I found a Wild 445355 (Leica 10445355) Planapo 1.0X objective for the M3Z, MS5, MZ6, MZ7.5, & MZ8 Stereo Zoom Microscopes for sale.
It looks like it has some missing glass elements on the bottom of the lens. The owner said that the empty threads on the bottom of the lens are not threads at all. He said "The bottom portion of the lens is actually not threaded. There are anti-reflective grooves machined into the bottom portion."
Is he speaking the truth? Please take a look at the photo.
Wild 445355 Planapo 1.0X Missing Glass Elements?
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Last year, I bought a Leica 0.63X planapo for my Leica M10 for $460 and $61 shipping from Singapore. The photos on EBay looked great and I thought I was getting a very good bargain.
When the lens arrived, there was packing material packed into the bottom of the lens. When I took this material out of the lens, there was a space of about an inch or so. Glass elements were missing. It produced a horrible image.
The seller claimed he did not know that there were missing elements. Luckily, he gave me a full refund and paid for the return shipping.
This is why I am so skeptical at times when I see something that may be too good to be true.
When the lens arrived, there was packing material packed into the bottom of the lens. When I took this material out of the lens, there was a space of about an inch or so. Glass elements were missing. It produced a horrible image.
The seller claimed he did not know that there were missing elements. Luckily, he gave me a full refund and paid for the return shipping.
This is why I am so skeptical at times when I see something that may be too good to be true.
I've long been curious about these 1x planapo stereomicroscope lenses, available from many manufacterers. Are they finite or infinite? Can they really form a good image by themselves or are they meant to be corrected by eyepieces and/or a tube lens in the binocular head? Also, why do they never mention the NA?
- enricosavazzi
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Design-wise, there are a couple of basic possibilities, with variations. Some examples:Lou Jost wrote:I've long been curious about these 1x planapo stereomicroscope lenses, available from many manufacterers. Are they finite or infinite? Can they really form a good image by themselves or are they meant to be corrected by eyepieces and/or a tube lens in the binocular head? Also, why do they never mention the NA?
The Wild/Leica M400 and M420 use add-on lenses (positive or negative) mounted in front of the zoom objective to change its magnification range. The system can be used also without any add-on lens. These lenses are matched to the objective (different models were made for the apo and non-apo zooms) and are not a complete objective. There is an achromat doublet mounted in the macroscope body at the rear of the zoom. If this doublet is a tube lens (which I cannot confirm), then the zoom itself is an infinity corrected objective.
The Optem 70 industrial macro zoom uses a superficially similar system with add-on lenses, but the zoom itself consists of two modules. The front module must be used for imaging (with or without add-on lenses), or be replaced with an adapter (just a metal ring without optics) to mount an infinity-corrected microscope objective instead of front module. The rear module contains the zoom optics, and cannot be used for imaging without a front module or infinity objective. This suggests that the rear module itself is a tube lens.
At least some of the Unitron and Navitar industrial macro zooms optionally use matched add-on lenses, and do not require a tube lens. They natively cover small videocamera sensors, and can be equipped with optical adapters at their rear to cover larger sensors. In these cases, the zoom is a finite objective.
Objectives for stereomicroscopes, in principle, can be variations on the above themes, and be either matched add-on lenses (finite) or infinity corrected objectives. I would not be surprised if different manufacturers chose different solutions. If a given stereomicroscope can be used without an add-on lens/objective, then my bet is for the finite add-on lens. If it cannot, it is not really possible to decide without further testing of the microscope and/or its objective.
--ES