June 3, 2021
Nikon Stereo Microscopes
Nikon has always been a highly regarded name in optics. I have two models of
their stero microscopes. The gigantic SMZ-10 and the "sterozoom"
Nikon Stereo Zoom
This is what you would call a "student microscope".
For a long time it was my workhorse microscope and took it on trips where I would
not want to risk my Olympus (travel always poses the risk of banging the
microscope around and knocking prisms out of alignment).
I have two of these (the price was right) and they are excellent microscopes.
Apparently these predate the SMZ designation applied to subsequent Nikon
stero zoom microscopes and the model is simply called "stereozoom", and/or
model "SM Stereozoom". They are easily recognized by the big ring around
the entire body that is the zoom control.
They provide 0.6 to 4.0 magnification from the microscope body, so with
10x eyepieces you obtain 6 to 40 power, which is ideal.
They use 30mm eyepieces.
I see these priced from $500 to $900 on the used market.
Nikon SMZ-10
This is a high quality scope that rivals the Olympus SZ series in image quality.
It is a giant beast of a microscope with a trinocular tube to attach a
camera. The head offers magnification from 0.66 to 4.0, so with 10x eyepieces
you get from 6.6x to 40x. The optical system is said to use extra low dispersion glass.
The standard objective is 1x and has internal 44mm threads, and is said to accept
auxiliary lenses in the Nikon "AL" series. It uses 30mm eyepieces, as do all
nikon stereo microscopes I have laid hands on. I have seen this unit priced from
$1000 and up to $2600 or more on the used market.
Here is a manual.
Feedback? Questions?
Drop me a line!
Tom's Mineralogy Info / tom@mmto.org