Search found 91 matches

by pbraub
Mon Oct 12, 2020 8:42 am
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: A picture a day, or two
Replies: 0
Views: 2551

A picture a day, or two

Dear fellow microscopists, i have not come around to post much content in the last months, even the last year. For one, I have the pleasure to enjoy working with a microscope all day; also we have moved into our house just about a year ago and there is still just so much that needs to be doing. My m...
by pbraub
Fri Oct 09, 2020 12:32 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down, "focus shifting".
Replies: 20
Views: 5616

Re: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down, "focus shifting".

In retrospect I am glad I never got mine because if anything goes wrong with the electronics, then I am stuck with an unusable scope that takes four times the desk area of a BX. One of our Oly reps told me a story about an ax70 dopping from a warehouse storage shelf, knocking a hole in the concrete...
by pbraub
Fri Oct 09, 2020 12:29 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down, "focus shifting".
Replies: 20
Views: 5616

Re: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down, "focus shifting".

I tested drift on my bx43 (with (30w equivalent) led light source) on two occasions. In both it lost focus within a 15-20 min period (no-touch and no vibrations, i was out of office) with a 40x/0.95 objective. The scope likely was in thermal equilibrium (it was running all day and there was little t...
by pbraub
Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:58 am
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down, "focus shifting".
Replies: 20
Views: 5616

Re: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down.

Turn the microscope sideways or upside down and see if the drift changes direction. Im not sure if this will work - i think the bx stages are "preloaded" by gravity. I cannot really turn my scope on the side though. sorry. I did a quick and dirty test today and the focus shifted a relevant amount d...
by pbraub
Mon Oct 05, 2020 2:17 am
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: Algal bloom under the microscope
Replies: 11
Views: 3978

Re: Algal bloom under the microscope

Wonderful images. Thank you for sharing!
by pbraub
Mon Oct 05, 2020 2:10 am
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down, "focus shifting".
Replies: 20
Views: 5616

Re: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down.

adamski wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 1:41 pm
It would be interesting to do some testing on your scopes, setting 100x objective and leave it for 10 minutes see if you get a drift too?
What lightsource do you use? (LED/Hal/etc.)
Epi or transmitted?
Constant illumination or only on during camera exposure?
by pbraub
Sun Oct 04, 2020 5:02 am
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down, "focus shifting".
Replies: 20
Views: 5616

Re: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down.

Just in case, check the friction/brake on the focusing rack before you do any maintenance. This lever may be set too loose. The lever that controls friction is located between the left coarse focus knob and the stand. I agree 100% with enricosavazzi (but i think this is what adamski ment with "I ti...
by pbraub
Sun Oct 04, 2020 2:35 am
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down, "focus shifting".
Replies: 20
Views: 5616

Re: Olympus BX stage keeps drifting down.

Hi, drift through the fine focus can happen if the fine focus shaft is not properly lubricated. It needs (quite stiff) dampening grease. Unfortunately Olympus does not tell you which. Maybe try to lock the fine focus drive in place. Pushing a hefty weight (e.g. a metal block) with some rubber to the...
by pbraub
Thu Sep 24, 2020 1:00 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Help needed: DIC components necessary for my Oly
Replies: 31
Views: 9367

Re: Help needed: DIC components necessary for my Oly

And here I am doing something stupid. Didn't slot the prism into the holder correctly, rubbed some of the anodising off and made a permanent mark on the lid. :oops: These universal condensers are a pain in the #####. most of my prisms have marks from rubbing against the condenser turret lid. Your s...
by pbraub
Thu Sep 24, 2020 12:53 pm
Forum: Photography Through the Microscope
Topic: Diatoms DIC
Replies: 8
Views: 2373

Re: Diatoms DIC

Your result is very nice. Did you do any background subtraction or other correction?
by pbraub
Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:02 am
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: "Disastrous" (completely unexpected!!) 100x oil immersion objective comparison
Replies: 38
Views: 7454

Re: "Disastrous" (completely unexpected!!) 100x oil immersion objective comparison

I share your impression that there is not much difference between the semi-apos and apos of olympus (especially the newer lines - (U)PLanFl N and UPlanSApo. The jump from achromats to flourites is obvious however (i use fl and apos on my diagnostic scope and would never go back). Some while ago i ha...
by pbraub
Thu Sep 10, 2020 11:51 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Help needed: DIC components necessary for my Oly
Replies: 31
Views: 9367

Re: Help needed: DIC components necessary for my Oly

Thanks for the images! So that "blank slider" is merely one of the sliders without optics. I have a U-poc3 that looks similar. It probably has some retaining ring or similar to hold 25mm filters, but nothing fancy I would guess. A simple custom build part will probably do the trick. With 3D printin...
by pbraub
Wed Sep 09, 2020 12:26 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Help needed: DIC components necessary for my Oly
Replies: 31
Views: 9367

Re: Help needed: DIC components necessary for my Oly

Got a similarly cooked one. It was left in the ligthpath of a 100W mercury burner. When you want to do epifluoresence and DIC you should use the u-an (instead of the u-ant) because it is outside of the illumination path. a) you don't lose excitation light and b) you don't cook your filter. Surprisin...
by pbraub
Sat Sep 05, 2020 4:37 am
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Help needed: DIC components necessary for my Oly
Replies: 31
Views: 9367

Re: Help needed: DIC components necessary for my Oly

The normal (non hc/hr) are the ones i use most often and are the ones I have in my condenser. They give an optimal middle ground imho. Ilike the HR prisms mostly for photography. When viewing by naked eye they seem very flat. In postprocessing you can get out so much more detail when adjusting the b...
by pbraub
Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:35 pm
Forum: Equipment Discussions
Topic: Help needed: DIC components necessary for my Oly
Replies: 31
Views: 9367

Re: Help needed: DIC components necessary for my Oly

"basic setup" restricted to the basic universal prism with the u-dict, cannot (officially) use dic in objectives marked with bfp1 (e.g. 60x and 100x apo). | | tube (e.g. u-tr30 or similar) | | |--| nosepiece with dic slider slot (d5re, d6re, d7re) and dic slider (U-DICT with U-ANT) objective sample ...