descall,
If you find some fine details that are not resolved well by DIC, please give a try to oblique (offset oblique or circular oblique) illumination.
Many microscopists believe that oblique can resolve dots on diatoms better than DIC sometimes, even though DIC images are prettier. This is because the shadow produced by oblique can sometimes help resolving tiny dots not resolvable by DIC, but such shadow may or may not be aesthetically pleasing.
Also, sometimes contrast matters more than aperture/NA. With a 2 micron thin colorless/transparent plant section, we did "resolution" comparison between DIC, phase contrast, oblique and darkfield, one time. Phase "resolved" much more structures than all other techniques, even though phase images are not pretty (and its utilized aperture/NA is about half of all other techniques).
I am guessing what you intent to get is the best compromise among image aesthetics, resolution and contrast, for your live moss tissue.
Best DIC set-up for cell details with wet mounts?
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau