Do you guys have microscopes at home?

[Kinase]

I really want one but I'm not sure what to look for. I have lots of experience on normal compound and Nikon inverted compound scope for eukaryotic cell culture but I'm obviously not going to buy one of those for my house. It'd be nice If I could use a camera with it too. I don't want to have it only hook up to a computer though.

 

[Bystander]

Depends on what use(s) you have for it. Browse the net --- there's a huge selection out there for, not every purpose, but a broad spectrum of applications for just about anybody's price range.

 

[Danger]

I have one, but no slides for it other than half a dozen samples that came with it such as a fly's wing and some weeds. I paid $15 for it at the local thrift store. It's really nice and looks just like the heavy steel ones that we had at school even though it's made of plastic. It even has an illumination mirror that flips over to be a powered light source (batteries included). I've never used it except to look at the fly's wing, but I've always wanted one and it might come in handy some day.

 

[Kinase]

Yeah I was hoping to thrift or ebay a decent performing one. Obviously not going to be on par with what I'm used to but I'd like to look at some singe celled stuff, eukaryotic and prokaryotic. A 100x oil immersion objective would be cool I guess. I know how to make slides and culture stuff so that's not an issue. I'll have to get looking. I saw this old http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vickers-Instruments-M008-Photoplan-Microscope-/271705595573 ad it's awesome looking but expensive and probably not compatible with cameras.

I'm not sure if I can just get a really cheap one that can either hook up to the computer and work and be good with that or not.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Y<snip>. I saw this old http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vickers-Instruments-M008-Photoplan-Microscope-/271705595573 ad it's awesome looking but expensive and probably not compatible with cameras..

That's hilarious- I took a model just like that one on the 'vomit comet' a while ago... That Vickers is built like a tank and smartly put together.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/brainbites/nonflash/bb_home_vomitcomet.html

 

[bahamagreen]

I have the old Bausch & Lomb microscope my grandfather used in medical school... 10 lbs. of steel and brass.
From looking around the web, it is the model patented Jan 5, 1915, still works fine.

Turret holds three objectives, has five including oil. Looks just like this, except it has a two dimensional rack on the stage with extra brass knobs to move a slide around under the objective.

 

[Kinase]

I'm hoping to find something that can hold 5 objectives. I could even buy a base and the objectives and whatnot separately. Or buy all the parts that come separately and put the whole thing together... whatever keeps costs down. Looks like you can buy methylene blue from places that sell fish stuff because it apparently keeps some sort of fungal infection away from fish.

 

[Danger]

Looks like you can buy methylene blue from places that sell fish stuff because it apparently keeps some sort of fungal infection away from fish.

That's nice to know. I haven't needed anything yet because I've had nothing that I really want to look at, but I'm thinking of asking the Laboratory Services company at my local Urgent Care Centre if they will sell me some slides and covers.

 

[Kinase]

You can actually order a lot of stuff off amazon. Slides and covers shouldn't be hard to come buy. Further reading seems to show that methylene blue might be a bit harder than I thought to find. Apparently you might have a hard time finding it at a petco or petsmart but you can get it from people that supply fish stuff. It's also more concentrated then you need I think, but you can dilute with water.

I've seen this brand 'Amscope' around on the internet but I'm read varying reviews on their quality. I think I'll be better off finding an older scope on ebay or the like. Old stuff like that vickers was certainly built to last and I'm very spoiled from using scopes in labs. I've found some American Optical 50-fifty bionocular compound scopes on ebay so I'm seeing if I can find any information on them.

Only thing is all these old scopes were made long before I was born in 1992 so I'm not really sure of the history of the companies and that kind of stuff.

 

[Kinase]

That's hilarious- I took a model just like that one on the 'vomit comet' a while ago... That Vickers is built like a tank and smartly put together.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/brainbites/nonflash/bb_home_vomitcomet.html

Actually, do you know of anywhere online where you can find information about vickers scopes? I'm looking at an M008 photoplan and can't find a thing abut it other than some ebay auctions. Either that or an American optics 50-fifty, can't find much info on it either.

 

[Andy Resnick]

What you want in a microscope body is stability and a good z-drive- and a Vckers M008 scope in good condition is more than adequate. I'm not familiar with the American Optics model you mention, but based on the images I found:

http://www.pemed.com/lab/microscp/aofifty01_1.jpg

I think you're better off with the M008, and if you've done any maintenance on the lab Nikons you'll figure out how to use/clean the Vickers.

 

[Danger]

all these old scopes were made long before I was born in 1992

You're younger than my entire wardrobe and half of my food supplies.

 

[Kinase]

Sadly that Vickes scope was sold. And yes, I might be young compared to some on this board. I'm still trying to look around to get a handle on older microscopes. I'm still looking to not buy a new one from a brand like amscope.

 

[Neptune2235]

I have an Omano OM118-M4 compound microscope that goes for around $160 I believe. I'm really pleased with it so far. It has four objective lenses, 40x, 100x, 400x, 1,000x, and allows you to see cell structure. Of course, it's not the most powerful microscope out there but its quality is pretty hard to beat for the price.