Here's the video of the blob.
Microscope: Nikon Fluophot Flourescence Research Microscope
Camera: Canon T1i w/ EOS Extension Tube adaptor w/Nikon 2.5X Projector lens
Scope Settings: 15.1 MP Canon 1.6x Camera over 40x Objective
Bob The Blob - An Extremely Large Amoeba - Video
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Bob The Blob - An Extremely Large Amoeba - Video
Reminds me of the old Steve McQueen movie. I am still learning the names of the different amoeba families, but I have not seen one pictured quite like this guy.
Here's the video of the blob.
Microscope: Nikon Fluophot Flourescence Research Microscope
Camera: Canon T1i w/ EOS Extension Tube adaptor w/Nikon 2.5X Projector lens
Scope Settings: 15.1 MP Canon 1.6x Camera over 40x Objective
Here's the video of the blob.
Microscope: Nikon Fluophot Flourescence Research Microscope
Camera: Canon T1i w/ EOS Extension Tube adaptor w/Nikon 2.5X Projector lens
Scope Settings: 15.1 MP Canon 1.6x Camera over 40x Objective
Nice images Mitch.
Would be hard to argue against this being Family: Amoebidae; and likely Amoeba proteus
Would be hard to argue against this being Family: Amoebidae; and likely Amoeba proteus
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
Hello Mitch,
In fact it isn't such a large amoeba. I guess around 100 um? Talking about extremely large is for amoebae say more than 500 um. I have those amoebae collected here and they stretch even over more than 1200 um (Chaos carolinense e.g.).
Your amoeba is definitely a Mayorella. Try to look for the nucleus, the shape of the nucleolus can be important to make up which species it is.
I have the impression that you close your field diaphragm a little to much, which makes the picture more unsharp than needed; you get to much diffraction and color shift.
Ferry
In fact it isn't such a large amoeba. I guess around 100 um? Talking about extremely large is for amoebae say more than 500 um. I have those amoebae collected here and they stretch even over more than 1200 um (Chaos carolinense e.g.).
Your amoeba is definitely a Mayorella. Try to look for the nucleus, the shape of the nucleolus can be important to make up which species it is.
I have the impression that you close your field diaphragm a little to much, which makes the picture more unsharp than needed; you get to much diffraction and color shift.
Ferry
OK then, my ID was way off. This is in the Family: Paramoebidae.
My text separates this family from the Amoebidae by the presence of subpseudopodia; Amoebidae lack subpseudopodia.
I have no idea what they are, leave you to work it out
My text separates this family from the Amoebidae by the presence of subpseudopodia; Amoebidae lack subpseudopodia.
I have no idea what they are, leave you to work it out
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
HAHA, I don't know enough about amoeba to argue my own thread. I do hope to learn more though.
Ferry, thanks for the advise. I will do some tests for that, cause as you can see, color aberrations are giving me fits. I still do not know if it is caused by cheap glass or some other problem I know even less about. I seem to have sharpness issues with this E 40x lens also. If my better quality 20x Plan Apo ever gets here, I can maybe find out.I have the impression that you close your field diaphragm a little to much, which makes the picture more unsharp than needed; you get to much diffraction and color shift.
Unbelievable. While doing several more tests, mainly to learn more about this scope, I started playing around with the field diaphragm, the condenser iris, the knob to adjust the condenser travel up or down, and the lever to flip a lens attachment on the condenser up or down.
I knew all these parts were there, but made little sense without some experience or a good book. I knew about the lens lever, and had picked up somewhere, that it's only used for higher power objectives. This is the case, as at 4x it makes almost no difference, in or out. The lens is also scratched, or burned, but it seems to matter very little in it's effects.
So I was looking at an old dried up slide from yesterday, at some diatom shells under 40x. Got fine focus, turned the field diaphragm closed, then slowly open, with this lever and lens flipped out of the way, as I have been use to using it. Something made me flip the lens up, then I turned the dial of the condenser travel adjustment and got the shock of my life.
All of a sudden, I am seeing oblique illumination, the amount controlled by the field diaphragm, and fine tuned by the condenser iris, and adjusted further by adjusting the height of the condenser under the slide. It works very nice for the 40x and 10x objectives, but not for the lower power 4x.
None of this is described in the manual, other than how to center the condenser and it's basic use. I did hear from a Nikon Tech at one of their US facilities today. I had asked about how to get the nose turret off. He wrote back telling me this scope is about 35 years old and there are no longer any documents and nobody there has any experience with these dinosaurs. Looks like it's trial and error for me and my Fluophot. Google seems to have nothing on the Fluophot at all.
I knew all these parts were there, but made little sense without some experience or a good book. I knew about the lens lever, and had picked up somewhere, that it's only used for higher power objectives. This is the case, as at 4x it makes almost no difference, in or out. The lens is also scratched, or burned, but it seems to matter very little in it's effects.
So I was looking at an old dried up slide from yesterday, at some diatom shells under 40x. Got fine focus, turned the field diaphragm closed, then slowly open, with this lever and lens flipped out of the way, as I have been use to using it. Something made me flip the lens up, then I turned the dial of the condenser travel adjustment and got the shock of my life.
