More microscope eyepieces reworked!

[Chaz2b]

After the free Mentor eyepieces were a success, I indulged myself to two Zeiss pl 10x/20 microscope eyepieces for £24.95 the pair.

There are ridges on the sides of the part which insert into the holders and after measuring the diameter in between , I sanded down these ridges so they can fit into metal nose pieces taken from cheap eyepieces.

Offering the Zeiss to my TV Ranger I was amazed at how good they are! I mean stonkely good!

The white caps are milk bottle tops which also fit snuggly. Two more high quality eyepieces for my binoviwer, excellent!

chaz

Edited June 12 by Chaz2b

[Alan White]

Nice find Chaz.
Pleased for you in your quest.

[Chaz2b]

2 hours ago, Alan White said:

Nice find Chaz.
Pleased for you in your quest.

Thanks Alan, always on the lookout for any optics at work, mostly old binos but the odd item does appear.

What I would like to find is a nose piece that fits a 40mm internal thread! Then I wouldn’t have to sand the ridges down.

Edited June 12 by Chaz2b

[Highburymark]

Very nice Chaz. Great bargain, and that legendary Zeiss quality. 

[Highburymark]

PS - if you get hold of some old Kodak film cases and cut off the base, the resulting tube should fit on these 30mm barrels perfectly, and then it will act exactly like a 1.25” eyepiece. There is one caveat however - they don’t work with Baader clicklocks. I have clicklocks on all my scopes, and the Kodak adapters are marginally too wide. For all other eyepiece holders, they should work well. 
As a result, I just use paper and tape to turn my microscope eyepieces into astronomy-friendly oculars - example Leicas pictured. 

[Chaz2b]

Nice tip, I’ll see if I can find some film cans.

chaz

[Coco]

On 13/06/2024 at 17:01, Chaz2b said:

Nice tip, I’ll see if I can find some film cans.

chaz

I've got some, I use them for desiccant packs in scopes, I'll px you against your FS78  😁

[Chaz2b]

20 hours ago, Coco said:

I've got some, I use them for desiccant packs in scopes, I'll px you against your FS78  😁

Haha! Nice one centurion. I’m the only one who has oval cans!

chaz

[LondonNeil]

Interesting.  Why would an affordable microscope ep provide better quality than a similar priced telescope ep?  Are microscopes more widely used?

[Chaz2b]

Then take the eyepieces from binoculars, same result, excellent viewing! I have bought half a dozen binoculars, taken them apart and reworked them.

I have to thank Red Henry on Facebook for showing how it’s done, he’s been doing it for years and generous enough to pass on his work freely to those who can’t afford the more quality eyepieces.

I suspect that microscopes are built to a quality required for a serious use, therefore the eyepieces employed need to be a premium quality. 
Older eyepieces are almost discarded if they have gone digital, such as a major hospital near me, threw out Olympus microscopes! as they had gone digital.

Those ep’s were specific to their task, so I couldn’t use them, whereas the ones I have are more used in split beam type microscopes and have a wider fov.

The mentor I have for example, is used in pcb/ motherboard repairs so the ep’s are not used down to the near atom size subjects.

nevertheless the quality remains high!

chaz

[Highburymark]

2 hours ago, LondonNeil said:

Interesting.  Why would an affordable microscope ep provide better quality than a similar priced telescope ep?  Are microscopes more widely used?

They weren’t affordable when new. I think Chaz’s eyepieces were the equivalent of around £700 new. Some amazing bargains can be picked up secondhand. The Leicas (HC Plan S 10x/25) in the pic were around double that - my best eyepieces. The Zeiss OPMIs weren’t far behind. These are made to a much higher standard than most astronomy eyepieces. Check out the long microscope eyepiece threads on CN started by Denis to see why they are so highly prized by a stargazers. 

[Emperor!Takahashi!]

1 hour ago, Highburymark said:

They weren’t affordable when new. I think Chaz’s eyepieces were the equivalent of around £700 new. Some amazing bargains can be picked up secondhand. The Leicas (HC Plan S 10x/25) in the pic were around double that - my best eyepieces. The Zeiss OPMIs weren’t far behind. These are made to a much higher standard than most astronomy eyepieces. Check out the long microscope eyepiece threads on CN started by Denis to see why they are so highly prized by a stargazers. 

Very nice! Are all of those 25mm? Most of the information I've found is on 25mm pairs, and I've curious which longer and shorter FL microscope eyepieces are worth trying.

