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Description of this part for the microscope.

for taking microscope photographs or recording microscope videos. This is a gray photographic adapter.

Basic technical parameters:
- mounting connection to microscope stand: 41 mm dovetail
- output connection type on the photo port: 49 mm internal thread
- connection for binocular head mounting: Jena standard 41 mm dovetail
- magnification directed to the binocular head: 1.6x
- magnification on the photo output: none (that is 1.0x)

Because this photo head has a 49 mm threaded output, virtually any device, camera, adapter, tube or other accessory can be connected after using an appropriate 49 mm thread adapter. Direct projection technique may be used (because there is no additional optics inside), or any projection eyepieces may be installed in the optical path.

This photographic attachment is intended mainly (but not exclusively) for the following microscope models:
- Carl Zeiss Jena Eduval
- Carl Zeiss Jena Laboval
- Carl Zeiss Jena Ergaval
- Carl Zeiss Jena Amplival
- Carl Zeiss Jena Vertival
- Carl Zeiss Jena Epival
- Carl Zeiss Jena Metaval
- Carl Zeiss Jena Telaval
- Carl Zeiss Jena Pictoval
- Carl Zeiss Jena Epignost

The list above contains Mikroval series microscopes with gray housings - just like the tube shown and offered here. However, it also works with older black Carl Zeiss Jena microscopes:
- Carl Zeiss Jena L-Stativ (models Lg, Lu and Lr)
- Carl Zeiss Jena Lumipan
- Carl Zeiss Jena Ng
- Carl Zeiss Jena Nf (and NfPk)

Please note that microscopes from other manufacturers also use the 41 / 41.5 mm dovetail connection standard. Because of this, this photographic head can also be used with microscopes made by:
- Lomo (for example Lomo Biolam)
- Meopta
- IOR
- selected Reichert microscopes (for example Reichert Neozet)
- Will Wetzlar
- Hund Wetzlar
- Leitz Wetzlar

This Carl Zeiss Jena tube is also very often used with microscopes having a larger head mounting diameter. In such cases users apply additional spacer or thickening rings. Because of this, this photo adapter also fits microscopes from manufacturers such as:
- PZO (for example the PZO Biolar model with 43 mm connection)
- Olympus (for example the Olympus CH model with 42 mm connection)

The element that allows a photographic camera or imaging camera to be connected to Carl Zeiss Jena Mikroval series microscopes may be referred to by different names. Commonly used names include:
- trino head
- trinocular head
- photo head
- photographic head
- photo attachment
- photographic attachment
- photo adapter
- photographic adapter
- photo tube
- photographic tube
- phototube
- photographic angle tube
- and various combinations of the words head, attachment, adapter or tube with terms such as photo, photographic, for camera and similar

Description of this part for the microscope.

Carl Zeiss Jena, PZO, Meopta, Olympus, IOR and others.

This tube makes it possible to connect a camera or photographic camera to a trinocular head or directly to the microscope body, even when no trinocular head is installed.

Originally, this adapter was designed for the Lomo TRN-1 trinocular head. This head was used in Lomo Polam polarizing microscopes from the early 1970s onwards.

Several remarks regarding the model designation of the trinocular head for which this component was originally intended:
- the name Lomo TRN-1 is the Latin alphabet designation. In Cyrillic script the model designation appears as TPH (for example model TPH1Y4.2), and this designation is used in the manual for the Lomo Polam L-211 microscope
- the vast majority of these trinocular heads are not marked with any model designation
- the Envirotools website http://www.envirotools.hu/ateso_fenyu_polarizacios_mikroszkop.htm refers to this trinocular head as HU-POL

In the last photograph, an arrow indicates exactly which component is being offered and where it is located in the Lomo Polam microscope, allowing this part to be identified unambiguously.

Basic technical parameters of this tube:
Mounting method to the trinocular head or microscope: 41 mm dovetail mount (this is also the Carl Zeiss Jena standard)
Camera mounting method: male M39 thread
Alternative camera mounting method: since the M39 thread can be removed, a plain smooth tube with a diameter of 35 mm remains
Additional optics: yes, the original optics are installed inside, although they can be removed, leaving only an "empty tube".

This is not "a tube dedicated to a specific microscope model". It is a tube originally mounted on the third port (photo port) of a trinocular head. Since a trinocular head can be installed on microscopes other than the model with which it was originally supplied, this tube can be regarded as a universal accessory.

