Swift SW200 Microscope

[GerryR]

In my newcomer intro, I mentioned that I had purchased a Swift SW200 'scope mainly because of the good reviews it received and the review that stated it was "not a toy but a good entry level microscope." Well my assessment is that it is a good 'scope for grade school and maybe jr. high. It is a very basic small and light 'scope with a very small stage that I believe would be difficult to attach a
X-Y mechanical stage, if they are even made that small. Images are OK, but I don't believe that there is much room for advancement with this unit. It may not be a toy, but it is close, IMO. Needless to say, I put it on Ebay, and did in fact purchase an older AO Sixty 4-objective 'scope with a mechanical X-Y stage and condenser with filter holder. Just the craftsmanship and materials used in these older microscopes makes some of the newer, entry-level 'scopes look completely outclassed. (I love the way the turret head moves effortlessly up and down on custom ball slides, rather than having a fixed head and moveable stage; quite a clever design, IMO.) Your mileage may vary, but I think the older 'scopes are a better value. I just thought I would pass on my impressions of this Swift 'scope. Cheers!

[apochronaut]

The popularity if Swift microscopes is based on several elements.
James Swift and Son was a venerable innovative English microscope maker, which made a number of the most classic British microscopes. As the British industry faltered, the Swift trademark went to another company but ultimately ended up in Japan, as a supplier to the U.S. where the trademark was not protected , so the U.S. distribution and trademarking of Swift microscopes is now held by a Texas company including likely Mexico and Canada at least.
They and their manufacturer are well aware of the power of that name. Any search will turn up the name as one holding a quality tradition. Motic of Hong Kong, which is a pretty good Chinese mfg. actually makes the new ones and has leveraged the Swift name as a division of Motic with a specific "style" to them. In most ways they are just a cheap Chinese microscope but with their recognizable " jug handle" and traceable name they sound better to the uninitiated. Even the owner of this forum has promoted one.
Chinese Swift microscopes use pretty much the same optics as any other Chinese microscope, which in their basic achromat incarnation are optically far inferior to even the most proletarian quality U.S. made microscope from even 70 years ago, let alone one of the flagship models, from 30 years ago.

That said, Motic , realizing the marketing power of the name Swift is utilizing it to advance some concepts. Motic is the leading Chinese microscope manufacturer but have taken a long time to get the brand Motic in the market's eye. Swift seems destined to be noticed. Lately, advertising with both Motic( still the prominent name ) and Swift are featured. I can see a day where Swift is used to try ro obliterate the Chinese-ness of Motic microscopes.
I will be uploading a kind of review of a Swift B2 microscope shortly, one of the more interesting and innovative recent Chinese designs, now the B3.

[dtsh]

The AO Sixty are decent instruments, pretty much the same optics as one would find in a 10 or 20, the 34mm parfocal infinity objectives. Not as flexible as a 10, but they're usually a lot more affordable.
Did you get one with a monocular or a bino head? I've handled both and while a monocular is perfectly acceptable, I tend to prefer the bino. If it has the 10x Cat.138 eyepiece(s), a nice upgrade are the 10x Cat.176 which give a wider field of view; not that there's anything wrong with the 10x Cat.138's.

[GerryR]

I actually bought two AO Sixty microscopes "for parts or repair" thinking I could make one good 'scope from the two. When I received them, they were both in near perfect working condition and fairly nice cosmetically, as well. One had a three objective turret w/ 4x,10x, and 43x objectives, a 161 wide-field eyepiece and a standard non-mechanical stage. The second had a four objective turret w/ 4x,10x, and 45x objectives (to which I added a AO Spencer 100x oil objective), a 160 Huygenian eyepiece and an X-Y mechanical stage. I swapped eyepieces (4-turret head now has the wide-field eyepiece) and added a mechanical stage to the other unit, so they are like twins except for the eyepieces and 4 vs. 3 objective turrets. (Both units were less than I paid for the SW200, which as I said, is now on ebay.) I cleaned both units and re-lubed both nosepiece sleeve bearing assemblies. Both units came with adjustable condensers, as well. These were classroom units, from what was advertised, and had very little use from there initial appearances, and except for some identification marks engraved on the frames (bases), I am very pleased with them.

