Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

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Antartica
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Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#1 Post by Antartica » Sun Jun 27, 2021 5:57 am

hello,

I would like to perform photomicroscopy of minerals and gems and have some questions regarding which hardware I need. Specifically, I currently own an Olympus BH2 BHS with a super wide trinoc and basic d plans. Nothing fancy. But I would really like to step it up with my next purchase exploring minerals etc.

I've been reading as many manuals regarding the Olympus BH2 BHS and metallurgy and I'm getting fairly confused. There are several type of illuminators and several types of objectives. Furthermore, as discussed here https://www.microbehunter.com/microscop ... =28&t=9092 there seems to be a doubling problem with the Neo S Plans.

With all that being said, could someone help me answer these questions.
1) What is the best combination of illuminator and objectives for the Olympus Bh2 bhs that gives the highest quality image? They don't have to be Olympus brand. But I would like to create images like Nathan Renfro (Microworldofgems) and don't want any doubling or other issues. I still want to use my Olympus bh2 bhs however.

2) What are the "best" objectives for metallurgy from here: http://www.alanwood.net/downloads/olymp ... s-1993.pdf ? The M Splan? M Dplan? or Neo S Plan? And which version? Some have ULWD (ultra long working distance ) versions and some are for brightfield/darkfield or polycarbonate? It's really confusing :shock:

3) If I decide to go with Neo S plans, is it true that I would have to find the matching DIC prisms? From what I understand, these are nearly impossible to find. I can't find many on ebay. That alone is strange since I can find tons and tons of Neo S plans, but very few DIC nosepieces. Why are there so many Neo S Plans but few DIC nosepieces? Am I chasing ghosts by considering Neo S Plans?

4) I see many people going with Mitutoyo objectives. What are these about? They are very expensive but highly sought after from what I see. Do they work on my Olympus? And are they worth it? From what I see Nathan (microworldofgems) is able to get great images using his Zeiss Universal Epi plans. So are Mitutoyos good for metallurgy?

I just want a setup on my Olympus that gives equivalently sharp and nice images of gems/minerals. Please help :? Any answers would be appreciated!

PeteM
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#2 Post by PeteM » Sun Jun 27, 2021 7:12 am

My experience is that finding the bits to add epi DIC to a system can cost more and take more time than buying a properly configured system complete.

If you want to use your BHS as the stand, then something like a BH2-UMA illuminator ($250? complete with lamp house or another $150 for that???) with brightfield ($175?) and (might as well add) darkfield ($175) cubes of the UMA type, plus a new DIC turret, ($250?) plus polarizer and analyzer ($200 if lucky), plus four or five DIC-prisms ($200 each = $800-1000?) equipped NeoSPlan objectives ($200 each - $800-1000?) would be a typical configuration. Before you know it you've spent $3000 and still have to swap parts every time you want to switch from brightfield to epi dic. One decision to make up front is if you want the BF/DF capable objectives and prisms - ir just a BF DIC setup. You can also find a cheaper Olympus RLA BF/DF illuminator to replace the UMA.

You might keep an eye out for Leica/Riechert, Nikon Optiphot or Eclipse, or Olympus BX reflected scopes equipped with DIC. You might find a complete one, formerly used for something like semiconductor inspection, for a bit under $2000. I haven't noticed a difference between mostly flat subjects, but Stephen seems happier with Nikon for gem work and the Reichert system has a very good reputation.

The old Olylmpus MPlan era DIC scopes with the gray bodies, short barrel M objectives, and individual prisms can be found even cheaper and while not the latest and greatest, provide decent images. Even better are the BHM era long barrel systems with MDPlan and MSPlan objective options and individually matched prisms. One of those should be under $1000 once complete and a way to get started while you look toward an ultimate system.

Scarodactyl
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#3 Post by Scarodactyl » Sun Jun 27, 2021 2:59 pm

DIC is probably the last element you should be concerned about for looking at gems and minerals in general. The main issues with photographing gems and minerals have to do with them being three dimensional and covering a range of sizes--you need objectives with enough working distance and a stand that can accomodate large samples. Your standard Olympus stand will not be able to do this--the stage will not go low enough. What you need is typically a stand where the stage is foxed and the head can be moved up and down across a wider range. Olympus had both the BHMJ stand and their STM measuring microscopes in this era which fit the bill.

