Ok. This is the story. My dad died suddenly on January 6th. He was 72 years old. His hobby was microbiology. My mom and I have been attempting to assess his microscopes, lenses and cameras to figure out what they are worth so we can find them all good homes. The problem is that my mom knows nothing about microscopes. I barely know anything about microscopes. So we are having a tough time. I've been trying but I just don't know enough about it to be able to identify the different lenses and determine their worth. So I've started this blog so I can post pictures and maybe someone can help me determine what they are and maybe even what they are worth. I appreciate any and all help I can get.
Thanks.
Ann
One easy way to tell the power of the lens is right on the side of it...
ReplyDeleteMagnification/Numerical Aperture (N.A.)
(anywhere from 4x - 100x)/(anywhere from 0.05 - 1.4, anything over 1.0 requires a medium in between the objective and coverslip be it oil or water) the higher the N.A. the more the objective is worth... to a point.
160 means that it is a finite tube length.
"-" means no worries about a cover slip, whereas "0.17" means the thickness of the cover slip matters a lot.
Do your buyers a big favor and sell the pieces as a whole system. A microscope with a range of magnifications...
ReplyDeleteFor example, 4x, 10x, 40x, 100x.
If you are in Illinois, you should take all of the collection to McCrone (http://www.mcri.org/) to see what they would say.
Here's the problem with that. I've found AT LEAST 5 microscopes so far. Three are fully functional as those were the ones he was currently using. I know 2 he was keeping for parts. There's a Nikon, a Lomo, some sort of hybrid that has Russian lettering on it but has parts marked made in Switzerland and has a Bausch and Lomb light source. I don't know what goes with what. I've got around 40 objective lenses here, a drawer full of misc. parts and I'm confused as hell.
DeleteI took a Look at McCrone's website. They are in Chicago. I'm at the other end of the state. I'd have to load up EVERYTHING and take it on a 6 hour drive to get there. I'm not sure that's feasable right now.
DeleteI completely understand...
DeleteYou do seem to be in over your head, and it's also due really "shitty" circumstances. But bide your time, and know what this legacy of your father's is worth before selling it off.
Absolutely. I don't want to give it away. And anything I can sell for mom will just put her in a better position.
DeleteAbsolutely. I don't want to give it away. And anything I can sell for mom will just put her in a better position.
DeleteI would say you're doing wisely to seek assistance from the Yahoo microscopy group, they're a fine bunch of men & women who will shoot straight with you out of genuine desire to help. Also, remember to hang loose and let knowledge come in its time; there's an awful lot to learn and it ain't gonna happen overnight. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm not in a hurry, but I feel that there's SO MUCH that I have to know that it's kind of stressing me out. I know that if dad had had any inkling he was going to pass anytime soon he would have left some instructions, but this was very sudden and totally unexpected.
DeleteI agree with Kurt... in everything he said.
Delete