Hallo zusammen,
ein guter Freund liebäugelt mit einem Smith DIC um Fotos von Diatomeen zu machen.
Leider finden sich nahezu keine Bilder von Diatomeen im Netz die damit gemacht sind. Könnten die Smith DIC Besitzer ihre Diatomeen Bilder die sie damit gemacht haben, hier bitte zeigen?
lG
Anne
Hallo anne,
ich nehme stark an es handelt sich um den Leitz ICT (n. Smith) für 160mm NPL Fluotare und nicht den älteren für 170mm NPLs, oder?
Beste Grüße Stefan
Hallo Stefan,
ja es geht um den ICT.
lG
anne
Hallo Anne,
ich bin leider kein Diatomist,
ich verstehe also nichts davon.
Ich habe den 170 mm NPL DIC mit 16, 40 und 100 x am Orthoplan
Hier ein paar Bilder, quick and dirty,
leider habe ich die Vergrößerung nicht notiert,
es dürfte das 40 x NPL sein mit Zoomwechsler vor der Kamera.
(https://up.picr.de/50864953oh.jpg)
(https://up.picr.de/50864954sy.jpg)
(https://up.picr.de/50864955le.jpg)
(https://up.picr.de/50864956ic.jpg)
LG Ralf
Liebe Anne,
ich habe als Reisemikroskop das Leitz Dialux mit dem Smith-DIC. Das sind die 170 mm NPL-Objektive, wie bei Ralf. Damit bin ich seit Jahren am Pillersee und fotografiere Zieralgen. Wenn ich zurückkomme, schaue ich mir einen Teil der Proben mit meinem Leica DMRB noch mal an und mache Bilder. Die sind natürlich besser, aber das liegt auch an den Fluotaren und PlanApos. Manchmal kann ich später aber gar nicht sagen, mit welchem Mikroskop ich die Bilder gemacht habe. Wenn man ein Leitz DIC mit den 160 mm Objektiven hat, kann man auch Neofluare benutzen, das geht mit den 170 mm System nicht. Dann werden die Bilder bestimmt noch besser. Ich finde, dass der Smith-DIC dem Nomarski-DIC durchaus das Wasser reichen kann, wenn auch nicht ganz. Da ich fast nur lebendes Zeug knipse, kann ich zu den toten Diatomeen wenig sagen. Auf meiner Webseite finde sich übrigens Bilder mit beiden Mikroskopen.
Grüße
Stephan
Lieber Ralf und Stepahn,
danke für Eure Rückmeldungen. Das hilft schon weiter.
Es scheint, dass der ICT DIC zum einen nicht verbreitet ist und zum anderen noch weniger bei den Diatomisten.
Mal sehen ob noch mehr kommt.
lG
anne
Liebe Anne, ich könnte da etwas liefern, wenn noch relevant. Ich bräuchte aber noch 1, 2 Tage. Schöne Grüße, Ole
Lieber Ole,
aber immer gerne!!
lG
Anne
Gerne mal was von mir mit dem 100er Smith DIC.
Amphipleura pellucida im blauen Licht.
... Ausschnitt
Lieber Holger,
ich danke Dir!
Ich hatte in Erinnerung, dass Du den Smith DIC nutzt und schon das ganze Forum abgesucht nach Bildern von Dir.
Leier hatte ich kein Glück bei Diatomeenbildern.
Ja, der Smith DIC ist schon richtig toll...
lG
anne
Sehr gerne, liebe Anne!
ich weis ja nicht ob, die Fähigkeit, optische Schnitte zu legen für die Diatomisten wichtig ist.
Aber ich wollte das hier noch ergänzen.
Gerade mit dem 100er Smith DIC Objektiv lassen sich hervorragend optische Schnitte legen.
Zur Klärung der Anatomie von komplexen Organismen ist das sehr hilfreich.
Liebe Grüße,
Holger
Thanks to Diana I now have a full Smith Fluotar ITC system. Here are some of my first images.
Bill
Dear Bil,
wow, great!
I am really jealous.
I am looking forward for all the images you will be sharing.
And I hope you still find time to eat and trink...
best
anne
Hi Bill,
Great results , I love it🙂
Br Daniel
Thanks Daniel and Anne!
This is so fun.
Here's a new species of Entogoniopsis that I discovered in the Dosados Canyon Marca Shale deposits.
Stacked image taken with Leitz NPL Fluotar ITC 100X/1.32. The form didn't quite fit in the frame.
Bill
Hello Bill,
fine images, especially the image of Entogoniopsis with the 100 ICT is great! I think you will have a lot of fun to explore the diatom world with your new toy. :)
Regards Peter
Hello Bill,
I like this image very much, so I think that it is worth to remove the "dirt" and the sensor spots. (I hope it is ok that I did that)
Regards Peter
Hello Peter,
Very nice edits! I'm too lazy most of the time to do that.
Here's a few freshwater forms from a local pond. Stacked image using Leitz NPL Fluotar ICT 40X/0.70.
Bill
Hi Bill,
huge congratulations on your new equipment. I believe you will have a lot of fun with it! The photos are already quite good (my first diatom DIC-images looked a lot worse...).
I would also recommend to clean the sensor of your camera physically. If you do a lot of image stacking, which I think you will, the dirt spots really accumulate in every photo...