[apochronaut]

What was the catalogue # of the 100X objective you purchased?

[GerryR]

The popularity if Swift microscopes is based on several elements.
James Swift and Son was a venerable innovative English microscope maker, which made a number of the most classic British microscopes. As the British industry faltered, the Swift trademark went to another company but ultimately ended up in Japan, as a supplier to the U.S. where the trademark was not protected , so the U.S. distribution and trademarking of Swift microscopes is now held by a Texas company including likely Mexico and Canada at least.
They and their manufacturer are well aware of the power of that name. Any search will turn up the name as one holding a quality tradition. Motic of Hong Kong, which is a pretty good Chinese mfg. actually makes the new ones and has leveraged the Swift name as a division of Motic with a specific "style" to them. In most ways they are just a cheap Chinese microscope but with their recognizable " jug handle" and traceable name they sound better to the uninitiated. Even the owner of this forum has promoted one.
Chinese Swift microscopes use pretty much the same optics as any other Chinese microscope, which in their basic achromat incarnation are optically far inferior to even the most proletarian quality U.S. made microscope from even 70 years ago, let alone one of the flagship models, from 30 years ago.

That said, Motic , realizing the marketing power of the name Swift is utilizing it to advance some concepts. Motic is the leading Chinese microscope manufacturer but have taken a long time to get the brand Motic in the market's eye. Swift seems destined to be noticed. Lately, advertising with both Motic( still the prominent name ) and Swift are featured. I can see a day where Swift is used to try ro obliterate the Chinese-ness of Motic microscopes.
I will be uploading a kind of review of a Swift B2 microscope shortly, one of the more interesting and innovative recent Chinese designs, now the B3.

Interesting history. I had a couple of older Swift Microscopes in a previous life, a Swift 3500D and a Swift 3601, the 3500D being my favorite of the two, but both were good quality 'scopes. I still have a Swift M^2 field microscope, which I really like because of the micro / macro utility and the "Magni-Changer" giving 5X to 400x, 1.2N.A. condenser, adjustable mechanical stage (X only) and the ability to change stage platforms for field use. This was older Swift technology. Now Motic offers the M^3 which, IMO, is not near as versatile.

Catalog number of the 100X is 1079.

[apochronaut]

The M2 and M3 are both Motic . The older Japanese made Swift are a whole other thing. I don't know who made them. The forum member Lorez does because I believe he serviced them.
I think with the Chinese Motic/Swift M2, they realized a few mistakes or possibly reacted to comments/criticisms about the design. Basically, it is a very potentially capable and versatile design that falls short optically : at least in the micro mode. The macro mode is pretty good. Probably they have improved the micro mode in the M3. R.M.S. objectives that can be removed etc.

I'll start a thread about it. It is one of the modern Chinese instruments that should be delved into in detail because it is quite unique.

[apochronaut]

The popularity if Swift microscopes is based on several elements.
James Swift and Son was a venerable innovative English microscope maker, which made a number of the most classic British microscopes. As the British industry faltered, the Swift trademark went to another company but ultimately ended up in Japan, as a supplier to the U.S. where the trademark was not protected , so the U.S. distribution and trademarking of Swift microscopes is now held by a Texas company including likely Mexico and Canada at least.
They and their manufacturer are well aware of the power of that name. Any search will turn up the name as one holding a quality tradition. Motic of Hong Kong, which is a pretty good Chinese mfg. actually makes the new ones and has leveraged the Swift name as a division of Motic with a specific "style" to them. In most ways they are just a cheap Chinese microscope but with their recognizable " jug handle" and traceable name they sound better to the uninitiated. Even the owner of this forum has promoted one.
Chinese Swift microscopes use pretty much the same optics as any other Chinese microscope, which in their basic achromat incarnation are optically far inferior to even the most proletarian quality U.S. made microscope from even 70 years ago, let alone one of the flagship models, from 30 years ago.

