What is a Barlow Lense? - Takmly microscope

A Barlow lens is an auxiliary lens that is attached to the end of a stereo microscope’s objective, which alters the magnification range (or fixed settings available) on the microscope by a multiple of the Barlow lens’ power. This can work for both increasing or decreasing the magnification, which will either decrease the field of view and working distance by magnifying the image or increase the field of view and working distance by reducing the magnification of the image, respectively.

These properties have an inverse relationship, meaning the more magnification one uses, the smaller the field of view will be, and the closer the microscope lens needs to be to the sample to focus (which means less space to use tools, called working distance or focal distance). Vice versa, the less magnification being used, the larger the field of view and working distance are. In this case, more is not always better! You want the right magnification for your sample based on your needs.

Also, this means that any SM- (7X-45X base magnification) or ZM- (6.7X-45X base magnification) series stereo microscope package can be altered by adding in any number of Barlow lenses that are offered to expand the range out. Just like compound microscopes, total magnification is a product of all magnifying elements, so a stereo microscope may have 10X eyepieces, and an objective set to 1.0X, which would give you 10X total magnification. A 2.0X Barlow lens could take that up to 20X, while a 0.5X Barlow lens could take that down to 5X, depending on which is installed (not both, as stacking will throw the focus of the objectives off, while cancelling each other out in terms of magnification modification).

The great part about stereo microscopes is that they are very modular in nature, so whether you want a pre-made package designed by us, or to customize your own setup based on your preferences, we can accommodate your needs!

Have a large sample that you need to view multiple areas of? We have a boom stand or articulating arm stand option for you. Need a simple table stand with a large area for dissection? No problem, we have that too. If you know what you’d like to do with a stereo microscope or an inspection microscope, the following table can assist in getting you started with what you’re looking for with some common suggestions. Alternatively, on the top navigation menu of the website, click “Stereo” to browse by microscopy type/specifications. Otherwise, you can continue on to read about taking an optical light microscope of either base microscope types and converting it to a digital microscope so that you can take digital images or record video by adding a camera.

Applications	Stand	Age/Education Group
Art Appraisal/Restoration	Table Stand w/ Track	K-8 (Elementary)
Circuit Boards	Table Stand w/ Pillar	9-12 (Junior High/High School)
Coins	Single Arm Boom Stand	Undergraduate Studies
Dissection	Double Arm Boom Stand	Graduate Studies
Forensics/Firearms	Ball Bearing Boom Stand	Research/Professional Use
Gemology/Jewelry	Articulating Arm w/ Clamp	Hobbyist Use
Mechanical Parts	Articulating Arm w/ Pillar & Base
Watch Repair/Engraving	Inspection Style
Darkfield Equipped Stands

If you’re unsure of what you need, or have questions about creating your own setup, give our Customer Success team a call at 1-888-950-2888, toll-free or send us an email. Our friendly and helpful agents will be happy to assist you in getting the right microscope and accessories for you.

Microphotography: Cameras & Videos

For many applications, the ability to capture, display, and preserve specimen images is of equal or greater importance than actually viewing the specimen through the eyepieces. Microphotography (35mm and other chemical formats) has been a common option on microscopes for decades, but the recent development of relatively inexpensive CCD (charged couple device) video and digital cameras has greatly increased both the popularity and flexibility of microscope imaging.

Instead of clicking through slides during a lecture, university professors can now display real-time video images on projection televisions; petroleum geologists can e-mail images of core samples to their laboratories from remote locations around the world; oncologists can refer to CD or on-line catalogues of cell images to help them make faster and more accurate diagnoses.

 There are many different methods for capturing, displaying, and recording microscope images, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Some are USB cameras that require a computer to interface with, but, include advanced software capable of measurements and other forms of data analysis, while others are HDMI cameras with on-board storage for easy use in training or web uploading, directly to a monitor, without the need of a cumbersome PC. Others have high sensitivity to light, providing better results in low light photography, such as darkfield or fluorescent microscopy methods, whereas others are more specialized for different applications, such as with cooling systems to minimize noise for extremely high sensor performance. 

It would be impossible to cover all of these options here, but one basic piece of information will be important in selecting your microscope. While it is possible to mount a camera on a monocular or binocular microscope, it is generally far better to use a trinocular microscope designed for camera work. Trinocular models have two eyepieces for normal viewing, plus a third "phototube" on which you can mount a camera without interfering with the normal operation of the microscope—many of them which have their own adjustments to help compensate for any focal differences between the eyepiece path of light and the camera’s path of light (called “simul-focal” trinocular microscopes”).

Trinocular microscopes are ideal for photo, digital or video applications.We also carry adapters for DSLR/SLR camera bodies, if you’d prefer to use your own body with a microscope—particularly useful for owners of high end cameras or professional photographers. 

 If you know what you’d like to do with your camera, the following table can assist in getting you started with what you’re looking for with some common suggestions, or you can use the top navigation bar to click “Cameras” to browse by camera type/specifications.

Applications	Camera Series
General Use	MU (USB2.0/USB3.0)
Low Light	MA (USB2.0)
Wireless	HD (HDMI & On-Board Storage)
WF (WiFi Enabled)
AF (Auto-Focus)
DSLR (Adapters for DSLR/SLR Bodies)

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