[Highburymark]

1 hour ago, Emperor!Takahashi! said:

Very nice! Are all of those 25mm? Most of the information I've found is on 25mm pairs, and I've curious which longer and shorter FL microscope eyepieces are worth trying.

Yes they are. Anything marked with 10x is effectively a 25mm eyepiece. It is possible to find shorter focal lengths, but they are rarer and often more expensive. 
But they all barlow really well with a binoviewer. I use the 25mm pairs for very high magnification solar and planetary observing, typically using 4x Powermate, GPCs and decent barlows.

Chaz’s eyepieces were a real bargain. Expect to pay upwards from about £150 a pair for Zeiss and Leica EPs secondhand. You have to do a bit of research first, and avoid anything made in China or the Far East - there are lots of substandard versions and copies out there. German made Zeiss and Leicas are particularly highly rated. You also have to adapt them for 1.25”.    

I’m no expert - I’ve only tried the three pairs that I own, but they are all stunning - tiny, tiny stars, and better transmission and contrast than even the best Japanese orthos. Some have compared them favourably even with ZAOs. There are lengthy review threads on CN, and a couple on SGL (see the Zeiss OPMI one from around 2015, I think it was written by ‘Stratis’).

[LondonNeil]

6 hours ago, Highburymark said:

They weren’t affordable when new. I think Chaz’s eyepieces were the equivalent of around £700 new. Some amazing bargains can be picked up secondhand. The Leicas (HC Plan S 10x/25) in the pic were around double that - my best eyepieces. The Zeiss OPMIs weren’t far behind. These are made to a much higher standard than most astronomy eyepieces. Check out the long microscope eyepiece threads on CN started by Denis to see why they are so highly prized by a stargazers. 

Oh wow,  they must be good optics!  Since they had been picked up for £24.95 I had no idea! 

[graham56]

here's my take on converting microscope barrels 30mm to  1"/4 ,  I purchased   off amazon a 1"/4 standpipe brass advertised at 1"/4 but it is not, it is 31.81 instead off 31.75  so i had the barrels lathed and cut to the right size so they would fit clicklocks ,they now fit perfect  and finish off the leica hc plan s10x25 m  pair perfectly  since these are £500 a pair i think they are worth it, price  for 4 barrels was £70 or £17.50 each

[Highburymark]

2 hours ago, graham56 said:

here's my take on converting microscope barrels 30mm to  1"/4 ,  I purchased   off amazon a 1"/4 standpipe brass advertised at 1"/4 but it is not, it is 31.81 instead off 31.75  so i had the barrels lathed and cut to the right size so they would fit clicklocks ,they now fit perfect  and finish off the leica hc plan s10x25 m  pair perfectly  since these are £500 a pair i think they are worth it, price  for 4 barrels was £70 or £17.50 each

Very impressive - I keep looking for a more permanent solution for my Leicas and Zeiss. Good to see another pair of beautiful HC Plan S 25s.

[Emperor!Takahashi!]

3 hours ago, graham56 said:

here's my take on converting microscope barrels 30mm to  1"/4 ,  I purchased   off amazon a 1"/4 standpipe brass advertised at 1"/4 but it is not, it is 31.81 instead off 31.75  so i had the barrels lathed and cut to the right size so they would fit clicklocks ,they now fit perfect  and finish off the leica hc plan s10x25 m  pair perfectly  since these are £500 a pair i think they are worth it, price  for 4 barrels was £70 or £17.50 each

Those are beauties. Nice work 👍

This thread inspired me to look more deeply into microscope eyepieces, and I got a pair of Nikon CFIUW 10x/25 (their top-notch ultra-wide eyepieces) that I've been using for a few weeks. The CFIUW is outstanding. They're tiny, exceedingly sharp, render colors beautifully, and offer the same immersive, "floating" quality as a 28mm Edmund RKE. I'm thoroughly pleased, and I intend to write up a report once conditions allow since there isn't as much information on these vs. some of the Zeiss and Leica pairs. I also discovered that the CFIUW is very easy to rehouse in a 1.25" barrel.

Edited July 13 by Emperor!Takahashi!

[graham56]

i know i was trying to trim down  on eyepiece's now back up to 62 , i have been binoveiwing with 2 apm 100 deg 13mm,s the only trouble is seeing the field stop. the leicas are exquisite , same when i view though my 21 ethos don't look for the field stop. just enjoy the view ,Iam mainly using my mewlon or fluorite triplet for binoviewing that's if you can get a clear night

[vineyard]

+1 for microscope EPs.  Have been using Zeiss E-PL 10x20 for years in the 25mm range (no need for Panoptics) - amazing.

