LSM 710

[Axel Kurt Preuss]

I have found some posts about the LSM 710 in the listserv, but have not
noticed yet an assessment by users of this system.
While Zeiss stresses the efficiency of the beam path in the 710, and indeed
the concept looks impressive, I wonder whether anybody knows about the PMT
sensitivity of the system. Who manufactures the PMTs, and is there any place
I can look up their sensitivity? A user of our facility has asked me how the
710 (sensitivity) would stack up in comparison to other confocals.Probably
the answer is not easy, as S/N, beam path length, grating efficiency etc
come into play. Still, who has had the chance to compare the 710 with
others, like SP5 or Olympus?

[Oliver Biehlmaier]

Dear Axel,
we are using an LSM 710 at our facility for a year now and we are very happy
with it.
The sensitivity is much higher than in the previous 510 systems. We can use
very low laser power and still obtain nice and clear images which means that
you can keep phototoxicity low at this system. Thus, we have more and more
people using the system for live cell imaging - especially for
photoactivation experiments.
Unfortunately, I can neither provide you with any quantitative results
concerning the sensitivity nor any link where you could look it up. I can
just tell you that we experience the 710 as a very sensitive system. It is
definitively more sensitive than our Zeiss LSM510s and Leica SP2s. However,
we do not have a SP5, Nikon A1 or Olympus FV1000 at our facility so I can
not compare the sensitivity of a those vs. the Zeiss710.

Cheers,
Oliver

P.S.: I have no commercial interests.
   

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Oliver Biehlmaier, PhD

Advanced Microscopy
Light Microscopy Centre (LMC)
Schafmattstr. 18
ETH-Hönggerberg, HPM F16
8093 Zürich
Switzerland

Phone:  [phone]
Fax:    [phone]
Email:  [hidden email]
URL:    http://www.lmc.ethz.ch/People/Oliver
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>


On 01.02.10 10:05, "Axel Preuss" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I have found some posts about the LSM 710 in the listserv, but have not
> noticed yet an assessment by users of this system.
> While Zeiss stresses the efficiency of the beam path in the 710, and indeed
> the concept looks impressive, I wonder whether anybody knows about the PMT
> sensitivity of the system. Who manufactures the PMTs, and is there any place
> I can look up their sensitivity? A user of our facility has asked me how the
> 710 (sensitivity) would stack up in comparison to other confocals.Probably
> the answer is not easy, as S/N, beam path length, grating efficiency etc
> come into play. Still, who has had the chance to compare the 710 with
> others, like SP5 or Olympus?

[Nina Reitan]

We are incubating cells with Cy5-labeled pDNA complexed to chitosan for CLSM
of fixed cells with antibody stained endosomes. I wonder if any of you have
imaged cells incubated with Cy5-labeled pDNA and experienced problems like
e.g. quenching of Cy5 caused by:

1. the mounting medium
1. binding to the pDNA
2. pH in cellular compartments (i.e. is the brightness of Cy5 pH-dependent?)

Regards
Nina

[James Pawley]

Dear Axel,

This is good news!

To help us a little more, could you tell us how
you did your comparisons? For instance, how did
you measure the power in the excitation beams
coming out of the objectives? And how did you
compare the resulting recorded data? Are your
specimens mostly thin (<10 micrometers) or
thicker?

Thanks,

Jim Pawley

               **********************************************
Prof. James B. Pawley,                          Ph.  608-263-3147
Room 223, Zoology Research
Building,                          FAX
608-265-5315
1117 Johnson Ave., Madison, WI, 53706  
[hidden email]
3D Microscopy of Living Cells Course, June 12-24, 2010, UBC, Vancouver Canada
Info: http://www.3dcourse.ubc.ca/             Applications due by March 15, 2010
               "If it ain't diffraction, it must be statistics." Anon.

>Dear Axel,
>we are using an LSM 710 at our facility for a year now and we are very happy
>with it.
>The sensitivity is much higher than in the previous 510 systems. We can use
>very low laser power and still obtain nice and clear images which means that
>you can keep phototoxicity low at this system. Thus, we have more and more
>people using the system for live cell imaging - especially for
>photoactivation experiments.
>Unfortunately, I can neither provide you with any quantitative results
>concerning the sensitivity nor any link where you could look it up. I can
>just tell you that we experience the 710 as a very sensitive system. It is
>definitively more sensitive than our Zeiss LSM510s and Leica SP2s. However,
>we do not have a SP5, Nikon A1 or Olympus FV1000 at our facility so I can
>not compare the sensitivity of a those vs. the Zeiss710.
>
>Cheers,
>Oliver
>
>P.S.: I have no commercial interests.
>
>
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>
>Oliver Biehlmaier, PhD
>
>Advanced Microscopy
>Light Microscopy Centre (LMC)
>Schafmattstr. 18
>ETH-Hönggerberg, HPM F16
>8093 Zürich
>Switzerland
>
>Phone:  [phone]
>Fax:    [phone]
>Email:  [hidden email]
>URL:    http://www.lmc.ethz.ch/People/Oliver
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>
>
>On 01.02.10 10:05, "Axel Preuss" <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>>  I have found some posts about the LSM 710 in the listserv, but have not
>>  noticed yet an assessment by users of this system.
>>  While Zeiss stresses the efficiency of the beam path in the 710, and indeed
>>  the concept looks impressive, I wonder whether anybody knows about the PMT
>>  sensitivity of the system. Who manufactures the PMTs, and is there any place
>>  I can look up their sensitivity? A user of our facility has asked me how the
>>  710 (sensitivity) would stack up in comparison to other confocals.Probably
>>  the answer is not easy, as S/N, beam path length, grating efficiency etc
>>  come into play. Still, who has had the chance to compare the 710 with
>>  others, like SP5 or Olympus?

--

[Andreas Bruckbauer]

I tried to measure the sensitivity of the LSM 710 by spreading individual Cy3 labelled antibody fragments onto glass slides. With low scanning speeds one gets excellent images, while this was not possible on  the Olympus FV1000 spectral detecorand much better than the filter based detector on the FV1000. However this is more a measure of the suppression of laser light than sensitivity. Furthermore there is now the LSM 780 with GaAsP spectral detector which is 2-3x more sensitive tan the LSM 710 (about 45% quantum efficiency).

-----Original Message-----
From: Axel Preuss <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 9:05
Subject: LSM 710

I have found some posts about the LSM 710 in the listserv, but have not

noticed yet an assessment by users of this system.

While Zeiss stresses the efficiency of the beam path in the 710, and indeed

the concept looks impressive, I wonder whether anybody knows about the PMT

sensitivity of the system. Who manufactures the PMTs, and is there any place

I can look up their sensitivity? A user of our facility has asked me how the

710 (sensitivity) would stack up in comparison to other confocals.Probably

the answer is not easy, as S/N, beam path length, grating efficiency etc

come into play. Still, who has had the chance to compare the 710 with

others, like SP5 or Olympus?