Hi guys,
In the past, I have professionally performed SEM, TEM and epifluorescence light microscopy. I no longer have access to any of this equipment but I would like to try hobby imaging using a good quality microscope. I already have several Canon DSLRs and a monocular 'student' microscope but I would like to buy a 'proper' microscope (e.g. Leitz Dialux 20 or Olympus BH-2) and fit it with phase and DIC optics.
If DIC of biological specimens is my primary goal can anyone give me some advice on the best equipment to aim for, given a budget of around £1500 to £2000? I know that DIC optics for the scopes mentioned above are rare so is there a better option out there?
Cheers,
Paul.
Would like to try some DIC imaging...!
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
- Charles Krebs
- Posts: 5865
- Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:02 pm
- Location: Issaquah, WA USA
- Contact:
Paul,
It's tough to give advice on this. I have very little experience with Leitz equipment. But a complete DIC set-up for Olympus BH-2 is very hard to find. And when/if you do find one (complete microscope with DIC components) it will likely be far more (2-3X) than your £2000 budget.
You can put together a very nice BHS instrument, with high-end optics, but without DIC within your stated budget, but adding the DIC condenser, Nomarski prisms and the intermediate piece with slider will likely (at least!) double the cost. I have also noticed, in the 8 years I've been paying attention to used equipment, that the older DIC components have gradually become even harder to find.
Price-wise, it seems a good deal can sometimes be had if you can track down a PZO setup (like seen in eBay 120815114908) and make it work for you. I know nothing about this equipment, but some on the forum here use it with excellent results, and they might be able to provide some guidance if you wish to pursue that approach.
Also, trying to piece together the components needed can be a real exercise in frustration. It can literally take years to find a "missing", yet essential part. For this reason I generally strongly suggest trying to find a complete set of the required DIC components. (The microscope stand itself and objectives are easy to get). This means your best chance might be querying and searching established dealers of used microscopes rather than relying solely on eBay.
Just to try to keep some sort of whacky perspective on this, realize that if you wanted to start photographing birds very seriously, that new Canon 600mm f/4 lens will set you back about £8320 ($13000)
It's tough to give advice on this. I have very little experience with Leitz equipment. But a complete DIC set-up for Olympus BH-2 is very hard to find. And when/if you do find one (complete microscope with DIC components) it will likely be far more (2-3X) than your £2000 budget.
You can put together a very nice BHS instrument, with high-end optics, but without DIC within your stated budget, but adding the DIC condenser, Nomarski prisms and the intermediate piece with slider will likely (at least!) double the cost. I have also noticed, in the 8 years I've been paying attention to used equipment, that the older DIC components have gradually become even harder to find.
Price-wise, it seems a good deal can sometimes be had if you can track down a PZO setup (like seen in eBay 120815114908) and make it work for you. I know nothing about this equipment, but some on the forum here use it with excellent results, and they might be able to provide some guidance if you wish to pursue that approach.
Also, trying to piece together the components needed can be a real exercise in frustration. It can literally take years to find a "missing", yet essential part. For this reason I generally strongly suggest trying to find a complete set of the required DIC components. (The microscope stand itself and objectives are easy to get). This means your best chance might be querying and searching established dealers of used microscopes rather than relying solely on eBay.
Just to try to keep some sort of whacky perspective on this, realize that if you wanted to start photographing birds very seriously, that new Canon 600mm f/4 lens will set you back about £8320 ($13000)
Hello Paul,
I'm based in the UK also and recently bought a very nice Leitz Orthoplan fully equiped with DIC (called ICT by Leitz) from the Dutch microscopy trader 'Abro':
http://www.microscopen-specialist.nl
The total cost was GBP 3,750. This wasn't advertised on their website and I only found out about it after emailing them with an enquiry. So it may be worth you dropping them an enquiry, if you can't find anything suitable on their website.
Happy hunting!
Best wishes,
Des
I'm based in the UK also and recently bought a very nice Leitz Orthoplan fully equiped with DIC (called ICT by Leitz) from the Dutch microscopy trader 'Abro':
http://www.microscopen-specialist.nl
The total cost was GBP 3,750. This wasn't advertised on their website and I only found out about it after emailing them with an enquiry. So it may be worth you dropping them an enquiry, if you can't find anything suitable on their website.
Happy hunting!
Best wishes,
Des
Thanks Des. The thought of buying a basic microscope and spending years searching for parts, that I may never find, doesn't fill me with much excitement.
There seems to be one or two metallurgic microscopes around with DIC condensers. These tend to use a combination of incident and transmitted light. Are these also suitable for looking at biological material, like protists?
Paul.
There seems to be one or two metallurgic microscopes around with DIC condensers. These tend to use a combination of incident and transmitted light. Are these also suitable for looking at biological material, like protists?
Paul.
No, in general those are only for reflected DIC, where the objective acts as condenser. Perhaps in some cases its objective prisms may be useful if they match with the condenser ones, but it's impossible to tell a priori.PAC wrote:There seems to be one or two metallurgic microscopes around with DIC condensers. These tend to use a combination of incident and transmitted light. Are these also suitable for looking at biological material, like protists?
I'm slowly collecting the parts to mount a cheap reflected DIC system because I think it may be great to image the surface of opaque specimens.
For transmitted DIC you need matched prisms in the condenser
Both systems are well explained at:
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/tech ... chome.html
and
http://www.microscopyu.com/articles/dic/index.html
Pau
Hello Pär,
I had a problem with a stereoscope I bought from Abro that seems similar to what you describe. I bought a Nikon SMZ-U that was advertised with 20x oculars. It came with a pair of C-W 10x oculars that had a rather scuffed upper lens surface. I informed Abro of the mistake and they responded very promptly, sending a pair of 20x oculars in good condition and stating that I should keep the 10x at no cost. In my limited experience, if there is a problem with the item that arrives they will rectify it very quickly and in a friendly manner. But, my sample size is only two purchases (a Nikon SMZ-U and a Leitz Orthoplan).
As for eBay, my experience is that we jump into a sea of sellers, mostly very good but with some sharks about. Perhaps that makes it more exciting!
Best wishes,
Des
I had a problem with a stereoscope I bought from Abro that seems similar to what you describe. I bought a Nikon SMZ-U that was advertised with 20x oculars. It came with a pair of C-W 10x oculars that had a rather scuffed upper lens surface. I informed Abro of the mistake and they responded very promptly, sending a pair of 20x oculars in good condition and stating that I should keep the 10x at no cost. In my limited experience, if there is a problem with the item that arrives they will rectify it very quickly and in a friendly manner. But, my sample size is only two purchases (a Nikon SMZ-U and a Leitz Orthoplan).
As for eBay, my experience is that we jump into a sea of sellers, mostly very good but with some sharks about. Perhaps that makes it more exciting!
Best wishes,
Des
About Abro: they are fine if you can go and visit them. They have a reasonable big inventory with some stuff sitting there for years, I think. i bought recently a olympus stereomicroscope from them - but I did spend some time testing them all and some had problems (fungus etc). But in the end I got an Olympus SZH with which I am happy (actually, I may have bought it with eyepieces from your SMZU, Des, as I got nikon eyepieces with as I thought they gave the best view). If you are not in a reasonable distance from Amsterdam (I live about 3 hours drive), it is of course more difficult. You also have to negotiate the price. Joris