For barrel adjustment to 1.25" in addition to the tips above, a vendor called MadridSky on eBay also sells machined adapters.  V good.

An off the beaten path microscope option is to use Nikon Optiphot/Labophot heads.  It's like a diagonal with a barlow and a BV in one.  Again v v good optics given the provenance - I'd say pretty much on a par w Zeiss.  Those EPs can be had in 10x (25mm equiv) and 15x (c 17mm fl equiv). The FOV will surprise you.  Only wrinkle is that they are narrow barrel (maybe 23mm), and so need different adapters if you want to use them in traditional astro BVs or diagonals (these adapters are also sold by Samuel at MadridSky - I have no affiliation with him).  Ridiculously cheap EPs for the price you can get them on eBay.  (I can't claim credit for discovering them - a discerning CN'er pointed me towards them so am paying it forward here).

 

[Highburymark]

5 hours ago, Emperor!Takahashi! said:

Those are beauties. Nice work 👍

This thread inspired me to look more deeply into microscope eyepieces, and I got a pair of Nikon CFIUW 10x/25 (their top-notch ultra-wide eyepieces) that I've been using for a few weeks. The CFIUW is outstanding. They're tiny, exceedingly sharp, render colors beautifully, and offer the same immersive, "floating" quality as a 28mm Edmund RKE. I'm thoroughly pleased, and I intend to write up a report once conditions allow since there isn't as much information on these vs. some of the Zeiss and Leica pairs. I also discovered that the CFIUW is very easy to rehouse in a 1.25" barrel.

You’re right - much less info on Nikons out there, but they must be some jewels - sounds like you may have discovered some! 

[Highburymark]

5 hours ago, graham56 said:

i know i was trying to trim down  on eyepiece's now back up to 62 , i have been binoveiwing with 2 apm 100 deg 13mm,s the only trouble is seeing the field stop. the leicas are exquisite , same when i view though my 21 ethos don't look for the field stop. just enjoy the view ,Iam mainly using my mewlon or fluorite triplet for binoviewing that's if you can get a clear night

How easy was it to get the barrels lathed down? I’d love a more permanent solution. The issue with Kodak cases is, although they fit the barrels perfectly and are supposed to be 1.25”, they don’t fit into Baader clicklocks, which both my binoviewers have. 

[Highburymark]

4 hours ago, vineyard said:

+1 for microscope EPs.  Have been using Zeiss E-PL 10x20 for years in the 25mm range (no need for Panoptics) - amazing.

For barrel adjustment to 1.25" in addition to the tips above, a vendor called MadridSky on eBay also sells machined adapters.  V good.

An off the beaten path microscope option is to use Nikon Optiphot/Labophot heads.  It's like a diagonal with a barlow and a BV in one.  Again v v good optics given the provenance - I'd say pretty much on a par w Zeiss.  Those EPs can be had in 10x (25mm equiv) and 15x (c 17mm fl equiv). The FOV will surprise you.  Only wrinkle is that they are narrow barrel (maybe 23mm), and so need different adapters if you want to use them in traditional astro BVs or diagonals (these adapters are also sold by Samuel at MadridSky - I have no affiliation with him).  Ridiculously cheap EPs for the price you can get them on eBay.  (I can't claim credit for discovering them - a discerning CN'er pointed me towards them so am paying it forward here).

 

Nice one Vin. I’ve just bought a pair of Zeiss W-PL 10x/23 (which SGL Stu has used for many years) for £150, so looking forward to testing them. At some stage (semi-retirement is looming) I’ll have to make a decision about which of my microscope pairs to sell, but it’s almost impossible to decide.

[graham56]

highbury mark mine was done by a pro workshop , I think he shaved off 4 thou , that was the reason i did them properly would not fit the binoviewer clicklocks now they fit perfect dont now how easy it was i did not do it, an earlier post mentioned madridsky can,t find them

[vineyard]

2 hours ago, graham56 said:

han earlier post mentioned madridsky can,t find them

Apologies, his eBay name is different (MadridSky is his CN name I think).  These are the adapters: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305670552691?itmmeta=01J2Q6FGKDH9TJ0VP4AX35Z01C&hash=item472b627c73:g:Z94AAOSwKnlfeKFL

[Highburymark]

Brilliant - thanks guys. Ordered!