The Olympus SZH-10

My friend JB has an Olympus SZH-10 that he paid $4500 for in 2010 (he got a 58 percent discount on a long list of items including two objectives, a camera adapter, and an illuminator).
It sounds like a lot of money, but you understand when you look through one of these and see how effortlessly it goes to powers over 100x (My Nikon Stereozoom struggles to get to 40x).

  1. SZH-002 SZH-ZB10; SZH STEREO BODY. ZOOM 7X-70X, ZOOM RATIO 10:1.............$2,499.00 1 $2,499.00
  2. 1-S827 DFPLAPO1X;DF PLAN APO 1.0X OBJ, NA 0.087, WD 80MM $795.00 1.......... $795.00
  3. 1-S816 2X DF PLAN OBJECTIVE FOR SZH/SZH-10 $1,113.00 1................................ $1,113.00
  4. 2-S436 GWH10X-D;GWH 10X EYEPIECE,HIEYEPT,WIDEFD,DIOPTER LOCK,FN 24.. $194.00 2 $388.00
  5. S-0100 SZH-BI45N;LOW PROFILE BINOCULAR TUBE, 45 DEGREES,SZH,SZH10..... $1,511.00 1 $1,511.00
  6. S-0107 SZH-PT;PHOTOTUBE ATTACHMENT,HAS 0.8X MAGNIFICATION FACTOR ...$1,179.00 1 $1,179.00
  7. S-0105 SZH-D BF/DF TRANSMITTED LIGHTILLUMINATOR $1,752.00 1 ...................$1,752.00
  8. S-0110 SZH-RE;SZH/10 DUAL OBJECTIVE REVOLVING NOSEPIECE ...................$358.00 1 $358.00
  9. S-0750 SP-C;CLEAR GLASS STAGE PLATE FOR STEREOS $18.00 1................... $18.00
  10. 7-C555 MTV-3 VIDEO ADAPTER $390.00 1......................................................... $390.00
  11. 2LC894 NFK2.5XLD;NFK 2.5X Photoeyepieceì ....................................................$179.00 1 $179.00
  12. A20520 Light Source, ACE I, EKE, 115V.......................................................... $434.00 1 $434.00
  13. A08520 Gooseneck, Dual, Flexi,30"Comm........................................................ $189.00 1 $189.00 
SUBTOTAL: ...................................................$10,805.00
Less 58% discount .................  ($6,266.90) 
Total:............... $4,538.10
He and I have both concluded that we prefer other methods than shooting through the microscope for taking mineral photographs, so all of the phototube and video adapter and photoeyepiece could be deleted. Also for me, the transmitted light illuminator is something I could do without.

In addition I might go with just one objective (a 1.6x like Joe has). With two objectives on a turret, whenever you change objectives you have to adjust lighting. With the 1x objective you get 7x to 70x, with the 2x objective, you get 14x to 140x. With a 1.6x objective you would get 11.2 to 112x, which actually sounds great. Also note that the extra objective costs at least an additionl $500, along with $200 or so for the revlving nosepiece.

Joe made a horsetrade for his microscope, so his experience is of no value for estimating possible costs. ES paid $12,000 for his SZX-16 unit.

Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Mineralogy Info / tom@mmto.org