Upgrading Your Amateur Microscope! (PDF Updated Jan 2022!)
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- Опубликовано: 16 июл 2024
- New year, new objectives? If you want to throw some more money into your microscope to improve its image quality but aren't sure where to start, this is the video for you! I'm going to point you to a few objectives which should work well with your amateur grade microscope! This isn't a comprehensive list, but I know these will work well for you and may even be a starting point for a greater journey to advanced amateur microscopy! Please check out the accompanying guide PDF located here: drive.google.com/drive/u/1/fo...
00:00 Intro
00:39 Assumptions!
01:50 Potentially Distressing News
03:28 The Optics for You
05:28 The Future of Your Microscopy
07:38 Thanks for Watching!
Your PDF makes a good point about optics... optics has been a kind of "seasoned" field for a long long time. When I was 14 or so I got a Canon Rebel SLR, the second one they made, it was 8mp. I loved it and loved taking pictures, actually made a career of it. I've only recently picked up a microscope which surprisingly my wife wanted to get, so I was all in. The parallels between old camera lenses and microscope objectives is pretty evident; some lenses, especially 1.2 primes or even wider for cameras are still coveted and genuinely don't have modern rivals for quality.
I only got the microscope two weeks ago but I've gotten an HDMI c mount camera with a sony sensor on a trinocular microscope and already find that the chromatic aberration on the 40 and 60x objectives are leaving me wanting more. Through the eyepieces the lenses look fine, but on our 65" tv in the living room I can tell the optics are letting the system down... I don't expect flawless quality, but I really think a good plan 40x would be a good taste of quality objectives.
There are lenses inside the telescope and it's an amscope clone actually, not even an amscope lol, but I think most of the current manufacturers use the same plans if not the same factory to make most of these scopes. I'm curious whether the aberration is coming from 1) the .5x tube I'm using to adapt the camera, 2) the lenses INSIDE the microscope itself, or 3) the objectives. I know the camera adapter tube plays some part as I was using a fixed focus tube that cost about $30 but I switched out to a $100 "amscope" adjustable focus adapter. The big issue is the scope can take 23mm eye tube adapters or some mishmash of thread sizes (something like a 25mm?) I'm not entirely sure, not sure how I would measure the threads even if I used a caliper to assess the bore of the threads on the trinocular tube.
Sorry for the rambling, thanks so much for your videos, been enjoying your filmography as well as your wisdom!
Would you consider joining my discord (link in the “about” section of my channel)? That would be a better forum for me to address your questions!
Happy New Year, thanks for the good advice.
Thanks, Nick! Happy New Year!🎆🎆🎆
I just picked up a Olympus CHBS as my first serious scope. I am a amateur and a complete noob. I couldn't agree more with the 80s as the golden age for used scopes for the amateur microscopist. I am contemplating getting mine professionaly refurbished and upgrading the objectives some time in the future.
Thank you, this topic is incredibly esoteric and difficult to get quality information without going broke from first hand experience buying everything.
Such a great channel. Just bought a Journey microscope and this keeps me busy during the long shipping times. I just get more and more excited everyday!
Thank for all work
If you look on ebay for example, a lot of old and very good quality 160mm scopes, are being sold at high prices above 400-500 euros. The phase contrast ones are ludicrous in price. If the old scope happens to have a trinocular head, that we are talking about 1000$ for a 50 year old zeiss or 700 for a Olympus BH-2. With this money, you can get a new trinocular infinity corrected scope, that obviously is more cheap in build, but better in optics. From my experience, if you are planning to record/photo what you're seeing, go for a trinocular infinity no matter what. Do not invest in 160mm scopes (new or old) because it does not worth the troubleshooting that you will have to make in order to make it work properly with a camera.
The difference in optical quality for base-level infinity scopes versus finite scopes is usually negligible. And if you want to go apochromatic, finite scopes are vastly more cost-effective than infinity scopes. An infinity scope configured like the one I use would be on the order of 10x what I spent for my BH2. I haven't encountered any insurmountable issues regarding getting cameras connected to older scopes. The standards haven't changed since the 80s - it's just the adapters that can be a little harder to track down. In my opinion, if you're a fairly handy person, finite scopes from the 80s are hands-down the best option.
Regarding eBay prices, it's important to keep in mind that what you see on eBay is stuff that hasn't sold yet. A lot of times, that's because the prices are too high! If you make a habit of searching eBay daily for components, you can snag good deals on hardware. I snagged a full trinoc BH2 with the RFCA attachment for a cool 500USD from a surplus shop. Another time I paid like 300 for a fully functioning BH2 which included a 4x apo objective. The deals are out there if you're vigilant and patient. Also, Olympus hardware is more plentiful for me because Olympus took over the US market in the 80s. In Europe, you should be looking at German scopes for similar deals. Regrettably, I know less about those for the same reason that I know a lot about Olympus.
