To confocal listserver subscribers:
A recent posting asked for information on Olympus confocal systems, particularly in comparison to the Zeiss Pascal.  To answer briefly:

Olympus has two confocal systems, FV300 ( 3 channel ), FV500 ( 5 channel ). The automated features of the Zeiss Pascal compare to FV500, the number of channels to FV300.

Pricing without microscope: FV300 approx. US$110K, FV500 approx. US$60K more. 
This includes 3 lasers, a separate transmitted light channel, software (including time series and 
3-D), and the PC. Exact cost depends on the choice of lasers; UV-Ar, Ar, Kr, HeNe, HeCad, solid state IR are available. 
The quality of any confocal image is a function of the microscope optics. The range of use is enhanced with fluorescence and Nomarski DIC optics on the microscope.  So, you should budget US$35-50K for an Olympus research microscope with high NA apochromatic objectives, DIC and Hg arc fluorescence. Olympus also offers objectives specially designed to correct spherical aberrations during deeper Z-sectioning and 450-1100nm transmitting objectives for IR lasers.

Here are some details:

FV300 succeeds the "personal confocal" FluoView and has been shipping since the beginning of this year. It includes technical upgrades and software additions, developed with feedback from our users, notably automated laser control and sophisticated scanning algorithms.  FV300 has two fluorescence channels, a separate transmitted light channel and software control of 3 lasers.  

FV500 is the fully automated confocal system that has up to four fluorescence channels, each with separate automated pinholes. It has a transmitted light channel and accepts input from up to 6 lasers, from UV to IR. To ensure true confocal imaging of UV excited dyes, Olympus has unique objectives, apochromatic from UV through the visible.

Both systems feature simultaneous transmitted light imaging, fast bi-directional scanning (0.5ms per line), automated sequential excitation, 2048 pixel scanning, sub-scans, rotated scans, spot and line scanning including a freely drawn line.  Software features such as saved user settings, 
3-D rendering and quantitative analysis are integral to both systems and a physiology software module, which facilitates TTL I/O, and ratio imaging is available for both.

Image quality in both systems is identical and both have easy-to-use software. The main difference between FV300 and FV500 lies in the degree of automation (pinhole size, emission filter selection) and number of simultaneous channels detected. 

For further details please contact Olympus confocal applications specialists directly.

Melinda Frame       [log in to unmask] (Eastern United States)
Angela Goodacre  [log in to unmask] (Western United States)
Martin Tewinkel     [log in to unmask] (Europe)