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Hi, Julio-

The (American) technical term for the cloth hair bands is "scrunchie" ;-)

Aloha,
Tina

> > Some manufacturers are actually trying to address the problem of  
> > oil into objectives in inverted scopes, and in other situations,  
> > there may be simple tricks that can help. Our Leica objectives are  
> > relatively oil-proof, as the front part is broader than, and covers  
> > the objective like an umbrella. Olympus changed their design, and  
> > their new line of objectives is also pretty good, similar to Leica,  
> > where oil would run down the outside of the objective, not inside  
> > the barrel.  Zeiss is not as good, but there is a rim where you can  
> > wrap a cloth rubber band  (sold for $ 1.75 a dozen at major  
> > drugstores) of the type used for tying hair (sorry, don't know the  
> > "technical" term for those... hair bands maybe).  They will prevent  
> > oil from sipping inside the barrel. Nikon is similar to Zeiss, but  
> > with less space to wrap up a hair band...  On all types, we also  
> > wrap a hair band at the base of the objective. Unless there is an  
> > accident, if one keeps an eye on things and changes the absorbent  
> > bands when required (maybe every  6-12 months), most oil issues can  
> > be minimized or prevented at very minimal cost.
> > Julio.
> > FHCRC, Seattle.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mar 13, 2007, at 10:56 AM, John J. Lemasters wrote:
> >
> >> I don't know why the manufacturers do not fix this problem, since  
> >> so many biologists use inverted microscopes and gravity is what it  
> >> is. I lost a water immersion lens in the same way as described  
> >> below because it was not water proof!. For some reason, Zeiss,  
> >> Leica, Nikon etc. seem to think we will do our experiments for a  
> >> few seconds, stop and then clean the lens, when in fact we may be  
> >> observing cells for hours. The manufacturers could easily design  
> >> and build lenses where leakage of oil and water into objectives  
> >> does not occur.
> >
> 
> 

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* Tina (Weatherby) Carvalho               * [log in to unmask]           * 
* Biological Electron Microscope Facility * (808) 956-6251                 *
* University of Hawaii at Manoa           * http://www.pbrc.hawaii.edu/bemf* 
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