Paramecium

ABEL · Post by **ABEL** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:57 pm

Hello.

They are paramecium, possibly putrinum or aurelia. The sample comes from water suspended with rotten leaves.

DIC 40x, Olympus BX 51, camera Jenoptik flash.

With possibly brachonella spiralis

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 8:53 pm

Ahhhh... simply wonderful images!

Tom Jones · Post by **Tom Jones** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:04 pm

Hi Abel,

Just beautiful!

A question about your background color. How do you get the very dark grey? Do you use the UDCB condenser, or the UDC8 condenser with the lambda plate on your BX-51, or are you doing it in post processing? A search indicates some folks, including Charlie, do it in post at least part of the time, but I'm not familiar with their DIC setups and I know there are differences. Some have retarders and some don't.

I have a BX-50 and the older DICT slider and UDCB condenser without the lambda plate and can't get beyond light blue without post processing. I have some polariziing and full wave retarder film on order from Edmund Optics to make a compensator (polarizer, full wave retarder, Nomarski prism, bottom to top), to bypass the straight polarizer on my condenser. That's what I understand the UDC8 condenser has. I'm getting quarter and half wave film to play with too.

The manual for the UCD8 indicates I should be able to get grey without the lambda (full wave) plate but it just isn't happening with the UCDB.

Most of the time I prefer the light grey to dark grey background, but I can't get it directly. Am I on the right track adding the retarder or am I as clueless as I fear?

Every time I try to understand the finer points of optical physics pertaining to polarization, retardation and DIC, my poor eyes glaze over...

Thanks.

Tom

Mitch640 · Post by **Mitch640** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:45 am

Beautiful images Abel. I can barely follow what Tom said, but I am interested in what camera your using.

ABEL · Post by **ABEL** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 5:06 am

Hello.

I work with the universal condenser UCD8 and the prism U-DICT.

Very easy; Only, I use the prism translation control of the U-DICT and I make it turn up to obtaining the wished effect

.

Tom Jones · Post by **Tom Jones** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:50 am

Thanks Abel! That means I'm on the right track in adding the lambda plate to my system.

Tom

arturoag75 · Post by **arturoag75** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 12:10 am

ABEL,
i have no words..fantastic shots!
best
art