Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

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hans
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Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#1 Post by hans » Sun Aug 09, 2020 8:19 pm

I recently messaged an eBay seller for clarification about a listing for an AO series 10 head that said eyepieces were included but did not show any in the pictures. They said no, no eyepieces, but as a thank you for pointing out the mistake they would include these Reichert ones if I bought the head. The overall build quality is higher than the standard 181 eyepieces for a Microstar IV (better anti-reflective coatings, thicker aluminum parts, CNC-engraved markings, etc.) and they appear to be a more complex optical design with more elements and a concave external surface on the eye lens. They are 23.2 mm and fit in the Microstar IV and focus at the same point as the 181. I have not done any really careful comparison but the image looks at least as good as the 181 and I think there is less pincushion distortion.

Searching brought up some mentions of Univar/Polyvar/Polymet but if I understand correctly those all use 30 mm diameter eyepieces and these look different than what I have seen in photos of complete microscopes anyways. There is this eBay listing of a Leitz Secolux with them but I sort of doubt they would be the original eyepieces? Anyone familiar with these?
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MichaelG.
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#2 Post by MichaelG. » Sun Aug 09, 2020 10:32 pm

This looks encouraging: https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/153448683995

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

apochronaut
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#3 Post by apochronaut » Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:02 am

MichaelG. wrote:
Tue Nov 26, 7011 8:19 am
This looks encouraging: https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/153448683995

MichaelG.
That is a WPK 10X with a 30mm tubel such were used on the Poly group of instruments. The later eyepieces for the 160mm microscopes and the earliest versions of that 10X/24mm eyepiece were marked PK, for plan kompensating. Later the designation was WPK for both those 10X/24 and the 10X/20 eyepieces used in the 45mm parfocal infinity instruments with 23.2mm tubes. The Austrian made 34mm parfocal microscopes used WF.

The Secolux was a 1980's Leitz instrument that originally used 10X/18 periplans, in the early 80's.. It is an infinity corrected microscope. I have seen another with the WP 10X/20 eyepieces.There was a lot of shifting of brand names after the merger and prior to the adoption of the name Leica. They may have been original, towards the end of Leitz. Even B & L stuff got branded Reichert.
I think I have seen a Diastar with a set of those in it.
The dark purple coating was a Reichert thing. Even Austrian made versions of some of the 34mm parfocal objectives had that. It doesn't seem to make a difference to the performance.

wabutter
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#4 Post by wabutter » Mon Aug 10, 2020 3:22 am

If my memory serves me correctly, the WP 10x/20 eyepieces were used on an early version of the Polylite for the Semi conductor group. One iteration of the Polylite used the tube from the Microstar IV with a special telelens that was compatible with the Vienna made objectives from the Reichert facility. Otherwise the same lens design and coatings were used from the Polyvar Met that had a 30mm eyepiece tube.
This was during the Cambridge Instrument era, pre Leica. There were many iterations of the Polylite in that time period. This was the time frame that had very rapid changes in the microscope requirements for the Semiconductor manufacturing companies. It was also the timing that saw migration from 6” wafers to 8”.

hans
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#5 Post by hans » Mon Aug 10, 2020 4:05 am

apochronaut wrote:
Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:02 am
The Secolux was a 1980's Leitz instrument that originally used 10X/18 periplans, in the early 80's.. It is an infinity corrected microscope. I have seen another with the WP 10X/20 eyepieces.There was a lot of shifting of brand names after the merger and prior to the adoption of the name Leica. They may have been original, towards the end of Leitz.
Interesting, the Periplan 10x/18 high eyepoint which there are a lot of on eBay do look pretty similar in terms of overall size and construction, so maybe this is a derivative of that design?

On these the exit pupil is ~20 mm above the glass vs. more like 18 mm on the 181. And unlike the 181 the metal around the eye lens is just a cosmetic trim piece that can be removed leaving nothing protruding beyond the glass. Maybe they will be useful for an afocal camera setup.

Is the concave eye lens just a way to get more clearance in a high eyepoint design? (Assuming these could be a derivative of the high eyepoint Periplan, maybe just not explicitly marked as high eyepoint?)

hans
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#6 Post by hans » Mon Aug 10, 2020 4:19 am

wabutter wrote:
Mon Aug 10, 2020 3:22 am
...special telelens that was compatible with the Vienna made objectives from the Reichert facility.
Are these are large-diameter ones with coaxial epi illumination path, matte silver finish, usually plan fluorite type, that commonly show up on eBay?

