In response to some emails; PLEASE SEE; My updated post way further in the thread.
There are those who wish to purchase microscopes to view soil, compost and compost tea organisms. I have posted a number of times over the years that it is not so much the magnification which counts but more important is the light, provision of contrast and quality of optics.
Despite this, many people fall for the ads for the low cost - high magnification microscopes.
An ad which states 'magnification up to 2000x' is meaningless babble meant to suck in the novice. I never use over 500x
Same thing if the scope is described as a doctor's or veterinarian's microscope - no such thing.
Or how about the line stating, 'made by the same people who make high end Leica & Zeiss, etc.' [make me laugh]
One of the worst offenders for slogging cheap crappy scopes is AMscope. You can get by with one of these but it may take some work. It is not as easy as turning on the microscope, putting something on a slide and looking down the tube. One needs to learn how to focus and provide a contrast which will show up organisms which are the same refractive index as the liquid they are in (transparent).
If you are lucky the condenser iris will be sufficient to provide this but if you have some shitty-ass LED mickey mouse lighting, you may need to employ other tactics.
There is lots of info on the web for tweaking or using microscopes so get busy learning.
Alternatively one can purchase a recommended scope and pay to take lessons from the person who recommended it or find a scope for sale which comes with a course and learning support from someone who has already done the heavy lifting.
Using a microscope is pretty much as easy as using binoculars but you need to have decent quality to begin with.
Same thing with the crap cameras. Usually the chip to driver combo is insufficient for tracking moving organisms; does not matter how many mb.
Here is some basic information to use as a guideline if purchasing a microscope. For more details you may look here;
http://microbeorganics.com/microscopeadvisory.pdf
You want a compound transmitted light microscope (not reflected light; not dissecting stereo scope) with the following attributes;
* 10X widefield eyepieces
* at least 10x, 20x, 40x objectives but 4x or 6x is nice to have
* height adjustable condenser with closeable iris - 1.25 numerical aperpture (NA) or 0.90 NA slightly better
* mechanical stage - controls for moving the slide around under the objective - a manual one with clips will drive you nuts
* if getting a new scope I recommend at least 20 watt halogen lighting - with LED you can get standard brightfield viewing quality with 3 watt but for any enhancements you need 5 watts or more
if buying used some of the older scopes were set up to function well with 15 watt halogen or incandescent (e.g. Leitz black models)
You want to consider whether you wish to get a monocular or binocular viewing head. If you are going to spend lots of time looking down the tube, then a binocular is way easier on the eyes and brain. A trinocular head allows the mounting of a camera.
Bear in mind if you use a camcorder or quality digital camera you will also require an adapter.
There are those who wish to purchase microscopes to view soil, compost and compost tea organisms. I have posted a number of times over the years that it is not so much the magnification which counts but more important is the light, provision of contrast and quality of optics.
Despite this, many people fall for the ads for the low cost - high magnification microscopes.
An ad which states 'magnification up to 2000x' is meaningless babble meant to suck in the novice. I never use over 500x
Same thing if the scope is described as a doctor's or veterinarian's microscope - no such thing.
Or how about the line stating, 'made by the same people who make high end Leica & Zeiss, etc.' [make me laugh]
One of the worst offenders for slogging cheap crappy scopes is AMscope. You can get by with one of these but it may take some work. It is not as easy as turning on the microscope, putting something on a slide and looking down the tube. One needs to learn how to focus and provide a contrast which will show up organisms which are the same refractive index as the liquid they are in (transparent).
If you are lucky the condenser iris will be sufficient to provide this but if you have some shitty-ass LED mickey mouse lighting, you may need to employ other tactics.
There is lots of info on the web for tweaking or using microscopes so get busy learning.
Alternatively one can purchase a recommended scope and pay to take lessons from the person who recommended it or find a scope for sale which comes with a course and learning support from someone who has already done the heavy lifting.
Using a microscope is pretty much as easy as using binoculars but you need to have decent quality to begin with.
Same thing with the crap cameras. Usually the chip to driver combo is insufficient for tracking moving organisms; does not matter how many mb.
Here is some basic information to use as a guideline if purchasing a microscope. For more details you may look here;
http://microbeorganics.com/microscopeadvisory.pdf
You want a compound transmitted light microscope (not reflected light; not dissecting stereo scope) with the following attributes;
* 10X widefield eyepieces
* at least 10x, 20x, 40x objectives but 4x or 6x is nice to have
* height adjustable condenser with closeable iris - 1.25 numerical aperpture (NA) or 0.90 NA slightly better
* mechanical stage - controls for moving the slide around under the objective - a manual one with clips will drive you nuts
* if getting a new scope I recommend at least 20 watt halogen lighting - with LED you can get standard brightfield viewing quality with 3 watt but for any enhancements you need 5 watts or more
if buying used some of the older scopes were set up to function well with 15 watt halogen or incandescent (e.g. Leitz black models)
You want to consider whether you wish to get a monocular or binocular viewing head. If you are going to spend lots of time looking down the tube, then a binocular is way easier on the eyes and brain. A trinocular head allows the mounting of a camera.
Bear in mind if you use a camcorder or quality digital camera you will also require an adapter.
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