Well, today I say goodbye to a reliable old friend. The first halogen bulb I put in my Zeiss ICM-405 illuminator over 12 years and 5000+ hours use ago. The filament is still bright and shiny, albeit a little "ablated-looking" but the very tip of one of the legs had gone dark and rough. I assume this was what started it intermittently flickering of late - so it's now been replaced. Seemed a shame not to get one last use out of the old bulb though - pics attached
The darkened lead end. A 275-image stack, 50x Mitutoyo M-Plan APO, cropped.
The filament (about 5mm wide). A 70-image stack, 5x Mitutoyo M-Plan APO, cropped.
Osram HLX-64625 halogen lamp filament
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