MICROSCOPES

Some of the photomicrographs shown on these pages were taken through a Watson "Bactil" binocular/monocular (convertible) microscope of  about 1954 (the same age as myself!), fitted with a quadruple nosepiece. The picture below shows the monocular version, which is most convenient for photomicrography. I also use an Olympus FH, a Projectina and a Wild M8. My latest acquisition is a Zeiss GFL.

To see photos of my microscopes, click on the image above

... and can anyone tell me anything about this camera ??

TIPS & TECHNIQUES

Links to pages with useful (hopefully!) information

Flash Photomicrography

How I use flash with my photomicrographic setup

Home Made Phase Contrast

Phase contrast objectives can be expensive, so wouldn't it be nice to make one's own. Of course you could try etching your own phase plates, but hydrofluoric acid is not nice stuff. An alternative is to use a phase plate of plain glass with a sooted pattern on the plate. Here is an article describing the technique, with links to transcripts of original references from 1953:

DIY Phase Contrast

Immobilising Specimens

Try a drop of lidocaine throat spray -better than benzocaine because benzocaine is not very water soluble, and crystallises, meaning specimens then have to be washed.

Aquarium Slides

The original idea comes from Freshwater Microscopy by Garnett, 1953. The spacer can be made from polystyrene sheet and glued to the slide. Polystyrene sheet for modelling purposes comes in a range of thicknesses such as 5, 10, 20, 40 thousandths of an inch, hence different depth aquaria can easily be constructed. The sheet can easily be cut to suit the sizes of coverglass available. The coverglass may be held on by capillary action of water alone, or by a smear of vaseline (white soft paraffin) on the top of the spacer. The water will not escape, being held in place by surface tension.