All of a sudden, I am seeing oblique illumination, the amount controlled by the field diaphragm, and fine tuned by the condenser iris, and adjusted further by adjusting the height of the condenser under the slide. It works very nice for the 40x and 10x objectives, but not for the lower power 4x.
None of this is described in the manual, other than how to center the condenser and it's basic use. I did hear from a Nikon Tech at one of their US facilities today. I had asked about how to get the nose turret off. He wrote back telling me this scope is about 35 years old and there are no longer any documents and nobody there has any experience with these dinosaurs. Looks like it's trial and error for me and my Fluophot. Google seems to have nothing on the Fluophot at all.
-
Cactusdave
- Posts: 1631
- Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:40 pm
- Location: Bromley, Kent, UK
It might be worth your while to try to locate some other Fluophot users for advice. It seems like there may be some on the Yahoo microscope forum http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Micr ... sage/53723
Leitz Ortholux 1, Zeiss standard, Nikon Diaphot inverted, Canon photographic gear
Thanks Dave. I have seen that link, but it wasn't enough. I have just joined a group and see there is more for members. I will be asking around there too. I can't believe there are just a few Fluophots still in use. Someone must be using them still. And there just has to be more information on them than I have found so far. Parts too, I would think. 
The entire advancing, usually hyaline, anterior end of most amoebae is functionally a single lobose pseudopodium or succession of single pseudopodia, but many more or less compressed amoebae produce, ususally from the hyaloplasm, narrow, even fine projections, called subpseudopodia. Most have no demonstrated function. They may be blunt, digitiform, mamilliform etc. They don't take part in the locomotion of the amoeba, like the pseudopodia. Mayorella has typical mamilliform subpseudopodia.NikonUser wrote:My text separates this family from the Amoebidae by the presence of subpseudopodia; Amoebidae lack subpseudopodia.
I have no idea what they are, leave you to work it out
Ferry
I have been reading a lot about amoeba over the last few days. They have interested me for decades, although I never had the means to study them. I think it is going to take better objectives and lighting than what I now have to see them better and determine what is inside them.
As a beginner, all I really noticed about this guy is his size over what I have seen previously, and that he pretty much stayed in one large blob, instead of stretching himself out into long pseudopods or two or three larger clumps.
Can they really form a cyst and survive drying? I mean, my slides, after a day or so, are pretty dry and nothing looks at all like when it's wet. Are amoebas still in there and able to come back when wet again?
As a beginner, all I really noticed about this guy is his size over what I have seen previously, and that he pretty much stayed in one large blob, instead of stretching himself out into long pseudopods or two or three larger clumps.
Can they really form a cyst and survive drying? I mean, my slides, after a day or so, are pretty dry and nothing looks at all like when it's wet. Are amoebas still in there and able to come back when wet again?
Mitch,
the use of the condenser and condenser aperture in brightfield can't be really different in your fluophot than in other optical scopes, in fact the method was stablished long time ago by Abbe and Kohller. In general microscopy texbooks and websites it's well explained (did you see Zeiss's Microscopy from the very beginning?)
I agree with Ferry: the condenser aperture seems too closed (or maybe the condenser itself too low). Sometimes it can be necessary in order to add contrast in very transparent specimens, but it lowers the resolution and in Photomicrography (and videomicrography if your software allows it) contrast can be increased in post pocessing. Another useful technique is oblique illumination (well, Phase contrast and in special DIC are superior but need special and expensive equipment)
Because you say "All of a sudden, I am seeing oblique illumination" at high magnification, your condenser likely isn't properly centered. Bad centering of the condenser can be related with te chromatic aberrations you are experimenting.
For O.I. is better to center the condenser and use some obstuction of the light under it.
the use of the condenser and condenser aperture in brightfield can't be really different in your fluophot than in other optical scopes, in fact the method was stablished long time ago by Abbe and Kohller. In general microscopy texbooks and websites it's well explained (did you see Zeiss's Microscopy from the very beginning?)
I agree with Ferry: the condenser aperture seems too closed (or maybe the condenser itself too low). Sometimes it can be necessary in order to add contrast in very transparent specimens, but it lowers the resolution and in Photomicrography (and videomicrography if your software allows it) contrast can be increased in post pocessing. Another useful technique is oblique illumination (well, Phase contrast and in special DIC are superior but need special and expensive equipment)
Because you say "All of a sudden, I am seeing oblique illumination" at high magnification, your condenser likely isn't properly centered. Bad centering of the condenser can be related with te chromatic aberrations you are experimenting.
For O.I. is better to center the condenser and use some obstuction of the light under it.
Pau
Pau, that's why I said I was shocked to see it, cause I had just centered the condenser, carefully following the instructions from the owners manual. There may be something wrong with the condenser though, as I only saw the oblique effect when I flipped that little lens up under the 40x objective, somewhat less on the 10x and not at all on the 4x.
Maybe it needs to be centered for each objective, cause I have noticed that when something is centered at 10x, then I flip the nose turret to 40x, the subject is not centered any more. Of course, I have no pointer to really be sure, but I always have to move the stage to recenter.
Maybe it needs to be centered for each objective, cause I have noticed that when something is centered at 10x, then I flip the nose turret to 40x, the subject is not centered any more. Of course, I have no pointer to really be sure, but I always have to move the stage to recenter.