How do you keep these beauties still?
Oly S Plan 10x, 2.5x photoeypiece; flash; all single exposures.
A younger Volvox
Oly 20x SPlan Apo + 2.5x NFK photoeyepiece 23 frames @ 5µ ZS PMax stack
NUM10061
Volvox
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Volvox
9 views of a single live, very active, Volvox.
How do you keep these beauties still?
Oly S Plan 10x, 2.5x photoeypiece; flash; all single exposures.
A younger Volvox
Oly 20x SPlan Apo + 2.5x NFK photoeyepiece 23 frames @ 5µ ZS PMax stack
NUM10061
How do you keep these beauties still?
Oly S Plan 10x, 2.5x photoeypiece; flash; all single exposures.
A younger Volvox
Oly 20x SPlan Apo + 2.5x NFK photoeyepiece 23 frames @ 5µ ZS PMax stack
NUM10061
Last edited by NikonUser on Fri Sep 17, 2010 10:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
-
RogelioMoreno
- Posts: 2979
- Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:24 am
- Location: Panama
-
Craig Gerard
- Posts: 2877
- Joined: Sat May 01, 2010 1:51 am
- Location: Australia
-
Charles Krebs
- Posts: 5865
- Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:02 pm
- Location: Issaquah, WA USA
- Contact:
Not easy... lots of flagella at work there!How do you keep these beauties still?
Best bet is the time "window" when the water has evaporated from the wet mount sufficiently to drop the cover slip so it just holds the "colony" in place but does not distort it much. You can play around with the water depth by having an absorbent tissue and an eyedropper of pond water handy. When you touch the tissue to the edge of the coverslip it will absorb some of the water and "lower" the coverslip. Don't overdo it or you'll crush large subjects. Add a little water from the eyedropper to the edge of the coverslip/slide if things start getting flattened too much.
These are magical to observe in darkfield... simply beautiful!
Thanks to everyone for the responses.
Craig: black= edge of air bubble; not yet into darkfield.
Charles: haven't had much luck using just the water film to space large objects (e.g., Volvox) (another oxymoron!),evaporation is rapid with explosive results.
Have tried your Vaseline spots as risers, too messy.
Today I bought 2 sets of feeler gauges planning to use them as spacers beneath the cover glass.
These feeler gauges come in various thicknesses, mine are 0.038 mm, 0.051 mm, 0.064 mm. 0.076 mm, 0.102 mm, 0.127 mm, 0.152 mm, and thicker all the way up to 0.635 mm, 26 in a set.
I have 0.17 mm and 0.2 mm cover slips which can also act as spacers.
Abel: when you first see Volvox under a binocular (dissecting) microscope it reminds one of a space ship rotating and hurtling through space - they are fast.
Many years ago I used a chemical that was isotonic with water but was more viscous and slowed down Paramecium; anyone any ideas what it could have been?
Craig: black= edge of air bubble; not yet into darkfield.
Charles: haven't had much luck using just the water film to space large objects (e.g., Volvox) (another oxymoron!),evaporation is rapid with explosive results.
Have tried your Vaseline spots as risers, too messy.
Today I bought 2 sets of feeler gauges planning to use them as spacers beneath the cover glass.
These feeler gauges come in various thicknesses, mine are 0.038 mm, 0.051 mm, 0.064 mm. 0.076 mm, 0.102 mm, 0.127 mm, 0.152 mm, and thicker all the way up to 0.635 mm, 26 in a set.
I have 0.17 mm and 0.2 mm cover slips which can also act as spacers.
Abel: when you first see Volvox under a binocular (dissecting) microscope it reminds one of a space ship rotating and hurtling through space - they are fast.
Many years ago I used a chemical that was isotonic with water but was more viscous and slowed down Paramecium; anyone any ideas what it could have been?
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
-
Charles Krebs
- Posts: 5865
- Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:02 pm
- Location: Issaquah, WA USA
- Contact:
New image added
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
The new image is a beauty.
I bought some methyl cellulose, but haven't used it yet. It's thick and clear, like a light oil. I have read that to use it, use a toothpick to spread a circle of the liquid under where the cover glass would go, then add the drop of water, then stir the water and circle of methyl cellulose together, then cover it.
Let me know how you prepare it, cause I only know what I have read. So far.
I bought some methyl cellulose, but haven't used it yet. It's thick and clear, like a light oil. I have read that to use it, use a toothpick to spread a circle of the liquid under where the cover glass would go, then add the drop of water, then stir the water and circle of methyl cellulose together, then cover it.
Let me know how you prepare it, cause I only know what I have read. So far.
-
icecilliate123
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Mon May 19, 2008 10:12 am
- Location: NJ,USA
consider mail purchase of 1.5% methyl cellulose, Mitch.
Hi Mitch, wonderful images of Volvox, thanks for this eye-candy.
Please purchase ready mixed 1.5% methyl cellulose. It's there next to your alcohol drop-bottle, next to your optical immersion-oil bottle, in with your other microscopy kit. A 1oz bottle keeps well for a few years if you don't contaminate this stock by back and forth contamination from the same applicator toothpick! You can find it at many online stores ( I use Home- sci, 'Elemental scientific, Appleton,WI, or Wards Sci, etc. .).
Thanks for your shared microscopy, Mitch.
charlie guevara, fingerlakes?US
Please purchase ready mixed 1.5% methyl cellulose. It's there next to your alcohol drop-bottle, next to your optical immersion-oil bottle, in with your other microscopy kit. A 1oz bottle keeps well for a few years if you don't contaminate this stock by back and forth contamination from the same applicator toothpick! You can find it at many online stores ( I use Home- sci, 'Elemental scientific, Appleton,WI, or Wards Sci, etc. .).
Thanks for your shared microscopy, Mitch.
charlie guevara, fingerlakes?US
-
rjlittlefield
- Site Admin
- Posts: 23597
- Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
- Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
- Contact:
Nikon User,
Great series of photos- beautifully clear - thank you !!
Mitch,
I think i may have posted this some time before in relation to carboxymethyl cellulose (which is more or less the same thing). What I do is place a drop of sample on the slide and then place a drop of carboxymethyl cellulose next to it (not necessarily touching). Then put the coverslip in place without mixing the two together. This will create a gradient of methylcellulose (and therefore a gradient of viscosity) across the coverslip. Then if you have several specimens, some will not be slowed at all, others are slowed to varying extents and some are completely stopped.
Try this and see if it suits you.
Good luck
Brian
Great series of photos- beautifully clear - thank you !!
Mitch,
I think i may have posted this some time before in relation to carboxymethyl cellulose (which is more or less the same thing). What I do is place a drop of sample on the slide and then place a drop of carboxymethyl cellulose next to it (not necessarily touching). Then put the coverslip in place without mixing the two together. This will create a gradient of methylcellulose (and therefore a gradient of viscosity) across the coverslip. Then if you have several specimens, some will not be slowed at all, others are slowed to varying extents and some are completely stopped.
Try this and see if it suits you.
Good luck
Brian
Thanks BJ
Mitch: I have not answered your question re: methyl cellulose as i am still waiting on delivery from the USA
BJ's method sounds good.
Mitch: I have not answered your question re: methyl cellulose as i am still waiting on delivery from the USA
BJ's method sounds good.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives