Periplan 10x/18 on Olympus BHMJ

[Tailgunner]

Can these type of eyepieces be used on an Olympus BHMJ metallurgical microscope.
The objectives are finite corrected and f=180.
I have read on the forum that the 10x/18 is for 170 mm tubelength;
Could I use spacers to get to the 180 mm of th BHMJ?
Or should I look for other periplan eyepieces.

[Scarodactyl]

Periplan eyepieces will match OK with olympus objectives for viewing, but you'd have a better time with whk 10x/20 eyepieces. If you want to go fancy you will sometomes find olympus of this era equipped with Bausch and Lomb 15x UWF eyepieces which give an incredibly wide field of view (also 20mm fn, but giving the astonishing visual impression of a 10x/30mm).

[Tailgunner]

Periplan eyepieces will match OK with olympus objectives for viewing, but you'd have a better time with whk 10x/20 eyepieces. If you want to go fancy you will sometomes find olympus of this era equipped with Bausch and Lomb 15x UWF eyepieces which give an incredibly wide field of view (also 20mm fn, but giving the astonishing visual impression of a 10x/30mm).

I'm looking for the Periplan because I can directly mount the eyepiece to a Nikon Coolpix4500. So I won't need a camera adapter.

[Alexander]

The Olympus objectives are for 160 mm tube length. The f=180 is NOT the tube length.
The Periplan 10x/18 is for 160 mm tube length as well. There is a 170 mm version too. Make sure to buy the proper one. They are easily identified visually.

[Scarodactyl]

The f=180 ones are actually infinity corrected but act the same as the 160mm finite ones above the tube lens built into their matching metallurgical illuminator (not meaning to nitpick, what you say is totally correct wrt eyepieces).
That said if this is going in a trinocular port on an Olympus trinocular head the leitz eyepieces might not sit low enough. Olympus whk 10xes do not (though iirc 15x ones do). It's a mechanical issue since the opening is designed for slender olympus photo eyepieces. With 3d printing it is much easier to make replacement parts with more favorable geometry to make anything fit but you do need to be comfortable DIYing.

[PeteM]

I suspect your BHMJ uses a BH-era head, rather than the wider field BH2 head. If so, it will have a chromed tube sticking up out of the trinocular portion and fit OK with the Leitz / Coolpix adaptation. As Stephen notes, if it's a BH2 trinocular head, you may have to do a bit of modification. Corrections for aberrations will be slightly off between Leitz and Olympus corrections, but you may find it just fine for routine documentation.

Pretty sure that the Leitz Peripan eyepieces marked with a field number (e.g 10x/18) are the 160mm tube length ones. The earlier 170mm tube eyepieces, far as I know, didn't mark the field size.

As Stephen said, the "f=180" infinite objectives (where 180mm is the infinite reference tube length) had a tube lens designed to allow the use of regular BH2 heads and regular BH2 compensating eyepieces. As with the finite Olympus objectives viewed through a Leitz eyepiece, corrections will be slightly off. But, perhaps not so you'd notice visually or care too much for routine photo documentation.

[Scarodactyl]

The BH era metallurgical objectives were finite so I'd guess this one is BH2 era even though they kept the same naming conventions. Some mixing and matching might happen with these.

[Tailgunner]

Mine doesn't have a trinocular head. The periplan should be used with my nikon coolpix 4500 instead of an eyepiece.
The microscope is Olympus BHMJ BH-2 UMA.
So if I read and understood the comments. This microscope has a 160 mm tubelength and the Periplan 10x/18 also.
So I should have no problems using them?

[PeteM]

The configuration should work.

You can expect:
- The disappointment most everyone finds in going from binocular viewing to a camera. Our eyes are continually focusing, and a binocular view adds a sense of immersion.
- Residual chromatic aberrations, seen more in some subjects than others, as noted earlier.
- A learning curve to eliminate every possible source of vibration and get things like exposure settings, speeds, and white balance down. My recollection is that the Coolpix has live view. You'll still want a remote release.
- A bit of joy once you get focus stacking down.