Posted by James Brooks on 07-08-2008 18:41
#1
In addition to my post about stereo microscopes, I would be interested in advice from Diptera.info users about desirable
specifications for a compound microscope, including thoughts about usefulness of
phase-contrast/darkfield microscopy for studying Diptera, specifically when viewing genitalia or other structures.
Thanks,
James
Posted by Steve Gaimari on 08-08-2008 20:05
#2
I've found Nomarski optics to be better than either of those. Although I don't truly understand how the optics work, phase contrast does some kind of "doubling" of the image to make things more clear, but unfortunately, photographing through phase does not result in a good picture. Photos through Nomarski optics don't have these problems. Dark field can be good in some circumstances, like for very opaque structures. Anyway, I hope that helps a bit! I think that dark field is quite inexpensive.