Microscope questions

[madj42]

For whatever reason I've started looking at microscopes and I'm looking at purchasing one in the near future. I'm looking specifically at the Amscope T120B model. Currently this is just myself being a nerd and wanting to look at the brettanomyces and bacteria strains I'm using under the scope, but eventually it would expand into cell counting and other things. Mainly I'm wondering would I even need the 2000x magnification? Would this be a good microscope for a beginner and future proof for my future goals? Has anyone used a darkfield condenser for counting and looking under the scope?

Thanks for any help you all can provide.

 

[ajdelange]

You won't need 2000X which is a good thing because you aren't going to get it. The power of a microscope (or telescope) is the product of the powers of the objective and ocular. 40x objective with 10X eyepiece and you have a 400x scope. 40x objective with 50X eyepiece and you have 2000X of magnification but unless that objective has a numerical aperture you cannot afford you will have a highly magnified Airy pattern, not a big picture of a yeast cell. This is a common marketing ploy in toy microscopes and telescopes. It is referred to as 'empty magnification' because while the image is bigger it doesn't contain any more information.

 

[bradpoff]

Nothing will get you to 2000x as the previous poster said. You need oil immersion to get 1000x. I still have the scope I bought in veterinary school with a 100x (with the ocular of 10x gives you 100x) and it is actually quite good. Olympus scope. Go for a good name like Olympus, Nikon, etc and buy a used one. You'll get far more for your dollar.

 

[madj42]

So just one more question. I found a Olympus CHB microscope for $150 on ebay from a local surplus shop here in town. I plan on looking at it tomorrow and I'm just wondering, is this microscope still relevant even though it's 40 years old? From what it looks like it has some cosmetic issues on the stage but nothing that looks like it would affect the usage of the device. I'm fine with buying a used scope. Just wanted to make sure I was going in the right direction. It looks like it has 10x eyepieces and 4x, 10x, 40x, and 100x objectives. Would the 100x be empty magnification in this instance?

Sorry for the newbie questions here.

 

[myelo]

I have an Olympus CH that's 35 years old and it works fine. If it's been well taken care of and in good shape it will be all you ever need. The 100X is an oil immersion objective and is useful for real close up stuff but the 10X and 40X will be the ones you use for yeast.

 

[madj42]

myelo, have you ever hooked a camera up to your microscope?

 

[passedpawn]

So just one more question. I found a Olympus CHB microscope for $150 on ebay from a local surplus shop here in town. I plan on looking at it tomorrow and I'm just wondering, is this microscope still relevant even though it's 40 years old? From what it looks like it has some cosmetic issues on the stage but nothing that looks like it would affect the usage of the device. I'm fine with buying a used scope. Just wanted to make sure I was going in the right direction. It looks like it has 10x eyepieces and 4x, 10x, 40x, and 100x objectives. Would the 100x be empty magnification in this instance?

Sorry for the newbie questions here.

A 100x lens is likely an oil immersion, which means the lens will couple with the sample slide with a drop of oil. Without the oil, the image would be VERY poor.

You need to know the numerical aperture of the lens. With oil, the 100x lens's for Olympus are usually 1.25, which is great and you'll get good resolution. Less than 1.00 would be bad. Maybe find out the NA for the 100x lens (and the 40x too, since that's more useful for cell counting in a hemocytometer).

 

[passedpawn]

myelo, have you ever hooked a camera up to your microscope?

Amscope makes an adapter for SLR cameras that lets you easily connect your camera to a scope eyetube (assuming you don't have a tri head on the microscope). I have one and it works great.

I've also experimented just shooting a normal camera down the eyetube. Works, but not great.

I've also attached a webcam to the eyetube. But when you have the Amscope attachment, no need.

 

[myelo]

myelo, have you ever hooked a camera up to your microscope?

No I haven't. As passeddawn says, you need an adapter of some sort but I've never looked into that. Sorry I can't help with that.

 

[passedpawn]

Here's what I use. I have an olympus CH-2 binocular scope. I mount this adapter onto my Canon 7D, remove one of the objective lenses on the scope, and slide it in. Without the camera lens, you have to do your focusing with the microscope, but it's easy. Just look at the camera display.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OY7YG6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[kombat]

I bought one very similar to this one, and it would work fine for observing yeast.

 

[trentm]

Here is a link to a great video that discusses considerations for choosing a microscope for the amatuer.

 

[KyleWolf]

some of the best prices on microscopes I have found is at cynmar.com It actually has really good prices on a lot of lab equipment (glassware, culture media, etc.)

*disclaimer* I am in no way affiliated with cynmar.

 

[b-boy]

I've had some luck finding lab gear that's being replaced in schools/colleges. Usually they auction it off in batches. I got an entire lot of microscopes for $20. A few were junk, but several were pretty nice. I got a few good deals on glassware too. Of course, I clean the glassware really, really well before I use it.

 

[pshankstar]

I've had some luck finding lab gear that's being replaced in schools/colleges. Usually they auction it off in batches. I got an entire lot of microscopes for $20. A few were junk, but several were pretty nice. I got a few good deals on glassware too. Of course, I clean the glassware really, really well before I use it.

I was curious to know where you scored them from? If it was local I'm not too far away from you so I could look into myself if there is another sale.

I'm looking at getting into cell counting with my harvested yeast. Thanks in advance! [emoji106]