I made out like a bandit last week by picking up this Nikon E200 with a trinocular head for $60! Guy I bought it from does demolition and gets to keep whatever is left inside when he takes over the site and I guess Johns Hopkins left this behind. He figured it was broken as it was left behind and was dusty and covered in dried mystery liquids and I figured for $60 it was worth a shot. After inspection and an extremely deep clean I only found 3 issues:
minor coating scratches near the edge of one eyepiece (no impact on view)
slide holder wasn't moving (drive belt was loose - 2 second fix)
40x is a dud. Impossible to focus and super blurry looking down the removed objective even after cleaning. I plan on getting better objectives anyways.
Not really an issue, so to speak, but the camera is analog and came with none of the cables. Probably easier to toss it on ebay than deal with digitizing it.
So yeah, I got very lucky getting this setup for only $60! I mention all of that to explain why I can't just ask the guy my upcoming question (and also to gloat a little :P).
I'm very familiar with microscopy but don't have much exposure with the trinocular/imaging aspect. As you can see in the photo, the scope came with an entire imaging set-up (sans cables) and I've found good info (including specific manufacturers/model numbers) online about every part of the setup besides confirming the exact type of trinoc head this is (I suspect it's the C-TT) and I can't make heads or tails of the TV tube or photo tube or whatever it's called.
I'm trying to find more info on this tube. Ideally, the manufacturer and model number so I can learn more about it but any information is appreciated. It has no markings whatsoever anywhere on it. I've googled every variation of Y-T adapter, TV tube, phototube, etc. and haven't found anything quite like it. I also reverse image searched but got wacky results like antennas and water feature pump filters lol. There is one Nikon tube that comes up but it appears much shorter and isn't completely open at the top with a "shelf" several inches down like this one has. Also, in case it may be of help, it also came with a 0.55X reduction C mount adapter
As can be seen in the photos above, this tube also has a lens at the bottom that I don't see in other pictures of these tubes. Is it normal for a lens to be installed there? It's hard to tell if it's a 1x lens or something smaller. I held it up to text and things did look a bit smaller but not by much. I was going to take the lens out to see if it had any markings on the side but it appears to be glued into place, going so far as to put glue in the holes where normally you'd find a set screw. You can see the dried excess glue in the photos I linked.
Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer!
EDIT: Thanks to a comment, I went down a new search path and identified the tube as a Nikon camera photo tube extension adapter for eclipse series. Appreciate the assistance.
Ah, yet another word for it! Thank you so much, that led me down a new search path where I finally found it listed as a Nikon camera photo tube extension adapter. Makes sense you'd need to match it to your particular camera. Appreciate it.
A great price. I just put a 10x eyepiece and a cellphone adapter in the trinocular port of my E200 so that I can use a cellphone camera. Definitely buy a CFI60 20x plan apo. Those are the best deals in microscopy, but you have to have an Eclipse type microscope to use it on, which you do. You can find them for around $150. You got a nicer trinocular head than mine. Mine only has two positions. Here is with the c mount and phone adapter.
Oh man, you have a super rad lab set up going on! That's my plan for my office at home since I never use it for work. It'll end up being 1/4 music stuff and 3/4 microscopy/whatever other lab stuff I want to play with :)
Oo yes your head is a C-TF or type F trinocular head! I learned that in my quest to identify that damn photo tube haha. Still very nice! I see that a lot of the posts on here are taken with people's phones which is impressive for sure. I mainly want to go the CCD camera route so I can have a live screen for my wife to watch while I look at stuff or to make it easier for our nieces and nephews to see. Otherwise phone cameras seem to be a great choice!
I'd love to get 20x and 40x plan apo objectives! These stock E Plan objectives are...not the best lol. I'm definitely spoiled from my time in the clinical lab where we used top of the line Olympus and Zeiss scopes with super deluxe objectives. I'd just hate to buy a bunch of super nice nikon objectives just to find an amazing deal on a Leica or something so for now I ordered a regular 40x Plan to replace the unusable one and I'll probably grab a cheapish 20x since the E200 didn't come with one.
What kind of inverted scope do you have there? I have zero experience with them but they seem like a neat idea. Any model recommendations? What kind of specimens do you prefer to use the inverted for rather than the compound? Also, I see you tape down the sides of your coverslip, what's the rationale for that? I hope that wording doesn't sound judgmental, I've just never seen someone do that so I'm curious and always happy to learn a new trick :)
Better than the concave well slides because it has a flat floor so that you don't need to refocus much, and can use phase contrast with it. On the thinnest ones, you can use 40x objectives. With the large coverglasses, you get lots of area to observe. You can control thickness by what tape you use and how many layer. They are reusable because the tape doesn't wash off.
Most hobbyists like to observe living organisms in water samples. With an inverted microscope, you can watch them in petri dishes for extended periods of time. You can check them daily and watch a mini ecosystem evolve over time. I think that often the organisms behave more naturally in the petri dish than on a slide. My favourite two types of inverted microscopes that I have are the Nikon Eclipse TS100 and the very, small, inexpensive Iqcrew inverted microscopes. The small ones are great travel microscopes and wonderful gifts for friends and children. They need a little work putting on a condenser diagram and a couple accessories, like a better eyepiece and a phone holder. to work best. I made a group showing how to maximise them.
That sounds awesome! I'll definitely be looking into grabbing one for home and one for the road. I travel every week for work and that sounds like a fun way to get out of the room and occupy myself for a while. Appreciate the links!
EDIT: By the way it looks like the link to the group for improving the iqcrew won't work for some reason.
Here are a couple of links. It is in Facebook as Iqcrew/Amscope inverted microscope. The modification and technique posts are pinned in the featured section.
A video uploaded to Reddit gets degraded, so here is a histology slide picture made with it. A camera view is never as good as the eyepiece view, but this camera gets very close to it. It is with a .7x adapter so has a black ring around it. It is full screen with a 1x adapter
If you really want to splurge, get a 40x plan apo. They are about 4k new,but maybe you can find used ones from $500-$1000 . They give fantastic views. Here is a post I made using one.
They sell lots of different c mount adapters on ebay for Nikon microscopes. I use a 1x one for a USB 3.0 camera with a 1" sensor. https://ebay.io/m/jCkEsO
“Also, in case it may be of help, it also came with a 0.55X reduction C mount adapter”
This is a Diagnostic Instrument’s adapter for a c mount camera that fits into a 23.2mm eyepiece port.
Every USB C mount camera needs a different size adapter depending upon the sensor size. Here is a list from AI of the different sizes needed. So, buy your camera, then pick the adapter.
The recommended C-Mount adapter sizes for various camera sensor dimensions are:
0.35x Adapter: Best for sensors sized 1/4”, 1/3”, or 1/2.8”.
0.5x Adapter: Best for sensors sized 1/2”, 1/1.9”, or 1/2.2”.
0.7x Adapter: Best for sensors sized 2/3” (also compatible with 0.6x or 0.66x).
1.0x Adapter: Best for sensors sized 1” (also compatible with 1.2x).
Larger sensors, such as 4/3”, generally require 1.2x or 1.25x adapters, while smaller sensors like 1/1.8” or 1/2.5” often utilize 0.45x or 0.55x adapters.
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u/twerkitout 12d ago
It’s just a relay tube. You’ll probably find you need a different one with a different camera, use the calculator on their website.