This is description of this part:
Top dry achromatic lens 0.9 for the Olympus BH2-SC microscope condensers, and also for the U-SC and its variants.
The achromatic BH2-SC / U-SC microscope condensers have an upper, swing-out lens. When it is in the light path, the condenser offers N.A. 0.9. With the top lens swung out, the condenser works at a low numerical aperture of N.A. 0.16 (values from 0.16 to 0.2 are quoted on the internet). This swing-out lens sits in a mount on the swing arm and is held by three screws. The seating diameter is 23 mm and the seat itself has no thread, unlike for example the top lenses in the Olympus U-UCD condenser.
It is exactly this part that I offer here, that is the top achromatic 0.9 lens for use without immersion oil (dry).
This particular lens was removed from an Olympus BH2-SC condenser taken out of an Olympus BH-2 BHS microscope.
I could not confirm this, but everything indicates that this top lens will also fit the microscope condensers for Olympus BX microscopes:
- Olympus U-SC
- Olympus U-SC-2
- Olympus U-SC3
The microscope condensers listed above are sometimes referred to collectively as:
- Olympus Achromat 0.9 flip-out condenser
- Olympus 0.9 swing-out condenser
Before you decide to use this lens in a condenser other than the one it was removed from - compare their appearance and dimensions carefully.
A note on the appearance of the top lens: sometimes a white protective cap is fitted over the top lens. It is an original Olympus item and it changes how the top lens looks - not only the colour of the mount (from black to white) but also its shape (from a cone to a flatter form). It is still the same lens, not a different, white one.
This top lens is not a spare part for a microscope. It is a part for repairing or rebuilding the condenser - and that condenser can sit in various microscopes.
Here are examples of microscope models in which the condensers that this top lens fits are most often used:
- Olympus BH-2: BHS / BHT / BHTU
- Olympus BX: BX40 / BX50 / BX51 / BX60
The most important microscopes used with the condenser models mentioned here are listed in the "compatibility" section, but this is by no means a complete list.
The last photos show the microscope condenser that the top lens offered here comes from.
A curiosity: it is possible that this part also fits the Meiji MA976 microscope condenser.
What is this part needed for?
- if you have an Olympus BH2-SC / U-SC microscope condenser with the top lens missing
- if you have an Olympus BH2-SC / U-SC microscope condenser whose top lens is damaged or in very poor condition, for example scratched from repeatedly rubbing against the underside of the stage
- if you have an Olympus BH2-SC / U-SC microscope condenser with a different top lens fitted at the moment and you need a dry, achromatic one with N.A. 0.9
- if you want and are able to use such a lens in a 23 mm mount in another microscope condenser, perhaps even from a different manufacturer
- if you need this kind of optics for your own DIY project