What works well (but is a bit scary) is Disco-film or Sensor-film. These are water based polymer solutions you can apply on the sensor and then pull off with the dirt after a few hours when they are dry... I have also used this to clean optics. (https://www.sensor-film.com/cleaning.html)
Otherwise these Amazon sensor cleaning swabs also work but to my experience there is always some little residue left afterwards...
Best,
Jan
Hi Jan,
Thanks for the comments. I am not eager to try cleaning the sensor again. I had a terrible time about a year ago. Every time I "cleaned" it, it became worse! In addition to the sensor "dirt" there is also "dirt" in the Orthomat-W optical train that I use to connect the camera. This really shows up when there is not much light getting through, like with the 100X ICT. I am getting a more intense lamp so that should help that issue.
Meanwhile, here's a 100X ICT image of one of the Cretaceous forms from Dosados Canyon, Trinacia interlineata. Note that I did "edit" the background to hide all the spots.
Bill
Hallo,
mich interessiert worin ihr das "Besondere" am Leitz Smith ITC erkennt? Bitte versteht mich richtig das ist keine Kritik! Aber gibt es sichtbare Vorteile gegen über anderen DIC? Das optimale Ergebnis mit DIC hängt ja bekanntlich von verschieden Faktoren ab.
Grüsse Arnold Büschlen
Hello Arnold,
In the end my choice of the Smith Fluotar ICT as my DIC system was almost totally based on the fact that I already have a well-equipped Leitz Orthoplan as my main microscope. I have a great imaging system consisting of a converted Orthomat-W optical train to digital camera adapter (see https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=45851) along with a Variotube magnification changer. These two systems together allow me to smoothly zoom 1X-5X so I can easily fill the sensor window for imaging.
I had considered other DIC systems, especially the newer Olympus infinity system, but any of these would have required me to purchase, in addition to the DIC system, an entirely new microscope AND an imaging system.
There are not many ICT images of diatoms posted on the internet, while there are many images using Zeiss or Olympus DIC, so I did not quite know what to expect from the Smith Fluotar ICT system. However,after only using my system for two days, I can say that I am extremely happy with the images it produces.
I think I made the correct choice for me. It may not be the correct choice for someone else.
Best regards,
Bill
Benetorus fantasmus from Cretaceous Marca shale in Dosados Canyon. Stacked image using Leitz NPL Fluotar ICT 100x/1.32. I also cleaned up the background as suggested by Peter.
Bill
Hallo Bill,
ah, du hast mit dem DIC deine vorhandene Einrichtung am Orthoplan ergänzt!
Danke für deine Erklärungen.
Grüsse Arnold
Great stuff Bill, images and material! Got a SEM one from your Marca Shale material, pretty much similar to the one in your last image. Gorgeous stuff, I can't think of recent species that look alike.
Best, René
apologies, that was not a DIC image, not even a Leitz image. So far for the heading ;D
Zitat von: bill2penn in Juni 15, 2026, 02:28:54 VORMITTAGBenetorus fantasmus from Cretaceous Marca shale in Dosados Canyon. Stacked image using Leitz NPL Fluotar ICT 100x/1.32. I also cleaned up the background as suggested by Peter.
Bill
Wow! That's a very unusual looking form Bill. Nice one. If I'd seen that, I'd have thought I'd applied the Debes' too thick ;D
Cheers
Beats
Zitat von: Beatsy in Juni 15, 2026, 21:45:38 NACHMITTAGSWow! That's a very unusual looking form Bill. Nice one. If I'd seen that, I'd have thought I'd applied the Debes' too thick ;D
Cheers
Beats
Hi,
it really is! That's what I thought at first as well. Nice photo, but much adhesive. ;D That it actually looks like this is amazing... :)
And I can really feel the joy you're having, Bill. Seeing all those diatoms in DIC for the first time with your own eyes can hardly be beaten. (Maybe by living things in DIC :) )
Best regards,
Jan
Rene beautiful SEM images!
Beats and Jan, yes I have been known to use too much adhesive at times. And yes, this is a lot of fun!
Here's two more forms from Dosados Canyon. Stacked image using Leitz NPL Fluotar ICT 100X/1.32: Meretrosulus gracilis and Benetorus morenoensis
Best regards to all,
Bill
When the polarizer is set at 0 for maximum extinction, the ICT image is much like a darkfield one. You must rotate the polarizer, one way or the other, to get the 3D-effect of the DIC. I found that if you don't rotate it enough, then you get remnants of the "darkfield" effect. I show two stacked (and unedited) images to illustrate. The first at about 15 degrees rotation, the second at about 40 degrees rotation as shown below, along with the two stacked images. I think the second image is much better. Now I will clean it up.
Bill
And here is the cleaned up version.
Bill
Trigonium taeniatum from William's Bluff Oamaru sample. Stacked image using Leitz NPL Fluotar ICT 40X/0.70.
A perfect Kittonia elaborata from Allan's Farm Oamaru. Stacked image using Leitz NPL Fluotar ICT 40X/0.70 with the waveplate engaged.
Hi Bill,
delcious, like a decent apricot and strawberry icecream. Really a fantastic image!
Wow, very nice one (think I give up on trying to take decent pictures myself ::) ).
Thanks for sharing.
Best, Maarten
I am such a lucky guy! I found another, less damaged Monopsis mammosa in the Bain's Oamaru sample. I took stacked images using Leitz NPL Fluotar ICT 100X/1.32 at zero degrees (so it looks like darkfield), and about -40 degrees. Using my new Stephan Hiller LED is great!
Greetings,
Bill