In the blog about Photomicrography you could easily see the detail of the butterfly wing scales. This valuable insight is not only beautifully patterned and dramatically colorful it also shows the remarkable complexity of the wing. This was done with a very low cost microscope and a cell phone. We also spoke earlier about the simple Gear used in this voyage of discovery. To expand the range of observations and bring more sense into the discussions I acquired a more sophisticated microscope.
New microscope
The addition to the observation gear is an Olympus BH 2 BHS trinocular microscope with five Splan objective lenses including oil immersion, light source adaptable to ultra blue illumination, photo extension with NKF 2.5X L microscope eye piece, and a Olympus OM to Canon EOS 5D mark II camera adaptor. The system was created by referencing the Alan Wood web site.1
New microscopic methods
The new scope has bright field, dark field, polarized light, color filtered light and flash direct lighting. These provide the opportunity to make observations of samples that may be unstained, vital and devital stained and fluorescent illumination.
Computer Assisted Photomicrography
In 2021 Canon made available a free downloadable software interphase to couple the camera to the Apple macOS Monterey on the Mac Pro computer. This allows a seamless control of the attached camera and a recording of still and video microscopic observations. Using this software, the camera can be remotely controlled without shutter or mirror camera vibration. The resulting photo micrographs can be loaded directly to the local hard drive or to the cloud with this arrangement.
Accessories
There are also a number of accessories including hand microtome, ring light flash light and full slide mounting, staining accessories and supplies for mounting and cleaning.
Sharing the Opportunities
Additionally, I donated my American Optical trinocular bright field microscope to the Wonder Garden of Bonita Springs FL to assist in observation of micro anatomy and pathology of their animals and plants and for live demonstration for their education programs. This was done in the spirit of exploration and expansion of horizons for others. We are all together on this discovery voyage of the Everglades Ark.
For further discussion for the amateur microscopist check out the website Microscope Clarity.2 Included in that site are discussions, recommendations for gear and supplies and experiments for novice microscopists.
References:
- Alan Wood Olympus microscopes
- Microscope Clarity
If you are a microscopist or are interested in the subject please make your comments in the space below!
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#microscope #polarized light #ultra blue light #bright field #dark field #oil immersion #slides
Everglades Ark 