: ↑

Wed May 12, 2021 8:12 pm

apochronaut wrote: ↑

Wed May 12, 2021 7:18 pm

Very fine. Scope and image. Just for my own reference. That was with the 40X 1.0 oil planapo?

Thanks Apochronaut, yes its the 40x PlanAPO Iris, its an incredible objectibve. I have the 100x PlanAPO Oeliris also, which is every bit as good.

Heres a stack of a cymbella using 100x from a strew slide i made.

It is hard to imagine that modern objectives could be much better but you obviously know how to utilize them for the greatest benefit too. Quite remarkable DIC. I use those 2, as well as the equally superb 25X .65 planapo in a slightly modified Diastar for BF and DF.
It is a shame that they never made a 63X planapo( or did they?). A while ago I found a 63X 1.0 planachro glyz. immersion without an iris for 75.00. It was probably made for the Polylite and Diavar. With the 40X .70 dry planfluor >> 63X glyz.planachro>> 100X oil planapo it makes a workable system but that 40X 1.0 oil planapo is so good, I mostly just use it with 15X eyepieces instead, for 600X ,which gives a bit of extra real f.o.v. too.

Thanks Apochronaut! Your so right,optically the Reichart holds it own against modern objectives. Perhaps there are small wavelength specific advancements beneficial to specific applications. But these don't translate back into a radically better image.

Also totally agree on objectives, a 60-63x was not made or a prism for the 25x objective which uses 40x prism but isn't quite good as the 10, 40 & 100x. I often wonder if 2 versions of this we're made as it is not marked IK as are the other objectives. For me the strangest choice Reichert made was a beam-split of 80:20 or 0:100 Cam:eyes. On the flipside the magchanger has a 0.8 lens which in combination with the objectives allows for a really extraordinary and unique image IMO.

Hi Dan,

I have admired your photos on Instagram so it is nice to see you here on MicrobeHunter. Nice microscope! I have a Zeiss Photomicroscope III with DIC so I am used to giant microscopes like this! I think the PM III is sometimes called a boat anchor.

Tim

tlansing wrote: ↑

Thu May 13, 2021 3:22 pm

Hi Dan,

I have admired your photos on Instagram so it is nice to see you here on MicrobeHunter. Nice microscope! I have a Zeiss Photomicroscope III with DIC so I am used to giant microscopes like this! I think the PM III is sometimes called a boat anchor.

Tim

Oh Hey Tim! Great to meet you outside IG. Now that's a strange place. Ha that's a great name, definitely suitable for the polyvar. Who's ridiculous stature I forgive on account of its incredible optics. I'm a total sucker for these large research scopes. I've worked in many labs where they went from taking pride of place to door stops. Hoping an Axiomat never turns up in the UK at a reasonable price .

Like the title said, longtime lurker. I've benefitted hugely from the generous knowledge sharing here. Every microscope related question I type into Google has been asked and answered here!

There is a member on the forum who has a fully functional Univar.

Hi Dan,
nice to see that you participate now in the forum, and great results!
What I find interesting is that you got such a nice micrasterias photo from so few separate shots. Do you have a certain method to select your focus planes?

Our university in Hamburg maintains a big desmid collection. A member of our microscopy group has made photos of some of them. In cases where the sample location is SVCK there is a link to the university database with origin of the sample, culture medium etc. : https://nwv-hamburg.de/foto-sammlungen/
Perhaps this is interesting for you as an algae professional.

Bob

MicroBob wrote: ↑

Fri May 14, 2021 10:52 am

Hi Dan,
nice to see that you participate now in the forum, and great results!
What I find interesting is that you got such a nice micrasterias photo from so few separate shots. Do you have a certain method to select your focus planes?

Our university in Hamburg maintains a big desmid collection. A member of our microscopy group has made photos of some of them. In cases where the sample location is SVCK there is a link to the university database with origin of the sample, culture medium etc. : https://nwv-hamburg.de/foto-sammlungen/
Perhaps this is interesting for you as an algae professional.

Bob

Hi Bob

Wow! Yes! what a fabulous resource. like bird watchers, I’ve challenged myself to find as many UK species of Desmid as I can in 2021. Mostly for fun but also to create a personal collection, photograph and document there locations. I hope to use these images and data to raise awareness about desmids and the threatened habitat in which they live.

The single most important factor here is allowing sufficient compression of the cell by the cover slip. This forces the cell, it's appendages and various structures into a smaller z stack. It also means the cell is positioned directly below the coverslip so the the axial (dof) and lateral resolution of the objective is optimal.

It's a balance between finding the best resolution of your microscope without distorting the cell beyond it's recognisable form. This largely depends on the objectives NA.

Thanks for this information BOB it's very useful!

apochronaut wrote: ↑

Thu May 13, 2021 9:37 pm

There is a member on the forum who has a fully functional Univar.

Now that's a seriously big microscope

There's quite a few big messy confocal setups out there too.

I have admired your photos. It's really awesome, so it is nice to see you here on MicrobeHunter. Nice microscope!