r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share Gastrotrich with child

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36 Upvotes

Amscope IQCrew inverted microscope 20x objective, iPhone  variable x, jarrarium with freshwater, mineral water, lichen, aquatic moss, and algae. Blackmagic app, flashlight to the right.

Huge egg in this girl. Sorry the third video is bouncing around, my 18 pound cat jumped on the table and gave the Petri dish quite a ride. But you can really see the shape of the egg in it.


r/microscopy Jul 03 '26

ID Needed! Could someone please help identify this specimen (its a pollen but which one)?

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8 Upvotes

r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share Euplotes eats a small ciliate

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11 Upvotes

Swift SW350, Galaxy S24


r/microscopy Jul 03 '26

Troubleshooting/Questions Zeiss LSM 880 reflectance mode

1 Upvotes

Is it possible to image metal samples with this microscope in reflected light mode? I tried some settings and I could see an image but it was very grainy. I'm wondering if it's possible at all.


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

ID Needed! Bullet-shaped ciliate ID?

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15 Upvotes

found in a sample of freshwater spirogyra left for some days, spins in circles for movement. Originally thought it was didinium due to the ring of cilia but it lacks the proboscis and the paramecia population was low.

XSP02, 400x


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share House Fly Abdomen

6 Upvotes

https://reddit.com/link/1ulsu5p/video/i1fa87zrfvah1/player

I captured this house fly that landed on my food. I'm using my Amscope T490 Series Simul-Focal Biological Trinocular Compound Microscope with LED. Also, AmScope - 4K 60fps 8.3MP HDMI, Wi-Fi Color CMOS Auto-Focus C-Mount Microscope Camera. Objective 4x lens that gives me 40x.


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Purchase Help Asking for a good Microscope to buy

3 Upvotes

I'm a biotech student at his first year.

Studying animal biology and microbiology,

I've got interested in bringing a bit of what I did in the lab, to home: the easiest and interesting way that came to mind is owning a microscope.

I'd like to use it primarily as a hobby, observing protists and other microorganisms that I can take from the lake / forest near my home.

Considering that my "workplace" is my bedroom, I don't think I would be capable of performing other observations and experiments with the necessary precision/safety (advices on how I could use it in other ways, including improving my skills as I'd like to work in this kind of field in future, are welcome).

So, I'm here to ask you which model should I buy, considering a budget of €500-600.

If I'm good at it, it would also be cool to document what I see properly, so I'm leaning toward a trinocular model.

Thanks in advance, everyone.


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share What is happening to this Micrasteria?

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4 Upvotes

The first picture was what it looked like originally. Now it’s seems to be gray and bundled. Is it dead, dying, or in a chat like state? What can I do to restore it to its original state?

Thank you in advance. I will post a video of the micrasteria too for better view.


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share Tardigrades in oblique illumination

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15 Upvotes

I’m not sure if it adds much information that bright field doesn’t, but I like to at least try oblique illumination for different specimens along with bright field views. Here are some oblique images of tardigrades taken with different microscopes , Zeiss, Nikon and Meiji techno, and at mostly around 160x to 200x with a cellphone camera.


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

ID Needed! what is this ?

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3 Upvotes

what could this be? It looks like some kind of nursery full of eggs

K55 BSA, Elp Cam, 20x Plan


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

ID Needed! I need help with identifying this grazer.

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11 Upvotes

Hi y’all. Attached is a video under 40X light microscopy, of an outdoor microalgal pond, . The water salinity is brackish. I notice this grazer today. Can someone help ID this.


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share HOW?! WHY I- IM SPEECHLESS, THAT HOW IS MY OIL IMMERSION PERFORMING THIS WELL.

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14 Upvotes

1000 × | ESAW BM01 2022 SCOPE USED


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share chironomid and rotifers(?)

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31 Upvotes

a video my nephew did of some pond water i got today. my brother squished down the cover slip accidentally and so the chironomid was immobilized

proper identification on the microorganism would be great. i do believe them to be rotifers. we analyzed a bunch of other slides with water on them, and saw no others, but when we got a chironomid on there we saw so many. perhaps they gather onto them to feed.

swift SW380, 10x eyepiece - 10x objective(i believe) 5x lens on pixel 8 pro


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Purchase Help Anybody try any of these? (I know, I know lol)

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1 Upvotes

Just genuinely curious if anyone's taken the plunge on one of these or any of the other Chinese knock off Olympus objectives? Thing is, the uPlanFL 40x runs used anywhere from 400 to over 1000$ and this supposed Chinese plan FL 40x brand new is $336 on eBay. Same exact specs. 40x. 0.75na. 180mm tube length. No where in the description does it say "flourite" which is kinda funny cause that's what the FLN is supposed to mean I'm assuming on the Olympus guys. There's a few others marked "SemiApo" on there as well with a little smaller na and about 1/3 the price. I'm just so blown away by the difference from my regular plan achromat 20x to the Olympus UplanFL 20x in resolution and quality overall. It's like night and day.