Thr neo splan objectives are good for imaging, covering a wode field with good corrections. The doubling only shows up with the dic prisms are engaged, not in normal imaging. Unfortunately it is hard to translate that wide image onto a camera, as olympus's own photo hardware will enlarge and crop the image.

The reason I use mitutoyos is they have about the maximal working distance you can get without unacceptably low resolution, and since they are widefield and internally corrected the image can be put directly onto a camera sensor without needing corrective eyepieces. Even though they are fairly expensive thry are much less than most big four apo objectives and can be found less expensively with some patience.

Stepping back though, while Nathan uses his Zeiss for DIC photos he uses a Nikon smz-10 stereo for a lot of his non-dic photos.

Antartica
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#4 Post by Antartica » Sun Jun 27, 2021 10:36 pm

Thanks for the replies. But I have more questions now :D

1) So my Olympus bh2 bhs stand will not work for metallurgy? I will have to buy a BHM is that correct? I would like to only have one microscope capable of performing all types of viewing. In the future I would also like to do DIC and phase contrast. Is there a version versatile enough so that I only use one stand and stage?

2) Will the Olympus BH2 Circular rotatable stage work for metallurgy? That's what my microscope came with.

3) What pieces have to be swapped exactly? Let's say I want to switch from metallurgy viewing back to organism phase contrast. Besides the turret/nosepieces and the BH2-UMA is there anything else that needs changing?

3) It seems the Neo S Plans are the best objectives. How difficult is it to find matching DIC prisms? And why do I see so many Neo S Plans on ebay but so few DIC prisms? I'm surprised there is even a large market for metallurgy using the Olympus BH2 BHS.

4) Lastly, You cannot mix and match the objective and prism, so for example, the ULWD 50 will not work with the standard Neo S Plan 50x correct?

PeteM
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#5 Post by PeteM » Mon Jun 28, 2021 4:06 am

1) As noted above, you can buy the parts for your BHS. Just not likely the most cost-effective route.

2) Yes.

3) See notes above. Best to get original documentation, perhaps from Alan Woods' site.

4) Correct. In this case my recollection is that it sort of barely not-quite-right works.

Antartica
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#6 Post by Antartica » Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:51 am

PeteM wrote:
Mon Jun 28, 2021 4:06 am
1) As noted above, you can buy the parts for your BHS. Just not likely the most cost-effective route.

2) Yes.

3) See notes above. Best to get original documentation, perhaps from Alan Woods' site.

4) Correct. In this case my recollection is that it sort of barely not-quite-right works.
Thanks Pete. I appreciate your input and advice. I just don't think it's the most cost-effective or practical in the long run. These hobbies are addictive! I go down the route of buying another microscope, next thing I know I'll have 3 or 4 lying around each with different upgrades and attachments. I see it happen in hobbies all the time, and this one as well. I learned a long time ago to be disciplined in my interests so I have internal rules that act as brakes to my desires. I'd rather have one microscope that I use all the time than 2 or 3 that I use sparingly.

And regarding swapping of parts, did you mean just the cubes for the UMA?

Also, is the working distance of the BHS sufficient? I see that the metallurgical microscopes BHM obviously have bigger working distances. I would like to look at small to decently sized stones. Do you think I'll be fine or is another model more versatile?

Thanks again

Scarodactyl
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#7 Post by Scarodactyl » Mon Jun 28, 2021 3:25 pm

Even a normal BHM will not give enough working distance for some stones. They were designed for flat metal samples and wafers. You'd need the bhmj, which attaches to a pole stand like a stereo microscope.
Basically the only xomponent you currently have that would cross over to a gem setup would be the head, and even that won't be ideal because it has an inverted image, which is fine for biological work but harder for working with more 3d samples that you'll want to manipulate with your hands. Doing biological work and gem work on the same stand will just be a headache, having to switch objectives and lighting and so on each time. You'd definitely want to get a second stand for this.

Antartica
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#8 Post by Antartica » Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:05 pm

Scarodactyl wrote:
Mon Jun 28, 2021 3:25 pm
Even a normal BHM will not give enough working distance for some stones. They were designed for flat metal samples and wafers. You'd need the bhmj, which attaches to a pole stand like a stereo microscope.
Basically the only xomponent you currently have that would cross over to a gem setup would be the head, and even that won't be ideal because it has an inverted image, which is fine for biological work but harder for working with more 3d samples that you'll want to manipulate with your hands. Doing biological work and gem work on the same stand will just be a headache, having to switch objectives and lighting and so on each time. You'd definitely want to get a second stand for this.
Thanks scaring

I don’t mind switching out parts. I do my microscopy in phases, so I’d probably go months doing only gems before coming back to biological.