That said, Motic , realizing the marketing power of the name Swift is utilizing it to advance some concepts. Motic is the leading Chinese microscope manufacturer but have taken a long time to get the brand Motic in the market's eye. Swift seems destined to be noticed. Lately, advertising with both Motic( still the prominent name ) and Swift are featured. I can see a day where Swift is used to try ro obliterate the Chinese-ness of Motic microscopes.
I will be uploading a kind of review of a Swift B2 microscope shortly, one of the more interesting and innovative recent Chinese designs, now the B3.

Interesting history. I had a couple of older Swift Microscopes in a previous life, a Swift 3500D and a Swift 3601, the 3500D being my favorite of the two, but both were good quality 'scopes. I still have a Swift M^2 field microscope, which I really like because of the micro / macro utility and the "Magni-Changer" giving 5X to 400x, 1.2N.A. condenser, adjustable mechanical stage (X only) and the ability to change stage platforms for field use. This was older Swift technology. Now Motic offers the M^3 which, IMO, is not near as versatile.

Catalog number of the 100X is 1079.

There have been some #1127 for sale on ebay from the 60, I gather. Some marked infinity and some not. Thought it might be one of those. 1079 is good. The bright and non-plan dark phase objectives are based on it too. They continued to make that objective in the fat barrel until they quit. Last ones were marked Reichert achromat. It had a 30 year run.

[myxomop]

Following this thread. I had a Swift M3 (or was it an M2?) recommended to me around a decade and a half ago as a "good field scope." I'd turned it down on the basis of it being limited to 400x, and my work (fungal systematics) requiring the observation of features only visible at 1000x. Still, the "convertible" style that combines dissecting and compound scopes into one... sort of... is intriguing. If it would constitute hijacking this thread to ask its participants what a 1000x-capable field scope recommendation would be in 2023, I will start a separate thread on the topic, but if not... what would you recommend? +1 for build quality that can endure periodic exposure to high humidity environments (ie: cloud forest) before going back into a pelican case full of silica gel, and for a dedicated camera port.

[apochronaut]

I have a project in the works that became stalled due to a specific feature I want to include but it need not impede someone else from diy'ing a similar scope with different objectives. It is just over 4000 gms. with 4 objectives and binocular head, if I recall correctly, and could have a 20mm f.o.v. but my current version is 18mm due to my optics choices. I will post photos when I can but I am stretched to the limit for time right now. I was rear ended by an 18 wheeler with a pup trailer no less, doing about 25 kph more than me 3 weeks ago, so am scrambling to find a replacement vehicle before my provided rental expires in 2 days.

Briefly though, it is a Spencer model 78 Scholastic, which features a single large knob on each side of the arm, controlling both the coarse and fine focus through a variable clock gear inside the arm. The base which houses a 10 watt incandescent illuminator, is a light weight hollow bakelite pedestal, large enough to take a replacement high lumens illluminator, condenser and even rechargeable lithium battery pack inside. The instrument was originally only monocular, with a 2 or 3 position nosepiece but the arm and track is identical to that of a Spencer model 15 or 35. , thus a binocular viewing body with a 4 position nosepiece can therefore be placed directly onto the compact and light model 78 frame . One hitch is that the casting of the 15/35 focus block is just slightly longer than that of the 78 and the 37mm parfocal objectives I chose cannot focus without machining a bit of aluminum off the casting, which I have been procrastinating over . 45mm parfocal objectives, would likely work as is but I haven't tried that. I am commited to my present set up because it is dry, due to the Hacker 80X .90 N.A. dry objective I have in it. I don't want to have an immersion field scope, so all objectives have been coordinated to complement the 80X .90 Hacker. Older Leitz 10X/18mm periplans work well with it, giving perfectly corrected images. There would be nothing to stop someone using other 160mm objectives in a similar hybrid scope and achieve 1000X oil immersion at high N.A., probably even 1250X with good compatible 12.5X eyepieces. The base microscopes required in order to fuse a compact, light binocular are common and cheap.
I will post pictures a.s.a.p.
I agree, the Swift M3 is quite limiting in terms of the image quality but nevertheless, really a great versatile design.