Similar Labophot-2 phase contrast, but no 4 and no 40 objective and no fmount for $900: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-Labophot-2-Microscope-Phase-Contrast-2-3-Objectives-2-Eyepiece/163176532015 10 objective is not phase contrast either. What is the difference between E Plan and Plan? Which is better?

Do I need DIC? Maybe, maybe not. Sorry. For stills, I'd say you could manage without. Modern sensors with their ~14-stops of dynamic range can stand a lot of contrast-stretching in post without posterising. So even ordinary brightfield can still reveal low-contrast detail very well. Oblique illumin...

Also, I've read the Diaphot series has a 35mm Nikon fmount on the front. This unit has DIC on the 20 and 40 objectives for 5k: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-Microscope-Diaphot-with-DIC-and-Phase-Contrast/183335165040 Contrasting that, this brightfield e200 with no trinocular goes for just $600: htt...

Ok, good to confirm the labophot is too expensive. It’s as old as I am after all. Ridiculous that these things still cost so much when they were built in the 80s.

What about this Zeiss Axioskop 50 with dic? http://r.ebay.com/OTmzOg
Worth the price or no?

How likely am I to miss phase contrast? I’m wondering if I can make do with the 55i and just brightfield. I like that the 10x optical is good for direct connection to my camera.

I’m also wondering how difficult it will be to photograph directly from the eye viewfinder.

Hello, I'm currently looking at ebay for a microscope to mount to my Nikon D850 for photographing and video'ing bacteria, pond life, etc. I plan to use the footage as b-roll or primary footage on my youtube channel. My budget is as little as possible, with as much detail and fidelity as possible, bu...

Chris S. thank you for that reply. Very informative. Can you point me in the direction of some literature that would help me delve into the math/theory behind resolution vs absolute aperture etc? I'm pretty interested in that. Regarding AFM: Yeah, I just took delivery of some piezo disc elements. Th...

Thanks. That explains a lot. Working distance (WD) and numerical aperture (NA) are my limiting factors. Is a 1mm working distance only a problem because the lens is physically so wide that it blocks the majority of desirable lighting angles? I've noticed that my primary camera (Nikon D810) and lens ...

I'm new to this forum. First post. I'm a hobby photographer familiar with Zerene Stacker as a landscape tool ( flickr examples: http://tinyurl.com/j8laabo ), but not well versed in macro/micro. I've recently spent a ton of time researching microscopes (light, electron, and AFM). One question I haven...