How does one put a bh uma on the bhmj? Seems like the pole gets in the way. Also, how do you like your Olympus for metallurgy? Seems like you decided to switch to the Nikon in the end. If you don’t need the dics and Neo s plans I’ll gladly buy them from you :)

microb
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#9 Post by microb » Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:01 am

Antartica wrote:
Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:05 pm
How does one put a bh uma on the bhmj? Seems like the pole gets in the way.
This ebay item will show you the sideways setup people normally do: https://www.ebay.com/itm/363138877733
Last edited by microb on Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

microb
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#10 Post by microb » Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:08 am

Scarodactyl wrote:
Sun Jun 27, 2021 2:59 pm
Your standard Olympus stand will not be able to do this--the stage will not go low enough.
Is there a BH2 version of this reflectance substage?
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microb
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#11 Post by microb » Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:19 am

Scarodactyl wrote:
Sun Jun 27, 2021 2:59 pm
you need objectives with enough working distance and a stand that can accomodate large samples. Your standard Olympus stand will not be able to do this--the stage will not go low enough.
For metallurgical samples like those in an epoxy mold typically about an inch in height, or maybe a sample cut out of some chunk that might be larger, you would typically use an inverted microscope.

But I still like the Mitutoyo objectives, and I haven't seen an inverted with one of those large formfactors in use. If you want some nice images, the Mitutoyo's even used have proven to be very nice with their 34mm working distance and 5mm even at 50x and 100x. The Olympus ones just also get crashed into the sample. Their idea of LWD was something a millimeter or two.

PeteM
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#12 Post by PeteM » Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:31 am

FWIW, the BHS has an adjustable stage that could be lowered somewhat for Epi use.

I'd still keep an eye out for a complete epi scope, rather than solely hoping to acquire the bits to outfit a BHS for reflected use one by one.

Scarodactyl
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#13 Post by Scarodactyl » Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:52 am

I have a bh2-era bhm stand, and while it does have some extra adjustability it isn't enough for thicker samples.
I do wonder if an inverted would work for gems, but I've never seen it tried. Unitron inverted stands are sometomes fairly inexpensive.

Antartica
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#14 Post by Antartica » Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:07 am

microb wrote:
Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:19 am
Scarodactyl wrote:
Sun Jun 27, 2021 2:59 pm
you need objectives with enough working distance and a stand that can accomodate large samples. Your standard Olympus stand will not be able to do this--the stage will not go low enough.
For metallurgical samples like those in an epoxy mold typically about an inch in height, or maybe a sample cut out of some chunk that might be larger, you would typically use an inverted microscope.

But I still like the Mitutoyo objectives, and I haven't seen an inverted with one of those large formfactors in use. If you want some nice images, the Mitutoyo's even used have proven to be very nice with their 34mm working distance and 5mm even at 50x and 100x. The Olympus ones just also get crashed into the sample. Their idea of LWD was something a millimeter or two.
The mitutoyos are great but they are very expensive. I see some on eBay selling for close to $1k. Are the neo s plans really so horrible to justify the mitutoyos?

And how does one use the mitutoyos with the Olympus. As I asked above, I thought the objective had to match the Olympus dic prism? I wouldn’t want any sloppy adapters or conversions. Do o have to buy mitutoyo prisms or something else to use them on my Olympus

microb
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#15 Post by microb » Tue Jun 29, 2021 3:36 am

Antartica wrote:
Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:07 am
microb wrote:
Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:19 am
Scarodactyl wrote:
Sun Jun 27, 2021 2:59 pm
you need objectives with enough working distance and a stand that can accomodate large samples. Your standard Olympus stand will not be able to do this--the stage will not go low enough.
For metallurgical samples like those in an epoxy mold typically about an inch in height, or maybe a sample cut out of some chunk that might be larger, you would typically use an inverted microscope.

