Are you sure you get the best image quality out of your microscope? About cleaning the front lens and using the aperture diaphragm.

No matter what microscope is in use, it should always be the intention of the user to optimize the image, means to get maximum information out of the sample. We are not talking about aesthetics, as some wrong microscope setup creates nice but misleading images, for example based on diffraction effects. From an educational model to a high-end outfit: experience shows that on any level of hardware and user knowledge mistakes are possible. Microscope experts are sometimes irritated when they walk through a hospital lab. Teaching correct microscope handling is simply not spirit of the time.

For an optimal image quality, the front lens of the microscope objective should be simply “clean”. No scratches, not grease, no residuals of immersion oil. This is not easy to achieve, as in daily work, especially with multiple users, a care for this aspect is not always in focus.

A nice example of a scratched/dirty front lens

Selecting the right microscope

AE Series

Category: Advanced Inverted Microscopes for Transmitted light

Target specimen: Cell cultures from microbiology, in flasks or petri dishes, on agar or in fluids; water samples from biology

Target customer: Lab technicians, advanced students

This comparison is an approach for classifying different Inverted microscopes in a defined performance range. Here we are talking about Motic’s AE series, meant for routine work in the microbiology lab of universities and related labs of industrial companies.

The following chart is based on the specifications of the basic outfit of both AE models and its available options. Within this series of publications, our rating always rests upon an individual understanding and validation of the actual numerical values.

AE SERIES - Comparison Chart

Selecting the right microscope

BA Elite Series

Category: Advanced Transmitted Light Microscopes

Target specimen: Transparent samples (sections, smears, emulsions, water samples) from Biology & Medicine; rarely from Industry

Target customer: Lab technicians

This comparison is an approach for classifying different microscope models in a defined performance range. Here we are talking about Motic’s BA Elite series of Advanced Transmitted light microscopes, meant for routine work in university and biomedical lab. The comparison is meant to help you in finding a suitable solution for your lab.

The following chart is based on the specifications of the basic outfit for each model and its upgrade options. Our rating of the single specifications rests upon an individual understanding of the actual numerical values. This is a subjective rating, and we understand that each person might have its own opinion.

BA SERIES - Comparison Chart

Introduction to Darkfield illumination - Slider solution

For transparent samples in light microscopy, dark field illumination is a simple and affordable contrast method. The idea of this technique is to display and to emphasize border structures, means abrupt changes of the refractive index within the sample. Especially for single-celled organism in fresh or sweet water environments, with a refractive index close to water, this contrast method gives aesthetic and informative images.

Dark field emphasizes borders and isolated, single structures, flagella of protozoa and tiny particles. The comparison of a diatom sample in bright field and dark field clearly shows this:

How such an image is achieved? We need to eliminate the direct light which ordinarily passes the specimen and which is responsible for the bright background in bright field illumination. For objectives with a Numerical Aperture ≤ 0.65 this

Quick setup guide for upright microscopes

SWITCH ON THE MICROSCOPE

Before switching on the microscope, plug-in the microscope to the power supply (1). Once this is done, switch it on (2) and gradually increase the intensity control (3).

INTERPUPILLARY DISTANCE ADJUSTMENT

Before adjusting the interpupillary distance, place the sample on the specimen holder, and select the 10X objective (4).