Olympus 1.4 condenser

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ChrisR
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Olympus 1.4 condenser

Post by ChrisR »

I believe this unused Aplanat Achromatic condenser may be a BH-AAC.
From Alan Wood's pdf ,
http://www.alanwood.net/downloads/olymp ... e-1977.pdf
(It does not have a flip-top)

Image

P7's sketch isn't quite right, but probably close enough.

P22 associates it with the BH-A only. Does that mean it's what it came with. or can only be used with?

I have a couple of part microscopes - BH something(2?), CH2 and CH30.
I assume I'd only get proper illumination with the BH, but do the upstream illumination sources differ between the BH models to make it unsuitable for those? What does the underside dovetail (47mm od) fit?

"The standard condensers include the achromatic/aplanatic
condenser N.A, 1.40, the Abbe condenser N.A. 1.25, and the
super widefield condenser N.A. 0.95, depending on the
model of your choice, for optimum illumination of the
specimen from low power 4X to oil immersion 100X
objectives. Furthermore, the achromalic/aplanatic condenser
is corrected for chromatic aberration, spherical aberration
and curvature of field, and is provided with a graduated
aperture iris diaphragm, decenterable for oblique illumination.
It is recommended for work. with high Quality apo·
chromats and plan apochromats."


This one doesn't have any (de)centering mechanism - I assume they mean one to use the normal condenser mount centering screws.

Edit it looks like this one https://www.spachoptics.com/OLYMPUS-U-A ... denser.htm . I've read the dovetail is used for fitting on later models.
Chris R

Alan Wood
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Post by Alan Wood »

Chris

I have only seen photos of a BH-AAC, but that condenser looks just like my BH2-AAC. The BH-AAC can slide the iris for oblique illumination.

The 47mm bottom dovetail is where it attaches to the substage of a BH-2 (or some BX) microscope.

On my BH2-AAC, the cylindrical top part is less than 36 mm diameter. There is no way to slide the iris for oblique illumination.

On the BH-2, centering is a function of the substage, not part of the actual condenser.

If it really was a BH-AAC, I think it would fit the 36.8 mm sleeve in the BHA, BHB and BHC. The BHA and BHB have identical lighting systems, the BHC is simpler. The CH and CH-2 also have a 36.8 mm sleeve, but I don't know if the BH-AAC would fit or be fully illuminated.

Image

Alan Wood
Last edited by Alan Wood on Wed Nov 15, 2017 4:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ChrisR
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Post by ChrisR »

Thanks, 35.7mm top part, so it's a BH2-AAC.
Chris R

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