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Compound achromatic microscope, stand S

Year/Period

1950-1960

Maker

BLEEKER

Country

The Netherlands

Signature

NEDOPTIFA / ZEIST-HOLLAND / No 17674

Category

Microscopes

Optical 1

Compound

Optical 2

Achromatic

Size of the microscope (h x w x d)

32 × 15 × 19 cm

Inventory number

SM 49

Description

Without box.
This stand type ‘S’ is made by the Dutch firm of dr. C.E. Bleeker in Zeist. Instruments by Bleeker were often sold under the name of ‘Nedoptifa’, which stands for ‘Nederlandse Optische Fabriek’ (Dutch Optical Factory). This is the standard stand, in the 1962 catalogue it is sold for 618 Dutch guilders (about £50-60) under the telegram code ‘midecum’. This was a lot of money, a decent car did cost about three times this amount …
The microscope has a square mechanical stage. Below the stage is a condenser adjustable in height by rack and pinion and an iris. There is a flat and concave mirror in a bracket. The microscope has a triple nosepiece.
The design of this microscope is based upon the Zeiss E stands of around 1935. The microscope is made of black enamelled injection molded aluminium, the limb can be inclined over 90 degrees. Fine adjustment acts on the stage which can be adjusted in height over 2 millimeters, the accuracy is better than one micrometer. Coarse adjustment acts in the usual way on the body tube by rackwork.
The two original objectives are still present, N8× 0.25 and N40× 0.65 and one eyepiece (N10× ?). The third objective is not original, it is a Japanese oil immersion objective with a numerical aperture of 1.30 and a magnification of 100×.

Also see SM 197 and  SM 254 (opened copy).