It's here!! It's here!! WooHoo!!

[twebster]

Hi y'all

My "new" microscope has arrived ...Problem is, it's at home and I'm here at work 3 more hours.

More to come...

[Ken Ramos]

Thats......going.....to be....a long.....three......hours......Tom. We wanna see pictures though!

[Kenv]

I'll bet your mind isn't on your job Tom.
Kenv

[twebster]

What job

[Steve West]

Never mind "what job" -- "what scope"???

Steve

[twebster]

Hi ya' guys

I've been home a little while and playing with the "new" 'scope. (OK, Steve, I bought a trinocular Zeiss GFL with Optovar, phase contrast condenser, and some nice objectives...for $400.00 )

Here's my report:

First of all, the stand is in pretty good shape. Some paint is missing but that's to be expected from a 1940s 'scope. The stage functions well as does the coarse focus. One of the fine focus knobs doesn't work well but the one on the right side works fine. I haven't figured out yet how to adjust the bulb but I got 2 new ones with the 'scope. The condenser carrier is fine and has a swing out filter holder and a swing out lens for low NA objectives.

The phase condenser is perfect except that one of the phase stops is missing. I've got the phase 1 and phase 2 stops which will be fine for right now. There is a darkfiled stop, a brightfield stop with iris diaphragm, and an extra empty space for some other stop or filter. I'll keep my eyes open on eBay for a phase 3 stop. The phase condenser is a NA 1.4 aplanat so that's good. It is terribly dusty, though, and will take some cleaning.

The 'scope came with 5 objectives. 1) Zeiss F 2.5x NA 0.08 achromat that is practically useless. It has a couple of large areas where the coatings have rubbed off. That's OK. I have a Zeiss Plan 2.5x, NA 0.08 achromat that will take its place. 2) Zeiss Plan 10x, NA 0.22 achromat that is in perfect condition. 3) Zeiss 16x Neofluar, NA 0.40 Phase 2 flourite objective in perfect condition. 4) Zeiss 40x, NA 0.65 phase 2 achromatic objective in good condition. 5) Zeiss Neofluar 100x, NA 1.30 flourite objective in near mint condition. I also ordered from eBay a Zeiss 40x, NA 0.75, Neofluar flourite objective that is practically new. I'm pretty satisfied with the objective lenses.

The optovar has one element that has pretty badly seperated lens elements. However, I don't think the seperation will have much effect on the image as the optovar is placed very closely to the objectives and the center appears to be quite clear. This element screws off easily so I might be able to find a replacement on eBay. The trinoc head is in perfect shape. Prisms are clean and well adjusted. The eyepieces are crap, though. They were once good KPL 12.5x high-eyepoint eyepieces but they are terribly abused and some elements are seperating. I'll be able to use them for observations but not for a relay lens. It also came with a funky arm that attaches to the trinoc port and projects an image on a piece of paper on the table top. This was used to make drawings of what you were observing. This attachment is going on eBay next week

Is it worth $400.00US considering some of the issues? Yes. The ad said the 'scope was newly serviced and that was a lie. The Zeiss stand is beautifully made and much more sturdy than my Nikon 'scope. It will take me a couple of weeks to clean up the 'scope and have it fully functional. In the meantime I will mount the objectives on the Nikon stand. The objectives are 49mm parfocal length while my LOMOs are 33mm parfocal length. I'll have to take off my flash to drop the stage enough to accommodate the longer parfocal length but I've been wanting to concentrate on algae, diatoms, and desmids this year anyhow. I've got some very good optics to work with and I'm saving my pennies to add a Zeiss Neofluar or a Leitz Fluotar in an intermediate power between 40x and 100x.

The only disappointment I have with this stand is the coarse focusing is accomplished by moving the entire microscope arm up and down on the stand. This is similar to KenV's LOMO and is going to make it difficult to keep the camera parfocal with the eyepieces. The fine-focus moves the stage up and down and may have enough travel to keep things in focus and keep the camera parfocal with the eyepieces.

I just may go back to shooting film. I am not entirely happy with the images from my Canon G3. I have to put a lot more work into getting a sharp image than I ever did using the film camera. The shutter release delay is driving me nuts. I also have a very hard time maintaining a good color balance using flash. I cannot find a way to create a custom white balance that will balance the flash and the tungsten illumination consistently. When I get the Zeiss cleaned up and ready to go I am going to mount the film camera and give it a try. I just may shoot film until I can afford to buy a used Canon D30 or D60. The experiment continues...

I'll mount the objectives on the Nikon tomorrow night and shoot some test images with the new objectives. I'll post the results soon.

I'm off to bed, now. Best regards to all as always,

[piotr]

Hi Tom,

Congratulations on your new toy! It looks like you're a big fan of the black microscopes A really amazing deal !!! There is another Zeiss Phase scope on eBay right now. I think it is similar to what you've got (not GFL stand, though), but it is four times more expensive!

I have similar experiences with my digicam. I'm using Sony DSC-V1, which is similar to G3 in terms of optical performance. I planned to use the MaxView 40 adapter, but after I read your article I don't think it is the best option. I tried reverse mounted Nikon 50mm lenses (both 1.8 and 1.4). They work ok, but vignetting was pretty strong, even at the maximum zoom setting. Then I tried to mount the 50mm lens in a regular way (not reversed). The results are a little bit better. At least vignetting is almost gone. But the pictures suffer from chromatic abberations, especially phase and dark field photos. I wonder if this is a problem of my camera, attachement, or perhaps the microscope optics.

I'm thinking about changing my primary scope (or maybe getting another one). I use American Optical (model H-20). It's a decent scope, very sturdy, and I have collected lots of attachments, including complete phase setup. The accessories are cheap. But the scope has one very important drawback: it can't use standard 160mm objectives. Only AO infinity corrected ones. The best I can get are planachromats. I can forget about fluorites or apochromats. Still, I think my major problem so far is the imaging device, so I will start looking for an used DLSR first.

Have fun and please post some pictures taken with the new scope!

[twebster]

Hi ya' Piotr

I'm sure glad to see you coming around again. I've missed you and your images. That Zeiss in the eBay ad is a Zeiss Standard with much more capability than mine. I would love to have that scope, too.

I'd hang on to your AO 'scope. The images you get from it are great although the objectives are limited. I would get an extra stand and put the 160mm objectives you want on it. I now have 3 stands (2 Nikon and the Zeiss) and I like the convenience. I use all 3 more than I thought I would.

I've worked real hard to get good images from my G3 but it is too much hard work. I think the issue is that the front lens element is just too large in diameter to fill the image frame from an objective. Reverse mounting a 50 mm lens on the camera is like adding a highly corrected diopter lens. Aberrations have a tendency to cancel out somewhat. If you add the 50mm lens in a normal orientation to the front of the digital camera lens then the aberrations between the 2 lenses add and become more pronounced.

Right now, I'm going back to film while I save for the dSLR. I miss the versatility. I can change projection lenses in the trinoc port and change magnifications easier than I can with the digital camera. I'm making the switch tonight and I'll try to post images tomorrow.

Best regards to you as always, Piotr

[nzmacro]

LOL, good onya mate