Reichert Polyvar

Everything relating to microscopy hardware: Objectives, eyepieces, lamps and more.
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apochronaut
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#31 Post by apochronaut » Sun Apr 09, 2023 5:17 pm

I'm not 100% sure on the dates or timeframes. My dates are when I know for sure or when some document has a date. Leica pretty much turned the 182mm system into their 200mm Delta system until 1997. I don't know if the Leica branded Polyvars had tweaked reference lengths. I have seen only 2.

Here is the infinity corrected timeline for AO/Reichert/Leica All dates approximate.
1961. AO launches 182mm reference length system series 10/20 with 34mm parfocal objectives.
1962. AO acquires C. Reichert.
1967 AO merges with Warner Lambert
1972 C. Reichert launches Univar with 182mm reference length system and 45mm parfocal objectives.
1976 C. Reichert launches Diavar 2 with 182mm reference length system and 45mm parfocal objectives
1978 C. Reichert launches Polyvar with 182mm reference length system and 45mm parfocal objectives.
The Polylite and Polycon came later but I don't know when.
1980 AO launches series 100/110/120 with 182mm reference length system and 34mm parfocal objectives
1982 C. Reichert launches Neovar 2 with 182mm reference length system and 34mm objectives.
1986 AO acquired by Cambridge Instruments
1986 AO and Reichert name change to Reichert-Jung (C. Reichert had previously acquired Jung microtomes)
1985 Reichert-Jung launches series 400/420 with 182mm reference length system and 45mm parfocal objectives
1990 Cambridge Instruments( AO, Bausch & Lomb,Cambridge Instruments, C.Reichert,Jung) merges with Wild-Leitz ( E. Leitz Wetzlar, Kern, Wild Heerbrugg).
1991 Merged 8 companies renamed Leica Microsystems. Not affiliated with Leica camera.
1991 Leica Microsystems launches Delta Optics 200mm reference length system with 45mm parfocal length, a tweaked version of the original AO/Reichert 182mm reference length system.
1996 Leica Microsystems launches HCX 200mm reference focal length system with 60mm parfocal length. Later to become HC

Apparently, Reichert ceased microscope production in 1999 but Leica probably continued to make the Polyvar for a while in Wetzlar. The AO factory was still making the Diastar branded Leica in 2001.

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#32 Post by Rorschach » Sun Apr 09, 2023 7:43 pm

Thanks for the timeline! This means that my Polyvar is 1986 production or newer as it is branded Reichert-Jung.

apochronaut
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#33 Post by apochronaut » Sun Apr 09, 2023 7:55 pm

Probably. That also pretty much coincided with the change from engraved objective specifications to painted specifications.

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#34 Post by Rorschach » Sun Apr 09, 2023 8:18 pm

The change from engraved to painted was a bad call. I've seen some Polyvar EPI lenses that are quite illegible because the paint has worn off.

apochronaut
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#35 Post by apochronaut » Sun Apr 09, 2023 10:42 pm

There was that period between engraving and laser engraving or etching that had some problems for sure. Saved a few pennies I guess by laying off the engravers, or sending them to laser school on the public tab. Some objectives are worse than others.
When I receive a painted objective, I clean it of all dirt and oil as gently as possible then apply a protective matte tape wrap that is precision cut to butt join not overlap. It probably has a few decades of life. Way more than the few scraps if paint that are left.

Hobbyst46
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#36 Post by Hobbyst46 » Mon Apr 10, 2023 9:48 am

apochronaut wrote:
Sun Apr 09, 2023 10:42 pm
There was that period between engraving and laser engraving or etching that had some problems for sure. Saved a few pennies I guess by laying off the engravers, or sending them to laser school on the public tab. Some objectives are worse than others....
Indeed, I was shocked to find that the painted marks on the barrel of a new, very expensive Nikon objective were easily removed by mere cleaning with a relatively innocent solvent (I believe it was alcohol or octane, cannot remember which).

JWW
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#37 Post by JWW » Tue Apr 11, 2023 5:03 pm

Congrats, very nice and very hard to find.