These technical parameters make it possible to use this tube with virtually any microscope manufactured by:
- Lomo (for example Biolam, Polam, MBB-1A and others)
- Carl Zeiss Jena (for example Ergaval, Amplival, Jenamed and others)
- IOR, Meopta and other manufacturers using a 41 / 41.5 mm dovetail mount

In addition, a 41 mm dovetail tube can easily be mounted on microscopes equipped with a 42 mm or 43 mm opening, for example:
- Olympus (for example CH, CH-2, BH-2 models)
- PZO (for example Biolar, Studar, MB-30 and others)

The entire list of microscope manufacturers and models given above may also be treated as a list of microscopes compatible with the Lomo TRN-1 trinocular head. Indeed, many examples can be found on the Internet showing this head being used with microscopes made by manufacturers other than Lomo.

Because this tube is equipped with an M39 thread by default, almost any camera or photographic camera can be attached by means of a suitable adapter, for example:
- devices with M42 threads
- devices with C-mount threads
- Nikon, Sony, Olympus and other camera standards

This is therefore a universal photo tube featuring a 41 mm dovetail on one side and either an M39 thread or a 35 mm tube on the other side.

In the image gallery, every photograph includes a millimetre scale, and in addition, the dimensions of the dovetail, tube and thread have been measured with calipers so that compatibility can be determined precisely.

Description of this part for the microscope.

removed from an Olympus U-TR30 trinocular head.

The Olympus U-TR30 / U-TR30-2 photo-trinocular heads are most often used in the following microscopes:
- Olympus CX30 / CX31
- Olympus CX40 / CX41 / CX43
- Olympus BX40 / BX41 / BX43
- Olympus BX50 / BX51 / BX53
- Olympus BX60 / BX61
- Olympus MX40 / MX50
- and probably others

Olympus offers a whole range of tubes with a 42.1 mm mounting diameter, so such mounts are fitted not only to the U-TR30 head.

The female mount for adapters with a 42 mm dovetail (more precisely, according to the manufacturer specification: 42.1 mm) is found, among others, on the following microscope heads and tubes:
- Olympus U-TR30
- Olympus U-TR30-2
- Olympus U-TR30H
- Olympus U-TR30IR
- Olympus U-TR30NIR
- Olympus U-TTR-2
- Olympus U-ETR3
- Olympus U-ETR30
- Olympus U-ETR-4
- Olympus U-SWTR
- Olympus U-SWTR-2
- Olympus U-SWTR-3
- Olympus U-SWETR
- Olympus U-SWETTR-2
- Olympus U-SWETTR-5
- Olympus MX-SWETTR
- Olympus U-CTR30-2
- Olympus U-TRU
- Olympus U-TRUS
- Olympus U-MPH
- Olympus U-TLU
- Olympus SZX-TR30
- Olympus SZX2-TTR
- Olympus SZX2-TTRPT
- and probably others

Important: as of now (2026) the microscope brand "Olympus" has been replaced by "Evident". Evident microscopes (e.g. Evident BX53) still keep the previous standard, so the 42mm mount is also found in products carrying that brand.

Metal, cast or injection-molded parts of Olympus carry their own numbers. This microscope element bears the number AB8980.

Because this is a brittle casting, the mount can crumble, crack or break. The remedy is then to replace the complete head or just this part - fortunately this mount is a separate component, fixed to the head with three screws.

And this implies another important matter: the diameter of the mount is standard, but I cannot guarantee that a mount fixed with exactly three screws fits every one of those heads and tubes, and even if it does - whether their hole spacing is the same in each of those models. The user should check that for himself based on the photos in the gallery.

Where the descriptions quoting a 51 mm diameter come from?
On the website of "Martin Microscope" and in many other descriptions available online, exactly the same (sic!) mount is described as having a diameter of 51 mm. That is the internal diameter of the ring, measured without the seat of the dovetail taper. So the 51 mm at "Martin Microscope" refers to the same mount into which a 42 mm dovetail is inserted.

This is not a part for one specific microscope model. As listed above - such a mount can be found in many heads and tubes, and these in turn in any microscope the user fits them into.

In the "compatibility" section there is an example list of microscopes the U-TR30 head fits, although it is not a complete list.