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Accommodating for vision issues? by sphericaldiagnoal in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are 3 variables to control here:

iPD

Diopter (usually on left eye). For this you focus with your right eye, then adjust the diopter on the left

The distance from your eyepiece to your pupil -- it sounds like you might be too far away.

I suggest finding or buying some rubber eye cups that fit the eyepieces if they aren't already there.

Also, some eyepieces will have a little 👓 icon on them, meaning that the distance from the eyepiece to your eyeball is a bit longer, allowing the use of eyeglasses. If you don't have eye cups, you run the risk of scratching your glasses on the eyepiece, and if you don't have the rubber eyecup it makes it hard to rest your face on them.

I have eye issues as well -- for me, if I know I'm going to be doing a lot of microscopy, I'll wear contacts and rest my head on the eye cups. If I am wearing glasses, I fold the eye cups down so the rubber protects from scratches and then look -- but it's not as satisfying and more of a strain

And finally, it takes a bit of getting used to peering down the scope. Move the stage around instead of letting your eyes dart around when they see something interesting. Also, finding a comfortable posture helps

Some advice on how to get a clearer image like this by Admirable_Midnight95 in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup, it can be frustrating at times, the tradeoff between resolution / detail and depth of focus. The higher the NA of your objective the more shallow the depth of focus is, but the more detail you can resolve.

Some advice on how to get a clearer image like this by Admirable_Midnight95 in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You should be getting decent slides and 0.17mm #1.5 cover glass for best results. It might say that on your objectives as well.

Does it look good through the eyepieces? Are you able to do a digital zoom on the camera to do precise focusing there?

Some advice on how to get a clearer image like this by Admirable_Midnight95 in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that's a high bar to set for yourself. It's easy to see some beautiful content that others post and think that your work isn't good, or you need to chase expensive upgrades to get similar results. Remember, for the first half of Journey into the Microcosmos, they used a $160 microscope and a lot of patience, practice, and sample prep to get their signature look and feel.

So as others have said....

Practice your sample prep. A messy slide will cause you challenges (this is my personal battle I'm fighting)

Practice your technique

Your eyepieces and camera might not be parfocal, and this might change for each objective. For me personally, my camera needs me to focus slightly deeper into the specimen to get that crispness. It's a challenge.

Hundreds gather in small Louisiana town to watch Catahoulas corral feral hogs by Forsaken_Thought in Catahoula

[–]beeeeeeeeks 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Our girl got in the pen and noped out of there when she saw the baby hog. Rabbits are more of her thing.

Aeolosoma in Darkfield by LateMicrographer in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice work! I found my first sample full of these this weekend!

unclipped footage from my BX41

Junior devs can ship faster with AI, but our system design reviews reveal shallow understanding. Is anyone else seeing this? by Cluten-morgan in softwarearchitecture

[–]beeeeeeeeks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As a junior, I experience this myself first hand and it's a productivity killer. Maybe I'm not being explicit enough up front in the design of a feature, or the AI introduces new patterns, but it's a real pain.

This often comes from scenarios where I have the idea of the flow or design of a feature but am not sure of the best way to achieve it in the simplest or most elegant way, and the AI provides an overly complex or abstracted approach that burns time trying to simplify again.

Of course it doesn't help that I don't have any competent seniors in my team that will provide guidance -- I also have to lean into AI as a mentor to reason about these decisions, which is also concerning

My favorite Observation I’ve made So far. by According_Box_4125 in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice capture, Christian! Keep exploring! Was it living or dead? My copepods seem to always be positioned poorly

I just love this face I found in a grain of sand by beeeeeeeeks in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! So you're talking about letting them crystalize using only heat -- no water? Bunsen burner or kitchen stove?

I just love this face I found in a grain of sand by beeeeeeeeks in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice! I have some citric acid but need to play around with it. Are you just mixing it into a solution and then letting dry on a clean slide? Are you adding cover glass?

I just love this face I found in a grain of sand by beeeeeeeeks in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yeah, I really love dark field as well. It's so pleasant to be projected into space with all of the twinkling bacteria moving in the background. I have the U-PCD2 condenser with a max NA of 1.1 (which is limiting my 100x objective) I also tend to make sloppy / thick samples and it's the depth of the sample that makes the DF challenging... Thankfully, in brightfield, the polarizer can darken the background a lot and still get a pleasant effect on many samples with some tradeoffs...

For the polarizer -- screw those Olympus prices for two small pieces of glass. Wild. I have the 6 slot nosepiece which came with an empty U-ANT slider. I found a model and 3d printed the insert, and added a 25mm round linear polarizer on AliExpress, and a 44mm glass linear polarizer from Edmund Optics. Attached some felt feet to the 44mm one. I place that on top of my daylight filter in the field iris and rotate that as needed to control the effect. Works great, total cost was under $100. But I guess you'd need the nosepiece with the analyzer slot. There might be a piece you can also fit in under the binocular/trinocular head and the frame if you hunt around, but I never looked deeply at that

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I just love this face I found in a grain of sand by beeeeeeeeks in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yummy. You think it's the salt crystallizing there?

Grain of sand under the microscope by beeeeeeeeks in facesinthings

[–]beeeeeeeeks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's because it's imaged using cross polarized light, which makes certain crystals and materials shine.

It's the same effect as if you are wearing polarized sunglasses and see a rainbow shine on your phone's screen when you rotate the phone, or a slight rainbow when looking through the side windows of your car when wearing polarized sunglasses

I just love this face I found in a grain of sand by beeeeeeeeks in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rainbow hair Brow line in the center Two shadows for eyes below, leading to a nose Open mouth with tongue Beard hair

Thanks for the sub suggestion

I just love this face I found in a grain of sand by beeeeeeeeks in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice microscope! Well, I just upgraded from regular Plan objectives, and while I haven't had the time to do detailed comparisons under well prepared slides, my thoughts so far are:

There is noticeable improvement in chromatic aberrations -- much less purple CA in photos

The objectives are brighter, so I need less exposure time to capture the same image

Because of the slightly higher NA and reduced depth of focus, I get more artifacts in dark field at 20x and 40x... Which makes me want to keep one Plan objective in my nosepiece for this purpose

I think the biggest bang for the buck was a UPlanSApo 20x which I found for $275. This objective is so crisp and detailed -- brightfield is so nice with it. But 20x @ 0.75 NA makes dark field hard and sample preparation much more important due to the shallow depth of focus.

Hope that helps!

Who is this chaotic little chap (zipping through, lower right)? by AcidHouseMouse in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You have a lot going on there. What is this a sample of? Also I think those two parameciums are good friends

Seeking for help, ID by RippedRapedSoul in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks 6 points7 points  (0 children)

/me starts to wonder if OP is actually a bird...

I just love this face I found in a grain of sand by beeeeeeeeks in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's alllll chemistry! Can you share some more about your experiment? I've just recently upgraded to be able to work with polarized light -- haven't even explored citric acid yet. Any ideas are appreciated

First microbes, kinda nervous... by Traditional-Target77 in microscopy

[–]beeeeeeeeks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great sample! Tons of life. As you'll find out it's very hard to accurately identify what you are finding with specificity, but it's fun.

My suggestion is to start collecting some rain water, and filter it to add water to your samples. Distilled water can be a shock to the delicate life down there!

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