Upgrade Advice

[JimT]

Would like advice on which is a better upgrade; a 60x achromatic objective or a pair of 16x eyepieces. Looking for an alternative to the 100x oil obj. but want to avoid "empty" magnification.

Thanks for any suggestions. JimT

[gekko]

Not an expert, but I would say a 60x objective, as it will have a higher numerical aperture than the 40x and hence give better resolution. With the 16x eyepieces you will see a larger image but not more detail. Just a reminder that with the higher NA objectives, cover glass thickness becomes more important, keeping in mind that the layer of water or embedding medium between the top of the object under observation and the bottom surface of the cover glass adds effective thickness to that of the cover glass, so that the thickness of that layer of water (or embedding medium) needs to be as small as possible for the best possible image. For what it is worth, I use #1 cover glass, my thinking being that the layer of water between the top surface of the object and the bottom of the cover glass will result in an effective thickness close to the required 0.17 mm, but since my images are not nearly as good as yours, one can argue that if I used # 1 1/2 cover glasses my images might improve-- who knows?

[JimT]

Thanks for the input. You reinforced my feelings about "empty" magnification.

BTW, I would argue about your images. JimT

[gekko]

You are too kind .

[Heihachi07]

Make sure that the central patch stop is sufficiently dark. Otherwise there is too much light passing through and the specimen itself will be too bright, taking on the color of the patch stop. If the sample also shows green, then try to adjust the size of the central patch stop. There is an optimum size for the different objectives.