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#38 Post by Rorschach » Tue Apr 11, 2023 5:18 pm

Thanks :-) Now if I only could find and get all the various part for the stage assembly, I'd be a step closer to getting somewhere :D

Also looking for the slider/polarizing comparator that is needed for EPI DIC.

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#39 Post by Rorschach » Thu Apr 13, 2023 9:17 am

Got a chance to see to scope today and take a few more photos. First two go out to @apochronaut:
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So yes, the 10x is in fact a Plan Apo IK 0.32!

Then there was this strange black one on the revolver as well:
20230413_105842.jpg
20230413_105842.jpg (86.32 KiB) Viewed 484774 times
:?:

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#40 Post by Rorschach » Thu Apr 13, 2023 9:27 am

Then a few photos of the photo tube thingy on top of the scope. I removed it and voila....it seems the scope is already set up for a full frame 35mm camera! Just need to get the correct adapter for whatever I will start using. Maybe a Sony A7 II , despite it's lack of 4K video...it is the only one I could possibly afford.
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20230413_110059.jpg
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No idea what that red lever does though.

viktor j nilsson
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#41 Post by viktor j nilsson » Thu Apr 13, 2023 10:02 am

The strange black one is for centering a fluorescence light source.

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#42 Post by Rorschach » Thu Apr 13, 2023 10:03 am

On the left side, above the turret seems to be a transmitted-light exciter filter cube 'B1' of which the manual says 'blue, BP 455 - 490'
20230413_110203.jpg
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On the left side one can also see a slide-in filter (I suppose), i.e. the black thingy with three different optics on it, one red the other two white with black markings on them. What is that for?

On the right hand side, above the turret, is a fluorochrome module cube 'V2' of which the manual says 'AFS, atebrine, berberine sulfate, catecholamine, primulin 0, quinacrin mustard (quinacrin hydrochlorid)'. I don't have a good photo of the right side module cube but it's there.

I also do not know what is or is not in the couple internal filter wheels whose hand wheels are on either side, low on the body of the scope. But the one on the left side is a 'turret for incident-light fluorescence filter insert'. Maybe there's filters inside, maybe it's empty. But based on the previsously mentioned two cube modules on both sides of the scope, above the objective revolver, the scope seems to be equipped for fluorescence as well. Right?

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#43 Post by Rorschach » Thu Apr 13, 2023 10:06 am

viktor j nilsson wrote:
Thu Apr 13, 2023 10:02 am
The strange black one is for centering a fluorescence light source.
Ahh, thanks Viktor! The plot thickens! Maybe the black slide-in thingy on the side of the scope is tied to fluorescence as well then.

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shutterbug
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#44 Post by shutterbug » Thu Apr 13, 2023 11:49 am

Rorschach wrote:
Thu Apr 13, 2023 9:27 am


No idea what that red lever does though.
Isn't that for adjusting the parfocality? So that the focus is on the same plane when you look through the eyepiece and the camera?

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#45 Post by Rorschach » Thu Apr 13, 2023 2:10 pm

shutterbug wrote:
Thu Apr 13, 2023 11:49 am
Rorschach wrote:
Thu Apr 13, 2023 9:27 am


No idea what that red lever does though.
Isn't that for adjusting the parfocality? So that the focus is on the same plane when you look through the eyepiece and the camera?
That would be logical and actually a great feature! Hopefully you are right :)

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#46 Post by Rorschach » Thu Apr 13, 2023 2:16 pm

Rorschach wrote:
Thu Apr 13, 2023 10:03 am
On the left side one can also see a slide-in filter (I suppose), i.e. the black thingy with three different optics on it, one red the other two white with black markings on them. What is that for?
The 'black slide-in thingy' as I so expertly named it, actually is part C35 of the incident-light fluorescence unit (C33), please see a page out of the manual:
Polyvar_Incident_light_fluorescence.jpg
Polyvar_Incident_light_fluorescence.jpg (100.3 KiB) Viewed 484730 times

So, unless I am completely mistaken, it looks like this unit is at least partially equipped for both incindent light and transmitted light fluorescence 8-)

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shutterbug
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#47 Post by shutterbug » Thu Apr 13, 2023 3:04 pm

Rorschach wrote:
Thu Apr 13, 2023 2:10 pm
shutterbug wrote:
Thu Apr 13, 2023 11:49 am
Rorschach wrote:
Thu Apr 13, 2023 9:27 am


