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Thank You,
   The advice here has been very helpful.  It is clear that going with a full cage 
and smaller chamber is the best solution.  That said it is also more expensive 
and less convenient than just a stage top solution.  Some commercial 
responses have indicated that stage top incubators combined with autofocus 
work well together.  It seems like it would be reasonable start with a stage top 
incubator as long as I have autofocus.  If the results are unsatisfactory I could 
add the full cage.  I should point out that my cells will grow at room temp but 
they will die if exposed to normoxia.  So clearly getting the proper atmospheric 
control is my priority.  

To Geraint,
Yes I considered a spinning disk setup.  I spent about two years of my life on a 
Leica with a Yokogawa head during my PhD and got great results (plant 
cytoskeleton).  I am still working on the cytoskeleton but now my cells are the 
size of yeast and under 5um thick.  It is my understanding that a decon 
microscope is going to have more efficient light gathering than a spinning disc.  
A systems with solid state illumination (no shutter) coupled with an SCMOS 
camera should be very fast, have high sensitivity, and a large dynamic range.  
Perhaps I am buying into the hype, but I think I am going to get nicer images.  
I hope I didn’t just step into something….  Another factor is that the Biology 
department at UW has several confocal microscopes but they don’t have any 
decon scopes.  The chair was generous enough to provide funds for my own 
scope and I think the rest of the department is relieved that I won’t be bringing 
my parasites into the shared imaging facility : ).