Hey thank you for the video! Really great content I feel that there is not a lot of this kind of information about microscopy on RUclips. This was very helpful.
I love these videos because they answer all the questions I have but find few videos on youtube about.
Thanks Valerie! Yeah I noticed the same thing and it's a big reason I want to do these! The information is out there, but a lot of it is locked up in old forum posts and whatnot. These vintage optics and scopes still have many decades left to entertain and inspire curious minds. I want to make sure they aren't forgotten!
@@diettoms Do you plan on making a dedicated video on the things to consider when purchasing these older microscopes? Or perhaps more in depth information on the specific models to look out for?
@@ValerieFire I intend to do multiple videos on such subjects! The BH2 will certainly be the first focus as it's the likely best choice for most beginners and I own like half a dozen of them at this point 😆 Right now I'm thinking of something like a BH2 overview video, then a buying guide, then a maybe a more in-depth review? I'm not sure when I'll be putting those together - if you wanted to jump in right away, you really can't go wrong with a BH2. The last slide in my PDF has some links to resources on that might help you decide whether or not it's right for you!
hi all. i did just that, following MH same advise: got myself some olympus scopes and the difference is just mind-blowing. i want to scream it from the rooftops
@@MarieChardome Tell us more. What did you get and from where?
Good stuff! Thanks for the help sorting this out.
Sure thing, feel free to send me an email if you have specific questions for your setup!
Awesome vid useful info and thank you for taking the time to make the pdf
Underrated.
Great video, thanks!
amazing!
UPDATE: Please read the PDF and check out this video: ruclips.net/video/B1OKUVhXvuE/видео.html
Hey folks, feel free to leave a comment down below! If you have some more technical or personalized questions (and a reddit account) I set up a subreddit for the channel where we can have conversations in a bit more of an organized fashion. Sometimes these sorts of discussions produce the most helpful content for other users! But you can also email me or send me a message on IG or whatever! www.reddit.com/r/DietTomsRUclips/comments/rtdkwm/upgrading_your_amateur_microscope/
I upgraded my old scope to the amscope b490 halogen, I wanted someone close to "clinical grade" in everything but the objectives of course. The objectives are meh, and planars are definitely on my to-do list.
Brilliant video thanks, what quality are m & U plan objectives?
Not bad advice. Though I hate working with used stuff...always something broken with it. At around this same price, you can buy a new cheap(ish) Chinese infinity corrected microscope (something like an AmScope t720q). They come with very good plan achromat objectives and are apparently optically compatible with Olympus' infinity system (no eyepiece corrections). They also provide an upgrade path to kind of reasonable-ish current-generation fluorite and apo objectives. I think I'd, personally, rather invest in a system like that than a 1980's 160mm system.
Ah, see I feel so much differently. I love the used stuff - it's part of the fun of the hobby for me and I love owning stuff that has heritage. The old 160mm systems get you way more for your money - my BH2 has a full set of SPlanApo objectives and DIC for 10/20/40/100x. Plus I've got a fluorescent epi illuminator and a phase contrast condenser (no objectives yet). I'd never have been able to afford all that on a quality infinity system (Don't get me wrong, though, a BX40/50 is on my hunting list). I think an infinity system is a great choice if you're REALLY well funded or don't have an interest in trying out a lot of different techniques (and I mention this in the guide), but it's going to be severely limiting for many hobbyists and the old premier manufacturer scopes have way higher build quality than the Chinese stuff. It's true that used scopes have some pitfalls, but I hope to shed light on those and help people work around them in future videos :)
@@diettoms I have 5 American Optical series 10 and 110 models and two Nikon Eclipses (400 and 600, without objectives) you can come play with. Fixing that stuff up is exhausting, and I can never seem to find exactly the right part. These days, I'm all about the higher-quality but still cheap Chinese and Indian stuff. To be fair, I never tried with the 160 Nikon and Olympus stuff. Probably where I went wrong.
Hi
I have a bresser microscope 40x 1600x.
Well it's a cheap one, but I would like to know if I can upgrade same
Brilliant video
what about objectives that just say plan apo with no letter?
I believe the Nikons just say plan apo - the main thing to focus on is matching what's in those catalogs (linked in the PDF) to what you're buying.
very commercial