Unusual Olympus 10x

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pbraub
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Unusual Olympus 10x

Post by pbraub »

Hi,

recently I came across an unusual 10x Olympus objective: A UPLanApo 10x Oil NA 0.40 and thought that it might be of interest to some members of the Forum.

Image

Oil immersion in a 10x is uncommon (to the point that I have never seen one) and the working distance is usually sufficient to clear any oil left on the slide. Further there is no real improvement in terms of NA over non-immersion 10x objectives offered by Olympus - both the 10x SApo and Apo are also NA 0.40.

So - why a 10x oil? Truth be told - I do not know what Olympus intended (but I try to find out). For me: I use it as a guide lens when imaging with my 60x oil objectives. In this case the image is free from distortion due to oil droplets.

This may not strictly be necessary for a guide lens; however it never hurts to have the option to take high quality pictures.

Do you know of any other low magnification (oil) immersion lenses? I am aware of the Olympus UPlanSApo 20x Oil (and the LUMPlanFL 10x, 20x, etc water immersion lenses which are however used for a different purpose).

Let me know what you think!

Kind regards
Peter










Postscriptum:
Example images from different Oly 10x in DIC:

Image

UPlanFL 10x:
Image
As expected, the UPlanFL performs nicely in this combination.

UPlanFL N 10x:
Image
The UPlanFL N 10x (UIS2) has a more pronounced gradient in DIC observation. The UIS2 objectives are intended to be used with the U-DIC prisms and not the U-DP (UIS1).

UPlanSApo 10x:
Image
With the UPlanSApo 10x I get a similar result compared with the UPlanFL N 10x.

UPlanApo 10x Oil:
Image
With the UPlanApo 10x Oil the result is similar to the UPlanFL (both are UIS1) in regard to flatness of field/gradient with overall less pronounced DIC effect.


Setup is with U-POT / IF550 / U-DP10 / Sample / U-DICT / U-AN / Point Grey GS214S5M-C Camera. The camera is limiting the resolution with a pixel size of 6.45 µm (optimal are 3.0 µm). The sample is a section of formalin fixed and paraffin embedded fibrotic lung tissue with a small artery.

enricosavazzi
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Re: Unusual Olympus 10x

Post by enricosavazzi »

pbraub wrote:So - why a 10x oil? Truth be told - I do not know what Olympus intended (but I try to find out). For me: I use it as a guide lens when imaging with my 60x oil objectives. In this case the image is free from distortion due to oil droplets.
I believe the reason for the availability of a 10x for oil immersion is exactly the same reason why you are using it: to avoid having to clean out oil from slide and condenser (and sometimes even switching condenser or top condenser lens) when switching to a lower magnification with an air objective, and to avoid having to oil them once more when switching back to high magnification. It is much faster to use oil immersion objectives for all magnifications.
--ES

viktor j nilsson
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Post by viktor j nilsson »

Agree with Enrico, and can also add in this context that Leitz made an "Immersion attachment" to their 10x Pv objective - a cap that screwed on at the front which enabled the user to switch back and forth between this and higher magnification oil objectives.

Choronzon
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Post by Choronzon »

Special objective for Fluorescence use with other oil immersion objectives.
Leitz made an NPL Fluotar oil with an na of 0.45 just for this reason. There is also a version in phase contrast for the leitz.
Phase Fluorescence and DIC Fluorescence used to be two techniques that were in vogue right around that time.
I am not young enough to know everything.

enricosavazzi
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Post by enricosavazzi »

By the way, the UPLANAPO series is from the original UIS series and designed for "universal" use, i.e. brightfield, darkfield, DIC, fluorescence (with fluorescence epi illuminator) and pol.
--ES

pbraub
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Post by pbraub »

Do you by chance know why Olympus has a line of non "U" Apo objectives (e.g. the "PlanApo 60 1.40").

zzffnn
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Post by zzffnn »

pbraub wrote:Do you by chance know why Olympus has a line of non "U" Apo objectives (e.g. the "PlanApo 60 1.40").
I am guessing it could be that the non universal version has glass elements that are not strain-free for pol / DIC and/or may have slight autofluorescence.

enricosavazzi
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Post by enricosavazzi »

zzffnn wrote:
pbraub wrote:Do you by chance know why Olympus has a line of non "U" Apo objectives (e.g. the "PlanApo 60 1.40").
I am guessing it could be that the non universal version has glass elements that are not strain-free for pol / DIC and/or may have slight autofluorescence.
This is also my impression. See for example some of the non-U families of objectives at https://www.olympus-ims.com/en/microscope/uis2/ . For each objective they qualify the possible uses, which in most cases are not the complete range found among the U series.
--ES

pbraub
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Post by pbraub »

Seems like a reasonable explanation. Thank you Enrico and zzffnn!

Ichthyophthirius
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Post by Ichthyophthirius »

Hi,

Olympus implies that U means universal here: https://www.olympus-global.com/technolo ... o/1993_01/

"Creates a universal objective lens line-up, as this single objective lens series can be used for all types of observation methods."

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