No idea what that red lever does though.
Isn't that for adjusting the parfocality? So that the focus is on the same plane when you look through the eyepiece and the camera?
That would be logical and actually a great feature! Hopefully you are right :)
It would make sense as that's a camera specific mount so only very minor tolerances would be expected and therefore only very minor adjustments would be required - so it's not a huge travel :)

Hobbyst46
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#48 Post by Hobbyst46 » Thu Apr 13, 2023 8:50 pm

Sorry folks, I do not see any transmitted light fluorescence on this scope. Only incident (epi-illumination, including the cube). Or did I miss it ?
Since Reichert did provide epi, it would not make much sense to provide transmitted as well, given its definite inferiority relative to epi-illumination for fluorescence.
Transmitted was the option on much older microscopes - such as mine...

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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#49 Post by viktor j nilsson » Fri Apr 14, 2023 3:53 am

Yeah I'm sorry for that, I realize now I should have said that it's for centering an epi illumination light source, as it's in no way specific to fluorescence.

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#50 Post by Rorschach » Fri Apr 14, 2023 4:48 am

Okay, thanks for the insights guys. You are probably right. I'm just wondering about the transmitted light fluorescence because all the lenses are for transmitted, not EPI. Or could it be that these lenses can nevertheless be used also for EPI fluorescence? Then it would all make sense.

apochronaut
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#51 Post by apochronaut » Fri Apr 14, 2023 11:03 am

You don't need epi objectives for incident fluorescence. Just objectives that are transparent to UV.

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#52 Post by Rorschach » Fri Apr 14, 2023 11:14 am

apochronaut wrote:
Fri Apr 14, 2023 11:03 am
You don't need epi objectives for incident fluorescence. Just objectives that are transparent to UV.
Okay, I see. Supposedly then, the presence of the other incident fluorescence gear on this scope means that the lenses are transparent to UV. I may need to find the correct power/transformer for that big lamp unit at the back of the scope, to really find out about this. The built-in 100W lamp isn't supposed to be used for fluorescence. Whether it does have some capability for that, I need to read up on.

The XY table saga did not have a happy ending. I was able to salvage almost all the parts of it (some from a metal recycling thrash can!) but some will remain lost, rendering the subsystem unusable. So these became a reservoir or spare parts. However, thanks to a great member here, I was able to purchase an entire XY-table subsystem at a reasonable price!

By the way, while hunting for those parts on the web, I came upon millions of Polyvar listings by a certain 'silo of surplus' (changed a little to fool search engines). That outfit seems to grab all the scopes in the world, then promptly disassemble all of them and proceed to flood the eevilbay with (usually) grossly overpriced singular items.

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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#53 Post by Phill Brown » Fri Apr 14, 2023 1:51 pm

We should all be made aware of silo.
Wait until the part you need becomes available elsewhere,mass produced means just that.
Low volume production still means they won't have all of them.

MichaelG.
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#54 Post by MichaelG. » Fri Apr 14, 2023 2:23 pm

Despite which … the Silo has 99.8% positive feedback on ebay

Nice work if you can get it !!

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#55 Post by Rorschach » Fri Apr 14, 2023 4:04 pm

I guess somebody buys from them then. Hard to imagine who, though, as they usually don't even have the option to offer a lower than listed price.

apochronaut
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#56 Post by apochronaut » Fri Apr 14, 2023 7:04 pm

Silo is o.k. You just have to do your homework and ask questions. In my case being in Canada, the shipping is high, around 40US but they will ship up to 5 items for that. They almost always will take a lower price, often about 1/2. Over the years I have bought 3 lots of 5 items each. Parts that I needed. They took offers for each part and of the 15, not one was bad.Most of those were optics and even a few dirty eyepieces that I took a chance on cleaned up beautifully.
The reason they have so many Polivar parts is because they are situated very close to ground zero for Polyvar usage.