But I still like the Mitutoyo objectives, and I haven't seen an inverted with one of those large formfactors in use. If you want some nice images, the Mitutoyo's even used have proven to be very nice with their 34mm working distance and 5mm even at 50x and 100x. The Olympus ones just also get crashed into the sample. Their idea of LWD was something a millimeter or two.
The Mitutoyos are great but they are very expensive. I see some on eBay selling for close to $1k. Are the neo s plans really so horrible to justify the mitutoyos?

And how does one use the Mitutoyos with the Olympus. As I asked above, I thought the objective had to match the Olympus dic prism? I wouldn’t want any sloppy adapters or conversions. Do o have to buy mitutoyo prisms or something else to use them on my Olympus
I have not seen a Mitutoyo DIC set up. Also you can get used ones for a few $200 to $600 depending on efforts in shopping around. But yes, the newer ones even used -- especially NIR and UV are over $1K.

To use with Olympus you'd need one of the frames that would allow you to increase the distance between the stage and turret. Some people with BX41/51/61 models put a block between the turret arm and the frame. The BX 40/50 have the arm as a part of the frame, so that adjustment can't be done.

But the Olympus optics are very good. It just depends on what you try out and like.

Antartica
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#16 Post by Antartica » Tue Jun 29, 2021 8:48 am

Browsing google images I found this image of an Olympus BHMJ but I can't find any more information on it. Does anyone know what this is? And why does it have such a long neck? Is the middle piece removal so you can shorten it? I guess I'm just not sure what I'm seeing here and what would be the purpose of making the neck so long.

Also, what type of stage is that and why is it so far behind the turret? I'm assuming it can move out but I also can't find information on this type of stage.
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Scarodactyl
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#17 Post by Scarodactyl » Wed Jun 30, 2021 1:33 am

Antartica wrote:
Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:07 am
And how does one use the mitutoyos with the Olympus. As I asked above, I thought the objective had to match the Olympus dic prism? I wouldn’t want any sloppy adapters or conversions. Do o have to buy mitutoyo prisms or something else to use them on my Olympus
I found the mitutoyos worked quite well with the olympus prisms, similar to the original olympus objectives in most cases. They also work extremely well with the Nikon lv prism as laid out in my thread. Generally epi DIC is way more forgiving than transmitted DIC for mixing and matching. Not every combo works but more than you'd expect.
Mitutoyo does offer their own solution for their line of finescope microscopes, though it's more cumbersome since there's a single prism slot, and they're very rare on the used market.

That bhmj has been customized in some way or other. There are a lot of custom jobs and third party stands from the wafer boom, likely in this case a mod meant to allow thr inspection of larger wafers or some other sample. Likely a custom motorized stage mounted o to that at one point.

Antartica
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#18 Post by Antartica » Wed Jun 30, 2021 5:41 am

Scarodactyl wrote:
Wed Jun 30, 2021 1:33 am
Antartica wrote:
Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:07 am
And how does one use the mitutoyos with the Olympus. As I asked above, I thought the objective had to match the Olympus dic prism? I wouldn’t want any sloppy adapters or conversions. Do o have to buy mitutoyo prisms or something else to use them on my Olympus
I found the mitutoyos worked quite well with the olympus prisms, similar to the original olympus objectives in most cases. They also work extremely well with the Nikon lv prism as laid out in my thread. Generally epi DIC is way more forgiving than transmitted DIC for mixing and matching. Not every combo works but more than you'd expect.
Mitutoyo does offer their own solution for their line of finescope microscopes, though it's more cumbersome since there's a single prism slot, and they're very rare on the used market.

That bhmj has been customized in some way or other. There are a lot of custom jobs and third party stands from the wafer boom, likely in this case a mod meant to allow thr inspection of larger wafers or some other sample. Likely a custom motorized stage mounted o to that at one point.
Do you know which combos give generally good results? Specifically do you know which ULWD objectives give acceptable results when paired with a magnification matching DIC prism, for example does the ULWD 50 DIC Prism work with the Neo S Plan 50? What about the other magnifications etc?

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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#19 Post by apochronaut » Wed Jun 30, 2021 6:37 pm

The company Seiwa Tokyo manufactures M Plan APO metallurgical objectives with a 200mm reference length, pitched as a cheaper alternative to Mitutoyo but of similar performance. They are branded as Seiwa Correct or sometimes USMC . The threads are R.M.S. Seiwa does a lot of contract production for a lot of other companies, similar to Seibert in Wetzlar.

