MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I’m just investigating fluorescence and was curious what the difference between these two series are. The UVFL ones look similar to they style of SPlan Apo objectives but only the DPlan UV objectives are mentioned in the BH2 catalog. Do you know what the differences are and the pros and cons of each?

I have a little bit of info and experience.

The UVFL objectives show up in a 1980 "Olympus LB Objectives" catalog and are described as having fluorite glass and being suitable for vertical microscopy. I assume this means transmitted fluorescence? The one 20x UVFL objective in my possession provides a decent image in brightfield, but not particularly flat out toward the edges. Should you come across one, I'd imagine it would be fine for epi fluorescence.

Also have a more complete set of DPlanApo UV objectives, some with phase rings. These work fine in brightfield, but not quite as good as something like a regular SPlanApo. From memory, some or all the 10, 40, and 100x magnifications also work in DIC. These objectives show up in the 1992 Olympus LB objectives for biological use and (I'd guess) supersede the UVFL line. I'd think they would be more desirable, especially if you wanted to do a combination of phase contrast for a general view and fluorescence to spot proteins, etc..

I don't know how deeply each type reaches down into the UV spectrum. Could be the fluorite-glass-spec'd UVFL work a tiny bit better than the DPlanApoUV or vice versa?

As Pete M Indicated, the UVFL objectives are for vertical microscopy, which really is reflected light, not transmitted applications. I don't have the spectral curves for these objectives, but typically a UV reference is good to something in the range of 365nm. This is typical for a good biological reflected light objectives for working in the near UV range. The D plan will likely be significantly lower in transmission at the same wavelength. I am not versed enough in posting images in the thread, but search for spectral curves for the specific objective for comparison

Wayne, would you happen to know if the DPlanApoUV objectives (marked with the "UV" as opposed to regular DPlanApo) have the same UV transmission specs as the UVFL? As seen below, these came in both brightfield and phase versions.
.
.
.

Pete,
Sorry I don’t know the specifics on those objectives. It might be possible to search for the spectral curve on each objective, ideally using the cat number if you happen to have it