Microscope Eyepieces

New telescopes and microscopes always seem to ship with almost useless eyepieces.  The crazy thing about this is that both microscopes and telescopes are far more enjoyable to use if you have decent and large eyepieces.  You'd think that new products would ship with accessories that make the product enjoyable to use so a new user isn't discouraged or turned off to the hobby but it seems the manufacturers are more focused on spending as little as possible.  The tiny eyepieces that ship with most microscopes and telescopes do not make the new product enjoyable to use... not at all...  and I've seen many beginners stop the hobby because of this.  This means they didn't spend any money on future accessories too which hurts the manufacturers.

I, however, prefer to improve anything I own.  I care for everything I own, properly store everything, and properly maintain everything.  I don't even like seeing fingerprints on my stuff!

I had already replaced some of my objective lenses on my microscope and that made a tremendous difference.  The original objective lenses were quite blurry as you approached the edge of the image circle.  The closer you got to the outside edge of the image circle, the more blurry the image.  I purchased a few "Plan Objectives" which are designed to be sharp all the way to the outside edge of the frame.  I could still use two more of these upgraded objective lenses but the microscope was very much improved by the ones I had already replaced.

The biggest frustration, for me anyway, is lousy eyepieces.  It took me about two years to finally find a source for better eyepieces that would work for me.  I had to shop in China.  Forget about finding decent scientific equipment for consumers and enthusiasts in the United States.  So, about six weeks ago, I ordered two sets of eyepieces from China for my binocular microscope.  These eyepieces finally arrived today.  Our narrowminded, stubburn, moronic President has made purchasing any scientific gear for US citizens a long and arduous task.  Anyway, these two sets of eyepieces arrived today, finally!

Needless to say, I was excited to insert these new eyepiece sets into my microscope to see how much of a difference they make compared to my kit eyepieces.  What makes these new upgraded eyepieces better are two very important characteristics and perhaps two preferred characteristics.  

The first characteristic that is very important to me and should be important to everyone is long eye relief.  Having long eye relief means that I will not have to try to get close enough to the eyepiece to see while wearing my eyeglasses.  Long eye relief allows the viewer to stay far enough back off the eyepiece to continue wearing eyeglasses while still being able to view the entire field of view in the microscope (or telescope).    

The next characteristic that is very important, to me anyway, is to have a very large top eye lens.  Because I wear eyeglasses, trying to peer through a tiny top eye lens is close to impossible.  Being an adult with an adult sized eye also makes small top eye lenses difficult to use effectively.  In the photo below, you can see the difference between a kit eyepiece (to the left) and these newly purchased upgraded eyepieces (to the right)...  notice that huge eye lens on the right!  I am holding one of the tiny kit eyepieces on the left.  Which eyepiece do you think would provide the easiest and most comfortable viewing?

These new eyepieces are so incredibly comfortable to use!  The other problem with having tiny top eye lenses is that it is difficult to see through because you need to have your eye perfectly aligned with that tiny hole.  These new, large eyepieces really are easy to use and very comfortable while also being a bit more forgiving if you aren't aligned perfectly.

Another characteristic that would qualify as a preferred characteristic is having a wide angle view and these new eyepieces provide a very wide view!  The last preferred characteristic is to have eyepieces that render a clear, crisp view and these eyepieces fit the bill there too.

The new set of eyepieces that will be my primary set (the blue set in these photos) provides a 10x magnification.  I also purchased a set of eyepieces that provides a 30x magnification (seen in the photo below).  The more powerful 30x eyepieces won't be used all that often but it will be nice to have the extra magnification when needed.  These 30x eyepieces also have long eye relief and fairly large top eye lenses.

My microscope originally came packaged with 10x and 20x kit eyepieces.  The 10x were uncomfortable to use (short eye relief and small top eye lenses) but were good enough to show what is possible.  The original 20x eyepieces were worthless.  They had tiny top eye lenses and the eye relief was so short it was not possible for me to use them while wearing my eyeglasses.  These new eyepieces provide a user experience that makes it seem like I purchased a brand new professional grade microscope.

In the photo below, you can just barely make out my Sony a6000 camera mounted on the trinocular port (you can see the LCD screen in the photo) which allows me to snap photos or capture some video.  This works out very well.  I actually connect the camera to the computer so I can use the camera remotely and the images and video go directly to my computer.  

These new sets of microscope eyepieces have made a tremendous difference in quality and usability for what really was a relatively low cost.  The only issue was finding what I needed in China and then waiting for the package to get through Customs due to new trade laws enacted this summer.  

I'll try to share some microscopy images soon.