Imaging and skin science research
A few weeks ago I received a 41mm f2.5 UFAR lens which was developed for the Soviet Mars programme (you can see my initial work on it here). As it was, fitting a filter to the front wasn t really feasible. A good friend of mine, Dr Klaus Schmitt, who has one of these lenses, showed Continue reading UV imaging with the 41mm UFAR Mars mission lens
For those of you that don t follow my work, I like to use historic optics on my microscope and see what they can do. A few weeks ago I got a Leitz darkground condenser made from quartz instead of glass (which I wrote about here) as I wanted to try it for my UV imaging Continue reading Submicron imaging with a Leitz Quartz darkground condenser
Every now and then I m lucky enough to get an unusual piece of imaging history. This one certainly falls into the unusual category. It s a 41mm f2.5 Ufar lens that was developed for a Soviet Mars mission in the 1990s. With this one there are now 7 known to exist. And no it hasn t been Continue reading Ufar 41mm f2.5 lens, designed for a Soviet Mars mission
Today s post is one about the dangers of making assumptions in science .. For background, I built a UV transmission microscope a couple of years ago. This was done for a couple of reasons; to see if I could, to use some quirky and unusual technology and equipment, and to be able to image different sunscreen Continue reading Leitz quartz darkground condenser a lesson in hubris
What feels like a long time ago, all the way back in 2020, when I first started my microscope journey, I made myself a condenser using UV fused silica instead of glass. This was so I could use it for ultraviolet microscopy (you can see the early post here). I always wondered how well it Continue reading Visualizing microscope condenser light cones Uranium glass
This post is a bit of a double whammy. First, I ll share some diatom images from a microscope slide with a very unusual mountant mercury iodide. Second, I ll talk about the useful and multifunctional objective I used to take these images a Zeiss 40x Plan Apo, with an iris and a phase contrast Continue reading Mercury iodide diatom mount
After the amazing Artemis II mission, it got me wondering, could I get some moon rock to look at under the microscope? Now, funnily enough I can t go to NASA and ask for a small amount of lunar material from an Apollo mission, however there are ways to get rock which has come from the Continue reading Microscopy of moon rock a new project
A vital part of my microscopy work is how best to store my slides to keep them protected and clean for the long term. For details on what I do read the latest my post on my museum website (DiatomImaging.com) where I show the MicroChamber shelf liner from Conservation Resources Ltd (see here). Seasons greetings Continue reading MicroChamber shelf liner for slide storage
Always nice to get an award for my imaging work, especially from such a distinguished organization as the Quekett Microscopical Club. I was awarded the 2025 Barnard Certificate for Excellence in Photomicrography, Technical Category , for my image of the diatom Pyrgodiscus armatus from a slide prepared by Michel Haak. Quite a stunning looking (and rare) Continue reading Microscopy award Pyrgodiscus…
Always fun to report a new article. At the end of last year I was asked to write a piece on the use of oblique lighting for the Postal Microscopical Society (an amazing group established in 1873). It was recently published in their journal, Balsam Post. Oblique lighting helps to provide a more 3D appearance Continue reading New article alert oblique lighting for microscopy