VT-Eye from VisiTech International

[Mary Raven]

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Dear All
One of our researchers is interested in the  VT-Eye from VisiTech
International.  I wondered if anyone had experience with that system. I
couldn't find much information on the system using their webpage.  It is
billed as an ultrafast confocal using acoustic-optical deflector technology.

Thanks
Mary

--
Mary Raven
Microscopy Facility Director
Neuroscience Research Institute &
Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology
UC, Santa Barbara
http://microscopy.nri.ucsb.edu
Phone: [phone]

[George McNamara]

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Hi Mary,

I recommend not wasting your time with a flaky Euro company. Nice to see
they finally updated their web site (first time in a decade)
http://www.visitech.co.uk/vt-eye.html
but besides the 'big 4' have much better presence in the US. A couple of
interesting companies/products to check out are:

Bruker Opterra
https://www.bruker.com/products/fluorescence-microscopy/opterra-confocal-microscope/overview.html

ThorLabs confocal
https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_ID=5696#ad-image-0


best wishes,

George



On 6/2/2015 6:09 PM, Mary Raven wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Dear All
> One of our researchers is interested in the  VT-Eye from VisiTech
> International.  I wondered if anyone had experience with that system. I
> couldn't find much information on the system using their webpage.  It is
> billed as an ultrafast confocal using acoustic-optical deflector technology.
>
> Thanks
> Mary
>
>    

--



George McNamara, Ph.D.
Single Cells Analyst
L.J.N. Cooper Lab
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX 77054
Tattletales http://works.bepress.com/gmcnamara/42

[mcammer]

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I laughed when I saw this because earlier in the day I got a message DeltaVision asking to meet.  GE, which bought DeltaVision, is certainly not a "a flaky Euro company" and yet they seem to have destroyed it.  (Maybe they have redeemed themselves; I guess that is what the meeting is about.) I'd rather have expert staff who would talk me through problems even if I have to be at the scope early in the morning to speak with Europe than have to deal with opacity, secrecy, and service staff who don't know the instrument who work for a storied U.S. corporation.  And anyone want to chime in about the current state of what appears to be a very sad story of Olympus, once a top shelf Japanese company with wonderful employees, open policies regarding technical specs, positive response to customers, great equipment, that we have relied on for years, but...  

Sometimes Eurotrash may be just the thing you need.  (And I'm referring to microscopy, not recalling my late 1980s - early 1990s bachelor days in NYC in too much detail.)

Regards,
Michael
_________________________________________
Michael Cammer, Optical Microscopy Specialist
http://ocs.med.nyu.edu/microscopy
http://microscopynotes.com/
Cell: [phone]

________________________________________
From: Confocal Microscopy List [[hidden email]] on behalf of George McNamara [[hidden email]]
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2015 9:23 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: VT-Eye from VisiTech International

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*****

Hi Mary,

I recommend not wasting your time with a flaky Euro company. Nice to see
they finally updated their web site (first time in a decade)
http://www.visitech.co.uk/vt-eye.html
but besides the 'big 4' have much better presence in the US. A couple of
interesting companies/products to check out are:

Bruker Opterra
https://www.bruker.com/products/fluorescence-microscopy/opterra-confocal-microscope/overview.html

ThorLabs confocal
https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_ID=5696#ad-image-0


best wishes,

George



On 6/2/2015 6:09 PM, Mary Raven wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Dear All
> One of our researchers is interested in the  VT-Eye from VisiTech
> International.  I wondered if anyone had experience with that system. I
> couldn't find much information on the system using their webpage.  It is
> billed as an ultrafast confocal using acoustic-optical deflector technology.
>
> Thanks
> Mary
>
>

--



George McNamara, Ph.D.
Single Cells Analyst
L.J.N. Cooper Lab
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX 77054
Tattletales http://works.bepress.com/gmcnamara/42

[Michelle Peckham]

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Oh dear

I don¹t think Visitech would like to be known as flaky, and I¹m pretty
sure that they subscribe to the confocal list, so will have seen this
post. In fact, they have just collaborated with Hari Shroff and his group
at NIH to commercialise the iSIM:
http://www.visitech.co.uk/vt-isim.html
Which looks interesting.

