Dear Confocal List-- Thanks very much to all of you for helping me out--I think I can now make avery strong statement that they are not cheap... Here is a brief summary in case anyone else was curious. 1. Zeiss LSM 310 confocal microscopte with a SiliconGraphics work station for image analysis. About 4 years ago the purcase price was approximately $350,000 in US funds!! And you spend around $20,000 per year in service contracts. 2. The microscope itself is likely to be close to $40,000 Canadian (assuming $1.30 Canadian to the US dollar). My guess is that you are looking at closer to $150,000 - $200,000 Canadian depending on laser(s) and computers. 3. With a little cut-'n-paste of components, I believe you can get under $50K, of which about 30 is for the optics train. 4. I sure would like to know the company that makes a true confocal for under $50K!!!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kimberly A. Dwyer, M.S. Clinical Mechanics Group [log in to unmask] Mechanical Engineering http://conn.me.queensu.ca/dwyer/dwyer.htm Queen's University, Kingston, Canada ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~