When I do a z series of sub resolution beads to examine my psf, they
reconstruct as a line of little footballs, listing to port, tilted and ready
for kicking. I have taken this to be an indication of poor alignment of the
scan head and microscope (?) since the alignment within the box seems by every
measure good. I can get a nice symmetric looking defocus at low mags, but
haven't come up with a good way to critically align these components. Bio Rad
can't do it either. The only thing I can think of is to sweep the focus fast
and go by sight like we do with EM's, but that's a bit tough. Parking the beam
and aligning the spot doesn't seem to do it either. So the question is, is
this symptom poor alignment, and if it is, how do the more fanatical of our
ranks (you know who you are) get there from here.
 By the way, I checked out the new Nikon 60X/1.2 water immersion objective
(WD=200 microns) and got some crisp 3D of live stuff! Beats everything except
my Leitz 90/1.2W and you know how flat that lens is ;).
 
                      Thanks, everyone