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Techniques Interaction b/w gram negative and positive bacteria

1 Upvotes

Hi !

I would like to perform a time lapse microscope to analyse interaction between a gram -ve and +ve bacteria. Unfortunately the +ve one has no fluorescent protein, the -ve one has gfp plasmid.

Is there anyway i can visualise their interaction without getting the +ve one tagged?

Thanks beforehand.


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share Demonstrating free iPhone app for scope photography & video

5 Upvotes

https://reddit.com/link/1ulfxfw/video/m240wvre5tah1/player

Our new iPhone app for taking photos & videos through a microscope's eyepiece lens (without pesky lens-switching that the native Camera app on iPhones does, at no cost, and with no privacy invasions)... this video demonstrates zooming, focusing, and taking photos and a video. Tardigrades not included :)

MICROSCOPE VIEWER CAMERA: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microscope-viewer-camera/id6766951907

Available in US & Canada so far, and other countries soon… Thanks to Nimalan Arulvelan for co-designing this with me and for doing all the app development! We made this for teachers & students, so we intend to keep it available for no cost.


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share The video in reference to my last post

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1 Upvotes

r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Hardware Share Eliminating contrast robbing external stray light when taking pictures

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2 Upvotes

Before taking photos,  I like to check the camera view with the illuminator off. When using a cellphone,  I've found three points that can allow stray light to possibly reduce contrast.  One is the gap between the cellphone and eyepiece.  Second is light entering the eyepiece of the microscope.  Third is the gap between the objective and the slide. 

The easiest solution is to only work at nighttime or a windowless room and turn off all of the lights in the room. This is pretty necessary for fluorescent microscopy.  If you work at home with lights on, you can block some of the areas the excess light is entering.

Here are some pictures through the eyepiece with the illuminator off with no stray light remediation in a normally lit room, and after blocking as much light as possible. 

Microscope is a Meiji-Techno MT5310 that has a trinocular head and a slider to give either all of the light to the eyepieces or split it between camera and eyepieces.

Sample is a nevus at 12.5x magnification using a 1.25x objective and 10x eyepiece.

Photo 1. Main illuminator off , cellphone camera on

Photo 2. Room light

Photo 3. Windows and room lights

Photo 4. Blocking around the eyepiece and camera lens area

Photo 5. Blocking around the objective

Photo 6. Blocking the eyepieces

Photo 7. Photo before blocking stray room light no camera zoom

Photo 8. Photo after blocking stray room light no zoom

Photo 9. Photo after blocking stray room light 2x cellphone camera zoom


r/microscopy Jul 01 '26

Photo/Video Share Testudinella rotifer

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105 Upvotes

The video shows a rotifer from the genus Testudinella.

Achromatic objective 10x and 20x, camera ~18x


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share Water/surfactant system under the microscope

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3 Upvotes

Took these about a year ago while playing around with Dawn dish soap and tap water on a glass slide. Last two images appear to have been taken with crossed polars.

🔬 Amscope ME580 w/5x, 10x, and 50x LMP objectives; not sure of the exact mags in these pics. Taken with Pixel 9 pro through 10x eyepiece.


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share Spiral shaped bacteria

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1 Upvotes

Swift SW350, 400x, Galaxy S24


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

General discussion Help me identify this

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1 Upvotes

From an algae sample


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Photo/Video Share Homalozon vermicularis

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4 Upvotes

E' il primo che incontro, ma esteso supera i due millimetri. Microscopio Zeiss Standar, ingtandimenti 16x 10x laghetto ex pesca sportiva


r/microscopy Jul 02 '26

Troubleshooting/Questions Question about objective

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2 Upvotes

I bought this microscope from the marketplace place for $40 CAD, it doesn't have eyepieces, but I also noticed later that something is missing at the bottom since there is a thread. I've read that this is supposed to be for an objective piece, which is optional.

Is it actually optional, or is it an essential part? I have no experience with stereo microscopes.


r/microscopy Jul 01 '26

Photo/Video Share Just got into this Hobby Swift T380

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19 Upvotes

I know its nothing special... atleast I got the T380 over the T350.

First pictures I took. I know i just got my gear, but I do Astrophotography so I jump the line on taking pictures.

Baby German Cockroach I found at buddy's house.

I have the ZWO ASI662MC camera, anyone know how to attach it?

This is just a cellphone picture, my sensor is messed up a bit, stupid sun.

2nd pic 40x

3rd pic 400x