MichaelG.
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#7 Post by MichaelG. » Mon Aug 10, 2020 4:53 am

apochronaut wrote:
Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:02 am
MichaelG. wrote:
Tue Nov 26, 7011 8:19 am
This looks encouraging: https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/153448683995

MichaelG.
That is a WPK 10X with a 30mm tubel ...
I stand corrected

MichaelG.
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apochronaut
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#8 Post by apochronaut » Mon Aug 10, 2020 10:56 am

hans wrote:
Mon Aug 10, 2020 4:19 am
wabutter wrote:
Mon Aug 10, 2020 3:22 am
...special telelens that was compatible with the Vienna made objectives from the Reichert facility.
Are these are large-diameter ones with coaxial epi illumination path, matte silver finish, usually plan fluorite type, that commonly show up on eBay?
There seems to be a lot of those around. What we don't see many of in N.A. are the 45mm parfocal microscopes made in Austria, with 23.2mm ocular tubes. I don't think they were exported to here, probably because they somewhat duplicated the existing models from Buffalo. Your eyepiece may be from one of those: they may have changed the designation to just WP at a later date.
It looks to me like it may be a clone of the 145, which also has the concave eyelens and has a larger architecture than the 181.

wabutter
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#9 Post by wabutter » Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:11 am

The link to follow has a picture of the Polylite with the Microstar IV trinocular tube that would have used the WP eyepieces. Here is the link on ebay.
https://www.ebay.com/i/254653634163?chn=ps

I have not figured out how to post an image in the forum.
Note: These eyepieces were not derived from the Periplan eyepiece. This was many years before the merger with E. Leitz. The WP eyepieces were derived from the Polyvar series and used a 23mm interface. They could have supported a 30mm FOV like the Polyvar if the rest of the optics could have managed it.

Wayne

hans
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#10 Post by hans » Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:27 am

wabutter wrote:
Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:11 am
They could have supported a 30mm FOV like the Polyvar if the rest of the optics could have managed it.
Thanks for the info. I guess that explains the odd-looking proportions with the upper part being so much larger than the tube.

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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#11 Post by apochronaut » Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:12 pm

The eyepieces for the Diavar II, which used the same cover slip corrected objectives as the Poly microscopes, when they were set up for transmission microscopy , are referred to as BPK 10X in literature but also show up as WK 10X in pictures from the manual. They are a 4 element eyepiece.
What about this one, Wayne. I think it is a 20mm f.o.v. for a Poly?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/POLYVAR-REICHE ... 4186832076

wabutter
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#12 Post by wabutter » Tue Aug 11, 2020 4:12 pm

It is the same as the WP 10x/20 with one exception. It is focusable, so a reticle could be inserted and focus compensation could be made because only one eyetube on the Microstar IV/ Diastar is focusable. Notice the knurling around the top of the eyepiece so you could grip it to rotate. Keep in mind the eyepieces used on the Polyvar (TL or RL) had no provisions for inserting a reticle. The field stop was not available to place the reticle. This was managed through the dual reflex module and a image was projected to a conjugate image plane in the middle of the optical path.

One other note: If you remove the Trinocular Tube from the Polylite picture there will be a tube extending down toward the nosepiece that repositions the telelens for that application as compared to the flush mount of the Telelens on the Diastar Trinocular Tube. That Telelens also contained corrections for the slight differences in the lateral color correction between the Buffalo /Vienna objectives.

apochronaut
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#13 Post by apochronaut » Tue Aug 11, 2020 4:44 pm

So, it is a measuring eyepiece that focuses relative to the plane of focus rather than as a diopter focusing eyepiece would with the plane of focus?
The 30mm tubes I have seen for the Poly scopes did not have a diopter focuser . Instead the eyepieces included diopter focusing and had a locking screw which engaged a groove in the eyepiece tube, so the eyepieces did not turn when focused. On the other hand, the Polylite example you linked to previously, with 23.2mm tubes, does have dual diopter focusing as do many examples of Microstars and Diastars. It seems it was an option with them.

wabutter
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#14 Post by wabutter » Tue Aug 11, 2020 8:19 pm

Yep, that is correct. The viewing tubes with dual adjustable eyetubes were essentially for use with the Dual Viewing system. Otherwise, a single focusing eyetube was used on the Trinocs.

Metaplan
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#15 Post by Metaplan » Sun Nov 22, 2020 12:09 am

I just purchased a Leica/Reichert Metaplan inspection microscope that uses the WP10x/20 eyepiece, and its companion WP10x/20f eyepiece. The microscope looks like it was built in the 1980s.
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Scarodactyl
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Re: Reichert Austria WP 10x/20 eyepieces -- what microscope were they designed for?

#16 Post by Scarodactyl » Sun Nov 22, 2020 3:11 am

Awesome, I'm glad you bought it! I was feeling a bit of deal envy even though I have way more scopes than I need, it would have killed me if you passed it up.

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