Male fruit fly under the microscope.

Drosophila fruit fly enlarged 40x (top) and 250x (bottom).
Ever since I was in grade 9 I loved microscopes.  I would spend countless hours at school before it began, after it ended, and at lunch peering through their depths at whatever I could scrape up.  Mostly it was aquatic critters I found in the biological science's aquarium that I maintained.  It provided me with an unending supply of protists, rotifers, annelids, and insects to examine.  That passion carried on through my adulthood as, over the years, I have collected a number of microscopes.

My first microscope was found at an auction.  I didn't quite know what I was getting myself into but the thrill hit me and I got it for $100.  It came with a wooden case, had three objectives, and a single 5x ocular lens.  The quality was, I discovered, not great.  It did get me going though.  Later I saw one in a doctor's office.  A better version of the one I had, it had 4 objectives and binocular 10x ocular lenses.  It had a lot of dust on it, so I approached its owner and bought it also for $100.  It was markedly better; I combined the two microscopes into one by picking the best parts of both.

Although my images had improved with my new acquisition they were not quite up to snuff.  With the time at home I have had lately, a by-product of Covid-19, I have been searching the internet for a better setup.  Low and behold I came across an old Zeiss binocular microscope with five objectives and a wide-field pair of 10x Zeiss oculars.  It was missing a power unit for the light, but outside of that it was is very good shape.  I put a bid in for it and got it a few days later; it came a couple of days ago.

I have to tell you the quality of the objectives and ocular lenses makes quite a difference.  I am using an external light source to illuminate the subject from above.  This works well in some instances, particularly if the subject is thick and light doesn't pass through it well.  I used the fruit fly above from a prepared slide and attached my camera.  The results were very good.  I am looking forward to getting my new power supply.  It is on order and should be here in a week or two.

The two red bulges on the head are the insect's eyes.  The protrusion coming off the head to the right is the fly's proboscis.  I love the detail from the coarse hairs and the fine hairs from the eye's facets.  There is very little depth of field; that can be corrected using focus stacking, but for the moment I just wanted to enjoy what my new toy can do.  It's wonderful!

Thanks for reading.   www.ericspix.com   Eric Svendsen


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I found a black widow spider in a plant pot today

Image
The spider I found is a western black widow spider, one of three species of black widow that occur in North America.  The fact that this one has another red patch on the back of its abdomen above the spinnerettes tells us that it is an immature individual. The one thing that people know about black widow spiders is that they are extremely poisonous.  Their venom is something like 15x more toxic than that of a rattlesnake.  The saving grace is that there is very little venom injected from a black widow bite than what a rattlesnake can deliver.   The good news is that black widow bites seldom lead to death.  You are more likely to suffer nausea, muscle pain, and swelling around the bite.  Symptoms usually last only 12 hours or so.  Death may be a result in people with compromised immune systems or in the very young or the elderly.   In 2018, it was reported that there were 1015 cases of people bitten by black widows.  Of those, there ...
Read more

The passing of a generation

Image
Kathryn's mom and dad with our children, Josh and Leanne. A generation, for North America, tends to be between 20 and 30 years.  During that time a couple will give birth and raise children to see them repeat the pattern as they themselves have done.  Each generation has its own set of standards, values, and ideals based upon their experiences and culture, and some of that is passed down to their offspring.  What changes are the life experiences of the following generation and the new customs and ideals that are blended together as a couple becomes a family. Kathryn's mom passed away a few days ago, she was predeceased by her husband several years ago.  Both of them were the grandparents of my children, the mother and father of my wife, Kathryn.  It was my pleasure to know them and to love them as my own, for to me they were Mom and Dad.  And they were there to welcome my children into the world just as my children were with them in spirit when they left it...
Read more

Hang in there, things will get better.

Image
The Svendsen Family - Eric, Samuel, Leanne, Joshua (top row), Nora, Kathryn, Chanelle, Emma If I could go back, in my mind, to a day in my life when I was really down, it would be nice to be able to see into the future.  If could see things as they are today, with the many blessings that have been given to me, it would give me hope knowing that things wouldn't always be so discouraging.   The message here is we do not know what the future holds.  When things are bad, it is hard to raise your head out of the mire to see beyond the darkness.  There are no guarantees, of course, that things will be better, but I think it is true that fortunes ebb and flow as tides do.  The trick is to see beyond the low points and not be too haughty during the high ones.  I know that, at this moment, things are very good.  What the future holds is unknown, but low and high points are likely in the forecast.   This is why taking satisfaction from the moment ...
Read more