[Histonet] Nikon relay lens

[RCHIOVETTI <@t> aol.com]

In a message dated 8/14/2005 11:35:35 PM US Mountain Standard Time, 
nyilmaz <@t> mersin.edu.tr writes:

> We're using an Olympus BX 50 light microscope attached with Nikon Coolpix 
> 5000 digital camera. I'm wondering what the mangnification value of MDC relay 
> lens between the camera and the microscope is.


Dr. Yilmaz,

I recently set up a system on a Leica microscope, using a Nikon Coolpix 8800. 
 We did the following:

1.  We obtained a stage micrometer, which is a precise ruling that is etched 
on a microscope slide.  The one we used was 1 mm overall length, with smallest 
rulings of 0.010 mm (10 micrometers).

2. We did not use the MDC relay lens, but we purchased an adapter from 
another company.

3.  On our system, we had to use the optical zoom of the camera to obtain a 
full field of view (eliminate the vignetting, or "clipping" of the image at the 
corners).

4.  Since the zoom on the camera is infinitely adjustable, we had to decide 
on a reproducible zoom setting that always gave the same magnification.  For 
the Coolpix 8800 and our adapter, we opted to zoom to the maximum setting.  It's 
10x on the 8800; I'm not sure what it is on the 5000.

5.  To make measurements we set the camera to this maximum (10x) zoom, and 
took pictures of the stage micrometer with each objective.  From there, it's 
relatively easy to measure the spacing of the 10 micrometer lines and to 
calculate a total magnification.

This was the only way we could come up with to make measurements, since the 
camera's zoom is so variable.  It's a small inconvenience, but the camera works 
great with this set-up.

You could probably use a similar procedure, provided you are using the 
camera's optical zoom to fill the field of view with the MDC relay lens.  The trick 
is to use a zoom setting that is reproducible.

Hope this is of some help.

Best regards,

Robert (Bob) Chiovetti, Ph.D.
The Microscope Works
Arizona's Microscopy Resource
132 North Elster Drive
Tucson, AZ 85710-3212 USA
Tel./Fax 520-546-4986
Member, Arizona Small Business Association - ASBA