Olympus U-UCD (and BH2-UCD) information

[Macro_Cosmos]

Information on these 2 condensers and their compatibility seems to be very scarce, likely due to their age. I wasn't able to find any useful information. I purchased the U-UCD which appears to be identical to the BH2-UCD.

Alan Wood's excellent site offers a repair manual for the BH2-UCD: http://www.alanwood.net/downloads/olymp ... manual.pdf

My copy of the condenser came with 4 phase contrast annuli. Originally I thought they were some kind of filter, the seller's photos weren't great. Turns out Olympus used to make phase contrast annulus out of some sort of film material, rather than the typical concentric ones we see now.

The lid can be taken off by loosening a screw underneath. The lid's internals is coated with an anti-reflection layer.

It is fully compatible with modern DIC prisms.

I removed all the stickers on the phase contrast annuli. Here's the part written on it, with the sticker's text.
CS10: 20N
CS20: 20W
CS40: 40
RS3: 10
These are probably original Olympus parts, I can't find any information on them. They seem to be the right size for UIS objectives, I'll measure it if anyone's interested.

2 silver dials on the side. Smaller one locks the polariser in place, the larger one rotates it. The polariser is built into the condenser, taking it out won't be a fun task.
Two set screws can be used to centre each phase contrast annulus. This is however an extremely difficult task. One needs to stick a small ballsdriver into the condenser at a very awkward position. The newer version has two antenna sticking out for centring.

The top lens is held in with Phillips screws, which is secured with threadlocker. This means it's not meant to be replaced. Can't simply rotate it off and swap it out with an oil top lens.

Here's what it looks like on the microscope:

I'm ok with the limitations. I have the U-PCD for phase contrast, it can be oiled too unlike the U-UCD types, which the manual claims there's no phase contrast annuli for the U-TLO.

The 20W and 20N annuli differs in its doughnut ring width. The 20W, W likely meaning wide, is well, has a wider width. While the top lens appears identical to my U-SC-3, there's optics underneath the condenser too. I'm guessing the U-SC-3 can work, but it's not ideal.

[Fero]

Thank you for thios informative article. I do not undertsnad why there is so little information on discontinued models and accesories on the net and why these are not available from Olympus web site. Its a shame.

[enricosavazzi]

It seems that over the years it has become more and more difficult to find Olympus BH and BX literature on the web, except for two or three well-known archives (one of which seems not to carry BX material, but quite a fewof the BH items can be used on BX scopes). When I got and souped up my BX 50, I scoured the web for manuals and information. For this reason I collected quite a few BX manuals, and I am now making three of them, relevant to this thread, available on my web site:

BX 50: https://www.savazzi.net/download/manual ... manual.pdf
BX-POL, U-ANT, U-POT: https://www.savazzi.net/download/manual ... ctions.pdf
U-UCD8: https://www.savazzi.net/download/manual ... U-UCD8.pdf

PS - my U-UCD has mounts for 5 large prisms and is quite similar (albeit not identical) to Macro Cosmos' U-UCD (the prism magnetic labels mount around the periphery of mine, for example, not on the top cover). The U-UCD8 has mounts for 5 large prisms and 3 small ones, but except for this is functionally the same.

[Macro_Cosmos]

BX 50: https://www.savazzi.net/download/manual ... manual.pdf
BX-POL, U-ANT, U-POT: https://www.savazzi.net/download/manual ... ctions.pdf
U-UCD8: https://www.savazzi.net/download/manual ... U-UCD8.pdf

PS - my U-UCD has mounts for 5 large prisms and is quite similar (albeit not identical) to Macro Cosmos' U-UCD (the prism magnetic labels mount around the periphery of mine, for example, not on the top cover). The U-UCD8 has mounts for 5 large prisms and 3 small ones, but except for this is functionally the same.

A lot of these small accessories have their own manuals available on Evident's website. It is very annoying as they want you to fill out your information so the manual is emailed. You can just fill it with junk.

Yours must have been the U-UCDB, mine was the U-UCD, no letter B in there.
There was also an AX motorised universal condenser that has 6 large prism spots instead of 5 or 5+3.