Get The Most Out Of Your Microscope

Tips For Proper Use

  1. Prepare your slide - don’t forget to use a coverslip as microscope optics are corrected for optimal viewing through it.
  1. Set the IPD to an appropriate distance so that both of your eyes line up with the eyepiece.
  1. Make sure your focusing eyepiece/eyetube is set to the zero mark, otherwise the microscope may appear to be out of alignment or not parfocal with a camera.
  1. Move the lowest power objective into place and put the slide on your microscope.
  1. Use the coarse focus for the low power objective. Close one eye - the one that has the focusing eyepiece/eyetube. If your microscope has two focusing eyepieces/eyetubes, set both to zero and you can use either eye.
  1. Bring your sample into focus with one eye closed. Once in focus, close that eye and open the other. Use the focusing mechanism on your eyepiece/eyetube to bring the image into focus for this eye. This ensures that the image is in focus for both eyes since your vision is slightly different in each eye.
  1. Now you can open both of your eyes and observe your specimen in perfect focus.
  1. Rotate the nosepiece to the next objective.
  1. Use the fine focus for adjustments as you change objectives. If your microscope is parfocal, you will only need a small turn of the fine focus for each objective (as long as you are selecting them in order of magnification).
  1. When using the 100x oil objective, apply a small drop of oil to your coverslip and pass the objective through it once or twice to spread the oil and make even contact.
  1. When finished, switch to your low power objective, remove the slide and be sure to wipe clean any excess oil that is on the front of your 100x oil lens.

Any questions about these or other microscope related topics, we are here to help.  800-219-1451/sales@microscopecentral.com

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