> Would anyone be willing to share experience with piezo-focus devices from
> various manufacturers?

  We also have got a PIFOC piezo positioning device (P-721) from
Physik Instrumente (Waldbronn, Germany) and it works perfectly.
P-721 type has got 100 micron range but you can get also
a wider range, if necessary. You can get also a variety of
controllers, we use E-662 for P-721. It can be easily controlled
by your computer using standard serial port. We have used it in our
high-resolution cytometer nearly non-stop for about one year and
there have been no problems at all.

  For more information see http://www.physikinstrumente.com

  With best regards,
  Michal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michal Kozubek, Ph.D.
Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, Botanicka 68a, CZ-60200, Brno
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
WWW: http://www.fi.muni.cz/~kozubek