fs: LEICA HR PlanApo 5x/0.50 LWD WD 19mm

[Pawel]

I have for sale a microscope lens of the Leica FluoCombi III system with the adapter M60(body) - M42. Perfect condition. Like NEW.
MRSP: 4552usd (objective) and 184usd adapter.

The specification show that the lens works like other Mitutoyo/Optem objectives, i.e. at infinity F=200,
which means it can be perfect for extreme macro due to the high NA of 0.50.
Unfortunately, at the moment I can't check it on my Infinity Setup, but I will soon do it and post the results.

[Scarodactyl]

With a 200mm fl tube lens it will give 10x magnification. Certainly a lens I've only dared speculate about, but the 2x from the same system (this is a Z series objective retrofit to the stereos) gives remarkable results.

[Pawel]

Ok,thx. I will check it with my laowa 100mm macro :-) (for 5x)

[Lou Jost]

With a 200mm fl tube lens it will give 10x magnification. Certainly a lens I've only dared speculate about, but the 2x from the same system (this is a Z series objective retrofit to the stereos) gives remarkable results.

Scarodactyl, can you elaborate on that? I have one of those Leica PlanApo lenses and I don't know how to use it for photography (as a standalone component; I don't have a Leica stereoscope). Nothinmg I have tried has worked (except in the very center of the field).

[Scarodactyl]

With a 200mm fl tube lens it will give 10x magnification. Certainly a lens I've only dared speculate about, but the 2x from the same system (this is a Z series objective retrofit to the stereos) gives remarkable results.

Scarodactyl, can you elaborate on that? I have one of those Leica PlanApo lenses and I don't know how to use it for photography (as a standalone component; I don't have a Leica stereoscope). Nothinmg I have tried has worked (except in the very center of the field).

The trick is that this isn't a stereo microscope objective, it is a macroscope objective. It was designed to work on the Z6 tube lens, giving full resolution at a fairly low magnification relatively speaking, without having to deal with covering two parallel light paths. When mounted on a stereo microscope a prism is put above to split the mono image in two and feed the same thing into each light path. My nominal 2x acts like a high resolution 4x apo objective (though with poor planarity) on a 200mm tube lens and seems like it could cover more.
I did a thread about it. If you were willing to post in that thread or in a new thread about the stereo objective I'd love to learn more and see the results even if they haven't been great.

Of course my good results with the 2x/0.234 may not transfer to the 5x/0.5 but I suspect they would. It should be pretty exceptional.

[Lou Jost]

Scarodactyl, I am in the field now but when I get home I will try to dig out those attempts and post them on the thread you mentioned. It is an expensive piece of glass and it seems to have much potential, but it is also very weird. When I use it as a loupe I see incredible resolution but also what I call "exaggerated perspective" as I move the lens around. I think this may be a design feature to help give a stronger stereo effect.

[Scarodactyl]

My Wild M10 is hypercentric. Maybe that is related.

[Lou Jost]

That's really interesting. I just looked up "hypercentric lens" and it sounds like what I am seeing.

[Pawel]

Price: 2500eur, free shipping cost!

[zeniki]

Hello all, did anyone here test the performance of this lens in the corner of a fullframe sensor ( better or worse than the Mitutoyo HR5XNA0,21)
Thanks
Zeniki

[Scarodactyl]

I don't think anyone has tested it.

[zeniki]

Ok, so we have to wait for pawels findings with a 100 mm tubelens hopefully on a fullframe sensor.

[Pawel]

Unfortunately, I was unable to test it. According to the specification, the lens has an M42 thread, but it is not a standard M42x1! only.. M42 (PH3) and although the thread pitch is 1mm as in the case of a standard m42, the lens does not want to screw in ;-(
I was looking for a reduction that would allow me to connect it, but unfortunately there is nothing. Although RafCamera offers such an adapter, the difference is male-female thread.
https://www.ebay.pl/itm/254037591510
The female thread should be PH3 and here it's the other way around. I think I will write to them and order a special adapter, but it will take a long time again ;-/

[Scarodactyl]

Yeah, as I mentioned in the pm it's m42 with three starts, a stupid and unfriendly spec to be frank. There are theoretical benefits but we all know this was just to make it more proprietary. I know raf has made adapters for them.

[bralex]

What I've done with one other oddball lens was to take a piece of UHMW HDPE (Ultra-high Molecular Weight High-Density Polyethylene; a soft, heavy plastic) and drill it out to just a bit smaller than the outside diameter of the threads, then just screw in the lens. The plastic is soft enough to deform to fit the threads, it held quite firmly. You can cut the other end as needed, slip fit, male or female thread, what have you. I bought a bunch of pieces of HDPE years ago (a big box of drops from a manufacturing process) - since they were scrap they were very cheap and I use them for everything - leveling furniture, improvised specimen mounts for my microscope or photography, threaded or unthreaded adapters, machine parts, you name it. Very easy to machine/cut/drill/file.