Lomo P15 incomming

[GaryB]

Because 2 microscopes are never enough, I bought a Lomo P15 to mess with

which should be arriving tomorrow and I have some questions for lomo users.
It comes with the standard 1.2 condenser, does anyone know if this is an infinite focus condenser and what is the purpose of the swing in bottom lens (low power objectives)?
It comes with a lomo light that isn't shown and I don't know which model it is, are they worth keeping or should I make my own? Whatever it is, I'll be converting it to LED anyway but was just wondering if the lamps are decent in general and particularly with relation to the supplied condenser. I know these were mostly shipped with mirrors so I suspect the condenser is infinite, if using an under stage lamp is it best to switch condensers to something more appropriate?

Apart from potential hardened grease issues, is there anything specific I should look for or do in the way of setup to optimize this before use? I already bought a Wild Fluotar 40x .75 for it and plan on getting a 3.7x and a 20x as well as maybe a 60x and a 40x phase. What else is a good option for a lomo as far as usefulness goes? A lot of questions but I'm pretty excited

[Alan Wood]

Gary

It is only objectives that come in finite and infinite versions.

There is no such thing as an infinity-corrected condenser or eyepiece.

Alan Wood

[bradr]

Actually, condensers do come in two flavors, focused at infinity
and focused at 35 cm or so. This was explained nicely by
the late Mr. Sterrenburg in his valuable "Microscopy Primer".

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.h ... /index.htm

See the section on illumination. Your condenser will be focused
at infinity. Yes, the swing-in lens is for low power.

Have fun.

Brad

[GaryB]

Thanks, it is here and in pristine condition. No seized grease, everything moves smoothly and the optics are perfect. It's no Zeiss for sure but it's cheap and a lot of fun. I'm going to modify the living daylights out of it to be my experiment testbed [/code]