Looking for 50X objective up to $500.

[MacroLab3D]

Dear experts!
You once suggested to me amazing Nikon 10X/0.25 MRL00102 (thank you so much!) and now it is time to move next.

Here is what i have found so far ($435.0 Noname 50X, 0.55, WD 5.1):
https://www.dhgate.com/product/45mm-lon ... 0393749510

And another one ($186.33 Noname 60X, 0.7, WD 3.18 ):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Long-Working-D ... mV7ZadBs2w

And one more ($196.24 Noname 50X, 0.55, WD 7)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Infinity-L ... LNOlsDJGLg

Which one do you think is better? Or please suggest yours.

I was dreaming about Mitutoyo 50X 0.55 but it costs $4000 here in Ukraine. So i am not dreaming about that one anymore haha. Buying used from China is too risky for such a high price. Maybe it worth trying?

Thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated!

[rjlittlefield]

Consider the Nikon CF Plan 50X NA 0.55 inf/0 EPI ELWD (8.7 mm). An example application is shown at https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... 825#103825 (used there at 25X on 100 mm tube lens).

These are sometimes available on eBay for well under $500.

--Rik

[Chris S.]

Rik's suggestion seems like a good one.

I was dreaming about Mitutoyo 50X 0.55 but it costs $4000 here in Ukraine. So i am not dreaming about that one anymore haha. Buying used from China is too risky for such a high price. Maybe it worth trying?

If you are strongly dreaming about the Mitutoyo 50x/0.55 and you have time to be patient, you might find a nice one on eBay sooner or later--especially if you can stretch your budget up to around $1,000 USD.

As always with second-hand microscope objectives, it is important to buy only with a return privilege and the opportunity to test the lens before deciding to keep it. I agree that buying second-hand Mitutoyo objectives from the far east is risky, for two reasons. First, the cost of shipping a bad lens back to Asia is often quite high. Second, in my experience and that of at least one other member of this forum, our return percentage for used Mitutoyo objectives from Asia seems notably higher than for objectives from Europe or North America. I suspect this is because these objectives are often used in industrial settings (such as chip manufacture) that can damage them, and these industries are strongly represented in Asia.

If you find a likely lens in North America, you might have it sent to me for testing against my lens. If you find a nice specimen in Europe, perhaps forum member there can receive and test it for you.

I haven't shipped anything to Ukraine in some time (12 years?). Back then, it seemed difficult to safely ship expensive items to Ukraine. DHL was considered the best carrier, but was expensive from the U.S. Have things changed?

--Chris S.

[MacroLab3D]

Thank you, Rik!
Your suggestion is a great new option. I will look for it from now on. The price is nice, and i hope to find one that isn't so worn out.

Chris and Rik!
I am looking for image quality first, so i am wondering if this Nikon 50X 0.55 is comparable to Mitutoyo 50X 0.55. By judging by photos on this forum i can tell they are on par, correct me if i am wrong. Is it worth it to pay 2X or even 3X more for Mitutoyo?

Chris, i have been looking for used Mitutoyo already for some time and sellers on ebay usually have terrible product photos never showing lens condition on them. Which makes me abandoning that idea, because i can't return after i paid 30% import taxes. And i never saw a price of 1K. It is usually $1300-$1700, with bad photos.

Your service would be greatly appreciated, i would like to pay you or anyone for this privilege.

You right, buying from abroad was a bad idea back then. But recently things have improved and we now have much more and better options. DHL still leading here i believe but Nova Poshta is what everyone using nowadays because it is tremendously cheaper.

Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions!

-Oleksandr

[rjlittlefield]

I am looking for image quality first, so i am wondering if this Nikon 50X 0.55 is comparable to Mitutoyo 50X 0.55. By judging by photos on this forum i can tell they are on par, correct me if i am wrong. Is it worth it to pay 2X or even 3X more for Mitutoyo?

The big advantage of the Mitutoyo is that it has dramatically less false color (chromatic aberration). The Nikon has a lot of longitudinal CA, resulting in greenish/reddish tones in out-of-focus regions. These colors tend to diminish in stacking, but with neutral colored subjects and some stacking methods the false colors can nonetheless appear in the final result. See the examples at https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... 9228#99228.

--Rik

[MacroLab3D]

You guys impacting on my decision, which i am grateful you for. Meaning i am back to my dream about Mitutoyo ))
You right. I have Nikon 10X and i now forgot how terrible aberration was since i upgraded it to 10X Mitutoyo 0.28 recently (bought used for $600 after taxes). It was manageable through photoshop, but any editing ads fakingness to the image which i am trying to avoid. So now i am back to Mitutoyo. One thouthand extra is worth to have all of my shots in true colors. I am going to buy China sample after all.

"This is the way".

Thanks you for your expertise and i will update you on this in the future.

[Chris S.]

I am going to buy China sample after all.

Warning! This approach can be dangerous!

When buying a second-hand Mitutoyo objective from China, I'd put your chances of receiving a bad one at about 50 percent. If you have already paid taxes and shipping, then need to return the lens, you could be losing quite a lot of money. (Or can these taxes be refunded if an item is returned?)

Plus, it doesn't sound as if you have a "known-good" 50x objective against which to test the lens you receive. All second-hand Mitutoyo objectives should be tested against a known benchmark.

I'm writing this from experience, as I've tested quite a few lenses for myself and other forum members. I also correspond with forum members, and we discuss this. It turns out that there are a lot of optically damaged Mitutoyo objectives out there. I definitely recommend the purchase of second-hand objectives, but only with the opportunity to test and return if defective.

Also, the outward appearance of an objective helps very little in judging its optical quality. Some ugly objectives test well optically, and some cosmetically perfect objectives turn out to be optical disasters. Mitutoyo objectives, if bumped with any force, sometimes go out of internal alignment (or something) and never perform well again. These can not be repaired.

I do not charge for testing objectives, so I'm by no means saying any of this to give myself more work.

--Chris S.

[MacroLab3D]

Thank you so much for your help. I will PM you if that's ok.

[Chris S.]

I just now replied to that PM.

As I've tried to indicate in my earlier posts, buying second-hand Mitutoyo lenses from Asia has a significant probability of returns, and those returns can be expensive and time-consuming. For these reasons, I would rather not be responsible taking delivery of, and potentially needing to return, other people's Mitutoyo lenses from China, Korea, Thailand, etc.

On the other hand, if you ever see an interesting Mitutoyo objective for sale in the United States or perhaps Canada, I could probably help you with that. These do come up from time to time, so if you can wait, I'd suggest you watch eBay for a while and contact me if you see something appropriate.

If any forum members in China or Korea could test some of the current eBay offerings inside their country, this might open up some nice lenses to outside photographers. If done well, there would be nothing wrong with performing this as a paid service.

(For the record, I have occasionally purchased a second-hand lens from Asia for myself. If I do this, it's with awareness that the lens may have to go back, may cost $100 or so to return, and may take weeks to get there. My money may not be refunded until this process is complete, and the cost of shipping may be something I have to bear. I may have to participate in lengthy correspondence to deal with these issues. Not something to undertake lightly.)

--Chris S.

[MacroLab3D]

Follow up: https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... 476#257476