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  • Lab microscope ?

    to anyone that uses a microscope and hemacytometer slide to count yeast cells, what grade microscope do you think is GOOD ENOUGH for a new, very small micro?
    I've been checking ebay and craigslist, but I am not sure what is necessary and what is overkill for my uses.
    www.beerontheriver.com

  • #2
    Mine is an old Bausch & Lomb, with 3 objectives. 10x, 45x, and 100x. I use the 45x for counting cells, the others are pretty much for show. I bought a hemacytometer from Cynmar for $47 bucks.
    Paul Thomas
    Brewer
    Sockeye Brewing
    www.sockeyebrew.com

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    • #3
      Originally posted by pbutlert
      Mine is an old Bausch & Lomb, with 3 objectives. 10x, 45x, and 100x. I use the 45x for counting cells, the others are pretty much for show. I bought a hemacytometer from Cynmar for $47 bucks.

      Thanks, I just bought a hemacytometer off ebay for about $40 with the shipping.

      so, 45x is plenty for counting?
      www.beerontheriver.com

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      • #4
        Yes, I should also mention the eyepiece is 10x. Using the 10x objective, you should be able to see all 25 squares. With the 45X I can see one square at a time. The 100x is good for looking at bacteria, if you are plating any.
        Paul Thomas
        Brewer
        Sockeye Brewing
        www.sockeyebrew.com

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        • #5
          You can even go to 40x if the microscope has that objective available. I'm not sure about anything lower.

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          • #6
            Check out White labs website- they have some good guides for cell counting and micro work. And they sell everything you need.
            100X is good for yeast, 400x for bacteria. Note you should be using immersion oil at these magnifications.
            Your 10x objective makes your 10x and 45x lenses = 100x and 450x. So thats fine for cell counting and wild yeast & bacteria identification. (Although many would argue that visual alone is not enough for indentification.)
            Last edited by Ted Briggs; 10-12-2009, 09:22 AM.
            Brewmaster, Minocqua Brewing Company
            tbriggs@minocquabrewingcompany.com
            "Your results may vary"

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Ted Briggs
              Check out White labs website- they have some good guides for cell counting and micro work. And they sell everything you need.
              100X is good for yeast, 400x for bacteria. Note you should be using immersion oil at these magnifications.
              Your 10x objective makes your 10x and 45x lenses = 100x and 450x. So thats fine for cell counting and wild yeast & bacteria identification. (Although many would argue that visual alone is not enough for indentification.)
              thanks guy's, I just went and bought a nice new one off ebay with a camera system as well for recording and charting purposes. I cant wait for it to get here.
              thanks for the guidance.
              www.beerontheriver.com

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              • #8
                Hi

                Which microscope did you order and is it any good?

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Firkin L
                  Hi

                  Which microscope did you order and is it any good?

                  Ebay Item Number: 200397666720
                  40X-2000X BINOCULAR VET COMPOUND MICROSCOPE +USB CAMERA
                  A Turnkey Package of Microscope and USB PC Color Camera

                  I paid $260.00 for mine off ebay and its probably way overkill but it works great for my purposes.
                  www.beerontheriver.com

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by v2comp
                    thanks guy's, I just went and bought a nice new one off ebay with a camera system as well for recording and charting purposes. I cant wait for it to get here.
                    thanks for the guidance.
                    Geez, you went fancy! Nice work.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Ted Briggs
                      Check out White labs website- they have some good guides for cell counting and micro work. And they sell everything you need.
                      100X is good for yeast, 400x for bacteria. Note you should be using immersion oil at these magnifications.
                      Your 10x objective makes your 10x and 45x lenses = 100x and 450x. So thats fine for cell counting and wild yeast & bacteria identification. (Although many would argue that visual alone is not enough for indentification.)
                      interesting, maybe i'll pick up a microscope and hemacytometer

                      here's the link you were refering to i think http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/microscope.html

                      this is interesting: http://www.scienceisart.com/B_FoodCh.../Bacteria.html
                      basically it says don't expect to find bacteria with a microscope:
                      "No problem, use a microscope. Not so fast. If you use a medium power objective so you can scan a reasonable area of a microscope slide the bacterium will appear as dark specks. You can't tell if they are really bacteria or if they are alive. In order to recognize a bacteria you need to see some detail inside the cell. However, to do this you need high power, say 100x, which also means you need oil between the objective and the slide (the yellow drop in the Figure). You also need fancy illumination (the red arrows) and stains that will reveal the inner parts of the cell. This is difficult enough if you have a concentrated bacterial suspension and want to characterize the cells. But it's really not a usefull technique to scan large volumes of fluid or complex suspensions of particles."

                      there are a number of bacteria test kits for water on ebay,no idea if any of them are useful for beer? any ideas?
                      Last edited by fullmoonwinery; 04-21-2010, 03:02 AM.
                      Full Moon Winery, Thailand
                      http://www.fullmoonwinery.com/

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