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#57 Post by Rorschach » Sat Apr 15, 2023 7:51 am

apochronaut wrote:
Fri Apr 14, 2023 7:04 pm
Silo is o.k. You just have to do your homework and ask questions. In my case being in Canada, the shipping is high, around 40US but they will ship up to 5 items for that. They almost always will take a lower price, often about 1/2. Over the years I have bought 3 lots of 5 items each. Parts that I needed. They took offers for each part and of the 15, not one was bad.Most of those were optics and even a few dirty eyepieces that I took a chance on cleaned up beautifully.
The reason they have so many Polivar parts is because they are situated very close to ground zero for Polyvar usage.
Ok, good to know about the outfit. Ground zero for Polyvar...where is that actually? Unless you mean the Met and SC models, in which case it obviously is the Silicon Valley.

The more I delve into the Polyvar system, the more impressed I become. It really looks like one only needs two sets of Reichert IK objectives, one for transmitted and the other for reflected light (and a turret for each as thread size is different), to be able to use all of these methods: transmitted BF, DF, fluorescence, DIC (IK), polarization and reflected BF, DF, DIC (IK), fluorescence and polarization. This excludes basic phase contrast, for which another set of objectives would be needed.

Of course, to get all of the above, one needs to have a range of sliders, filters, cubes and comparators. However, some of these can be found for almost a song. I was able to find the objective revolver / turret for the EPI objectives in excellent condition for 75 euros and the following set of five fluorescence and other filter cubes for circa 300 euros (i.e. 60 euros per cube), all in excellent condition: V2, G1, U1, POL and BF.

Looks like putting together a real multi-tasker with quality isn't going to be a bank-breaker. Especially as I will now be able to sell off some other stuff to finance these Polyvar investments completely.

Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#58 Post by Rorschach » Sun Apr 16, 2023 12:39 pm

Newest find was these parts from a Polyvar Met at a very good price. The filter wheel is the vertical one on the right side of the scope. This slot was empty on my Polyvar. The POL and BF modules were a nice addition - seems only the DF module is missing now.

Edit: forgot to mention that those two modules are two of the cubes I mentioned in the earlier post, rest being fluorescence cubes.
Parts_from_Polyvar_Met_small.jpg
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Polyvar_Met_IL_filter_insert.jpg
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Polyvar_Met_IL_modules.jpg
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Rorschach
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#59 Post by Rorschach » Mon Apr 17, 2023 10:23 am

Lo and behold! Even the original HBO 200W lamphouse power supply was found from the abysmal depths of departmental storage, together with a used (1900 hours) bulb and a brand new one (Osram). No idea if the power has issues or is fully functional but there is some hope as the system apparently was retired as functional.

edit: those bulbs are supposed to have a rated average life of 200 hours so something does not add up. Either the counter is shot or someone was REALLY pushing their luck...if one of these explodes, you get mercury flying in all directions with some of it entering your lungs. Rather unlikeable situation I would say.
Reichert_200W_HBO_power_supply.jpg
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apochronaut
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Re: Reichert Polyvar

#60 Post by apochronaut » Mon Apr 17, 2023 11:58 am

Probably the counter was not being reset. There is less than .1mg. of mercury in the bulb to begin with and during use the mercury gets consumed through thermionic transfer to the phosphor. Since the bulb implodes not explodes, most of the mercury stays around the bulb fragments or lamp housing.There is very little risk. Those are used in projectors too and mercury metal is not that toxic, while methyl mercury caused by bacterial action is.

To put it into perspective , in 1961 when I was 10, I came upon a large brown bottle on the side of a not hugely travelled road, near to my home. In retrospect, that road led to the atmospheric environment station run by what is now Environment Canada. In the bottle was 13 lbs. of mercury. Boy did I have fun with that stuff. One or two pound blobs of it on a flat surface would entertain me and several others for at least an hour. I could make gravity rockers, float stuff on it, etc. etc.
One day, while playing wiith a sizeable blob on the kitchen table, I noticed that the aluminum trim of the table was growing fur. This continued for some time. First here, then there, then in each area where it started it began to spread along them trim. It started to get severe. It had something to do with the mercury but the problem was soon solved by putting the mercury away in it's jar, heading to the garage to get several grades of emery paper and setting to work sanding the metal trim free of fur before my parents got home. f
Mercury vapour and aluminum react to form an amalgam. Aluminum will grow in the presence of mercury vapour.

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