Although, like all planapos they are typically up in the thousands new, you occasionally see them sell at bargain prices as second hand objectives because they are not widely known.
Last edited by apochronaut on Wed Jun 30, 2021 6:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Scarodactyl
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#20 Post by Scarodactyl » Wed Jun 30, 2021 6:51 pm

Are seiwa the makers of usmc objectives? I have never been able to nail that down, at one point I thought I'd found a solid reference but I had misread it. I recently found a usmc branded by optem, but it was just a dymo style label with usmc underneath it so that wasn't much help.
Seiwa makes both rms and m26 threaded variants of their objectives but they're only rated to 22mm (unless you find the rare 'hr'variants) vs nominal 30mm on the mitutoyos (actually more in practice), but they may still be good for a given application. My own experience is very limited--the above mentioned optem-usmc I got is both delaminated and maybe decentered but still gives a surprisingly viable image, a better copy would probably be quite respectable. I think the best copies (by reputation) are the Motics. I tried one 10x and found it indistinguishable from my mitutoyo 10x on aps-c. Maybe they'd be different on full frame/shorter tube lens but I haven't tried it. Definitely lots of viable options. The splans are no slouches either with very good performance, just have more difficulties when attaching to a camera and shorter working distance.


As to which DIC combos, I only have a 10x, 20x and 40x prism. I don't remember what I used with the 40x, but the 10x and 20x mitutoyos on their respective prisms did well.

apochronaut
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#21 Post by apochronaut » Wed Jun 30, 2021 7:03 pm

I suspect they do a lot of contract work. The E200 knockoff being sold by Radical in India uses Seiwa objectives, right up to planapos.

Antartica
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#22 Post by Antartica » Thu Jul 01, 2021 10:05 pm

apochronaut wrote:
Wed Jun 30, 2021 6:37 pm
The company Seiwa Tokyo manufactures M Plan APO metallurgical objectives with a 200mm reference length, pitched as a cheaper alternative to Mitutoyo but of similar performance. They are branded as Seiwa Correct or sometimes USMC . The threads are R.M.S. Seiwa does a lot of contract production for a lot of other companies, similar to Seibert in Wetzlar.

Although, like all planapos they are typically up in the thousands new, you occasionally see them sell at bargain prices as second hand objectives because they are not widely known.
Hmm, I'm confused. I thought to use a DIC prism the objective needed to match. For example, to use a ULWD 50x prism, I had to use a Neo S Plan 50x NIC. However, you're saying I can use an objective like the Seiwa that doesn't say NIC on it?

Checking out ebay I found this for sale: https://www.ebay.com/itm/384161027084?h ... SwIQ9gnDay He has a set of DIC prisms and objectives for sale. All of them match and say "NIC" except for the ULWD 50x. He's using an ULWD Neo S Plan 50 but the objective doesn't say "NIC". Does that work? In fact, searching the web I can't any ULWD Neo S Plan 50x NIC objective. Do they even exist? Is that why people freely substitute any other manufacturer?

Scarodactyl
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#23 Post by Scarodactyl » Thu Jul 01, 2021 10:30 pm

An nic or dic rating typically means they checked the objective was strain free. Usually a non nic objective will work fine too. That is less of an issue with modern microscope objectives--anyway all mitutoyo objectives seem to be strain free anyway. Seiwa and similar clones seem to be specced similarly in that regard.
As I have said epi dic is more forgiving of mismatches than transmitted. Some combos work, some don't, but your chance of a random lens producing good epi dic are pretty good, at least with the Nikon system I have, I haven't experimented extensively with the Olympus setup. I assume it is similar.

Antartica
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#24 Post by Antartica » Wed Jul 07, 2021 10:00 pm

PeteM wrote:
Sun Jun 27, 2021 7:12 am
My experience is that finding the bits to add epi DIC to a system can cost more and take more time than buying a properly configured system complete.

