Re: Query about Zeiss long working distance objectives

On Aug 17, 7:55 pm, Kevin Sunley <umsun...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hi Kevin,

Although I know we've had this discussion on here before, I think there
is a little more to add than what you've said about aus Jena
microscopes.

I have several of these, some bought specifically chosen, others
inherited from surplus or labs which were closing down. Some of them I
would not have ever paid money for, while others I would rank up there
with the best build quality of any of the major manufacturers at their
prime (Zeiss West, Wild, or Leitz).

The early aus Jena, JENA, or Carl Zeiss Jena (post-WWII) microscopes,
those manufactured during or immediately after WWII were expectional.
They matched the quality of pre-WWII Zeiss in every way, the only
exception being those actually manufactured during the war itself were
not decorated with chrome finish, presumably due to the strategic
importance of chrome during war time. Instead the turret was painted
matte black. After the war the chrome was returned, and throughout the
entire time the black enamel finish of the microscope was flawless still
looks brand new sixty years later.

There were no compromises to their actual construction, and the build,
assembly and finish of their stands is expectional.

The stands I'm specifically referring to are those such as their L-stand
(I have several Lg and one Lu), the benchtop inverted metallographic
Epityp 2, and the early models of the N-stands (Ng and Nf models
specifically, I have never worked with the larged Nu personally). I
specify the early N-models, those manufactured during the early 1960s,
as I've seen cases that the more recent N-stands had brass components
replaced with alluminium, and had the ball bearings removed from their
x/y stages. Even though these newer microscopes are still good, the
attention to detail wasn't there like it was in the past.

Now their series "val" microscopes; the Ergoval, Amplival, Eduval, etc.,
are likely the JENA microscopes you've worked with. These were the
boxier, grey painted, newer designs that were conceived and designed
after the war. These differ from the microscopes I mentioned earier,
which were all models designed prior to the division of the two Zeiss'
and manufactured and sold by the East German side after the split. The
Ng and Nu were techincally new designs as well, but were so close to the
pre-war Lumipan model than it was essentially just a name change.

Everything was different about these new designs. They use plastic in
their designs, had rough finished painted frames, and were simply just
not up to the standards of their previous models, or of the other
manufacturers of the time. I would completely agree with you on the
generalizations of the Jena microscopes if these were the only
instruments they had made, but their previous designs which were still
being manufactured two decades after the division of the Zeiss', are
just too good let the entire company be written off.

Also, their larger research microscopes, specifically their inverted
Neophot series (a metallographic microscope) was exceptionally well
built during the entire life of the company.

And to give credit where it was due, the company did not lack competence
when it came to producing high quality instrumentation. Although I
agree many of their bench top microscopes were built to a quality which
did not compare to other companies, they also produced some truely
innovative, world leading equipment. The best example of this might be
their LMA-1 Laser Microspectrat Analyzer. This was a microscope that
has a laser integrated into its design, which could focus a laser spot
onto the sample any size between 10 and 250um. Pulsing the laser would
then evaporate the region under the beam, and the composition of the
sample (biological or inorganic) would be automatically analyzed.
Here's an extert from a 1968 article in the Journal of Applied
Spectroscopy:

"The LMA-1 Laser Microspectrat Analyzer. This instrument (Fig. 4) is
used in conjunction with a prism or grating spectrometer for analysis of
small areas. Specimen preparation time is eliminated, and the material
may be a crystalline or amorphous metal or nonmetal. Observation under
the microscope can be performed in ordinary or polarized.light in
reflection or transmission. The analyzed area may be from 10 to 250um in
size. The microscope provides very precise positioning of the laser
beam. One analysis consumes only about 1 ug. The instrument can be
applied to 60 elements between Li and U. There are applications in
mineralogy, metallography, silicatetechnology, archeology, biology, and
medicine (including forensic medicine)."

Another Kevin.

--
Great post! For historical purposes the early aus Jena's were
interesting but as time went on there was no way that Jena could
really compete. There were under ground rumors that Jena got some of
its top end designs from Zeiss, I think that most optics people know
other optics people.

The big problem was the "val" 'scopes, I agree with you on that one.
They were really bad. The biggest problem was that there top end
stuff was kinda well thought through but it was impossible to fix.
All bolt holes were to big so you started from the rear and tried to
get it adjusted but it wouldn't really work, things like that.

(sigh) If I were a collector I'd collect aus Jena, not a lot were made
and few survive and thats the way to make money in the collectable
world.

Thanks,

Kevin Cunningham
SMS

.

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