From a vendor:

If you want to scan large areas you need a low mag lens.
If you want high resolution in depth as well as x-y you need a high NA lens.
The lower the mag, the lower the NA, so compromizes are made.

I know of two ways to get the best of both worlds:
1/ A good tiling software package to knit together many high mag images.
2/ Stage scanning capability.

The Meridian ACAS 570 C is a stage scanning system which can cover any area
up to 10x8cm using any objective lens.  By parking the beam in the center of
the lens, you get the best optical performance possible, and no chance of
astigmatism etc. spoiling the edges of the image.

The Meridian Ultima is capable of the same kind of stage scanning, but also
has a galvo mirror for dual scanning at higher speed.  This means you can
generate tiled images much more quickly, then display them as a montage .
 The cell list routine will handle positioning for each shot so you won't
miss any data or overlap too much (I have done over 100 tiles, butted
together in one data set).

Both systems have UV and Blue as standard, and both can be fitted with
additional Krypton lines.  Both have AOMs to precisely control the number of
photons hitting each pixel for uniform illumination and bleach control; and
both acquire 12 bit data when necessary (very rarely needed).

We no longer make new ACAS 570C instruments but do sometimes offer used ones.
 We are still producing our top-of-the line Ultima-Z.

David Carter
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Biovision (formerly Meridian)
919 Filley St. Lansing MI 48906 USA
Tel. (517) 327-0950
Fax. 517 327-0959