If you want to use your BHS as the stand, then something like a BH2-UMA illuminator ($250? complete with lamp house or another $150 for that???) with brightfield ($175?) and (might as well add) darkfield ($175) cubes of the UMA type, plus a new DIC turret, ($250?) plus polarizer and analyzer ($200 if lucky), plus four or five DIC-prisms ($200 each = $800-1000?) equipped NeoSPlan objectives ($200 each - $800-1000?) would be a typical configuration. Before you know it you've spent $3000 and still have to swap parts every time you want to switch from brightfield to epi dic. One decision to make up front is if you want the BF/DF capable objectives and prisms - ir just a BF DIC setup. You can also find a cheaper Olympus RLA BF/DF illuminator to replace the UMA.
Following up on this, can you list the exact parts needed? I'm looking over the manual and there are several options it seems. So I'd like to make a more informed decision.

1) The BH2-UMA allows for BF/DF and DIC, is that right?

2) Which objectives are the most versatile? A NIC objective obviously does NIC. And a ULWD does BF/DF and as we've discussed before, a crude version of NIC. Is that correct? If that's the case should I just get ULWD?

3) Which polarizer do I need to get? Could you provide an exact part name? I see several listed in the manual and I'm not sure which versions do what.

4) Same as question #3, but for the analyzer. Which one do I get?

5) Would any turret for the bh2/bhs work? Or are there special DIC turrets?

6) I'm coming across all these "inserts" for the BH2-UMA, but I can't find information on what they are or what they do. One example is: Olympus Universal Slide filter Insert 1/4入 for BH2-UMA Illuminator. Can anyone clarify what all these inserts are for? I thought I only needed the polarizer and analyzer?

microb
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#25 Post by microb » Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:02 pm

Here some links that give part numbers and function for BH2 metallurgical/reflectance:

http://www.alanwood.net/downloads/olymp ... ctions.pdf
http://www.alanwood.net/downloads/olymp ... ochure.pdf
http://www.alanwood.net/downloads/olymp ... -tubes.pdf

http://www.alanwood.net/olympus/downloads.html

NeoSPlan objectives do come up with DIC prism. Ebay has two turrets with sets of prisms on them. One include objectives and they are asking a lot. You can probably find cheaper if you keep hunting. There is also an Olympus Facebook group that people sell things on.

Antartica
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#26 Post by Antartica » Fri Jul 09, 2021 12:59 am

Thanks micro . That helped a lot

How do people power the bh2 uma? I’d like to get an Olympus bhm but the manual says I’ll need a bh2 tsg transformer. I can’t find any on eBay. Is there another way to supply power?

And just to clarify, any bh2 turret is compatible with the nic prisms us that correct?

Scarodactyl
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#27 Post by Scarodactyl » Fri Jul 09, 2021 1:07 am

My whole Olympus setup will be for sale soonish, for what it's worth.

Antartica
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#28 Post by Antartica » Sat Jul 10, 2021 5:48 am

I still don't see how I'm to power this. On ebay I see lots and lots of BH2-UMA's for sale, but none of them come with power supply nor can I find the bh2 tsg transformer that's needed to power it. Surely people have a solution to this?

microb
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Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#29 Post by microb » Sat Jul 10, 2021 4:42 pm

Antartica wrote:
Sat Jul 10, 2021 5:48 am
I still don't see how I'm to power this. On ebay I see lots and lots of BH2-UMA's for sale, but none of them come with power supply nor can I find the bh2 tsg transformer that's needed to power it. Surely people have a solution to this?
Here are the typical lamps and power supplies for the UMA. I don't remember TSG. It's a T3 and there are newer ones that are a white BX color paint, and they work with the older lamps too. There is also a really heavy original version. I have one of those and it's just big and heavy.

But all that aside, I'd avoid these old sparked lamps. Get an LED setup. I bought one from an ebayer. Search for "LED retrofit Kit with dimmer control for older OLYMPUS BHS microscopes" on ebay or look at what appears to be the same person at: retrodiode.com.

Basically, he's putting an LED on heat transfer paste screw mounting it to a heat sink, and then 3D printing a holder that fits on to the microscope like the original lamp would. He then uses a "high speed PWM dimmer" that you can get from Amazon.
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Scarodactyl
Posts: 2775
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 9:09 pm

Re: Questions about metallurgy on Olympus

#30 Post by Scarodactyl » Sat Jul 10, 2021 5:34 pm

I wouldn't retrofit this setup. The halogen bulbs are cheap and easy to source and give off good light. My second choice is retrofitting a fiber optic light guide from a 150w source. Retrodiode is good but I'm not sure about the color temperature, or if I'd want to use a pwm-dimmed LED for photography.

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