I¹ve also heard that the spinning disk confocal that they sell is quite
good - but not tried it personally.

Sometimes us Europeans are OK.

All best

Michelle


On 03/06/2015 02:23, "George McNamara" <[hidden email]> wrote:

>*****
>To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
>http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
>Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
>*****
>
>Hi Mary,
>
>I recommend not wasting your time with a flaky Euro company. Nice to see
>they finally updated their web site (first time in a decade)
>http://www.visitech.co.uk/vt-eye.html
>but besides the 'big 4' have much better presence in the US. A couple of
>interesting companies/products to check out are:
>
>Bruker Opterra
>https://www.bruker.com/products/fluorescence-microscopy/opterra-confocal-m
>icroscope/overview.html
>
>ThorLabs confocal
>https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_ID=5696#ad-image-0
>
>
>best wishes,
>
>George
>
>
>
>On 6/2/2015 6:09 PM, Mary Raven wrote:
>> *****
>> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
>> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
>> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your
>>posting.
>> *****
>>
>> Dear All
>> One of our researchers is interested in the  VT-Eye from VisiTech
>> International.  I wondered if anyone had experience with that system. I
>> couldn't find much information on the system using their webpage.  It is
>> billed as an ultrafast confocal using acoustic-optical deflector
>>technology.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Mary
>>
>>    
>
>
>--
>
>
>
>George McNamara, Ph.D.
>Single Cells Analyst
>L.J.N. Cooper Lab
>University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
>Houston, TX 77054
>Tattletales http://works.bepress.com/gmcnamara/42

[Alison J. North]

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*****

George,
Please put away your American flag when posting on this international
listserver....  As a European working in the US I find your comments
both offensive and ridiculous!  Should I throw away my lovely new
Ultramicroscope from LaVision, or all of my excellent Zeiss and Leica
equipment, because they are made in Germany?  Try attending some
European meetings and you will find there is a whole range of fantastic
products over there that you would enjoy using, and excellent companies
who give great service worldwide.

All the best,
Alison

On 6/2/2015 9:23 PM, George McNamara wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Hi Mary,
>
> I recommend not wasting your time with a flaky Euro company. Nice to
> see they finally updated their web site (first time in a decade)
> http://www.visitech.co.uk/vt-eye.html
> but besides the 'big 4' have much better presence in the US. A couple
> of interesting companies/products to check out are:
>
> Bruker Opterra
> https://www.bruker.com/products/fluorescence-microscopy/opterra-confocal-microscope/overview.html
>
>
> ThorLabs confocal
> https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_ID=5696#ad-image-0
>
>
> best wishes,
>
> George
>
>
>
> On 6/2/2015 6:09 PM, Mary Raven wrote:
>> *****
>> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
>> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
>> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your
>> posting.
>> *****
>>
>> Dear All
>> One of our researchers is interested in the  VT-Eye from VisiTech
>> International.  I wondered if anyone had experience with that system. I
>> couldn't find much information on the system using their webpage.  It is
>> billed as an ultrafast confocal using acoustic-optical deflector
>> technology.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Mary
>>
>
>

--
Alison J. North, Ph.D.,
Senior Director of the Bio-Imaging Resource Center and
Research Associate Professor,
The Rockefeller University,
1230 York Avenue,
New York,
NY 10065.
Tel: office ++ 212 327 7488
Tel: lab    ++ 212 327 7486
Fax:        ++ 212 327 7489

[Mel Symeonides]

*****
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*****

I had dealings with GE about our DeltaVision over the past 9 months or
so. I have to say that they did redeem themselves, though with a lot of
push from my side of things. Once I got through to someone at the former
API office in Issaquah, WA, everything went very smoothly, and our
hardware issues were resolved as well as they could have been. They also
gave me some valuable help on the software side of things (I tried
rebuilding their Linux/softWoRx environment from scratch, if you
recall). I am extremely satisfied with that particular office, and it's
clear that the expertise is still all there, you just have to break
through the GE Curtain and have your ticket passed on to one of those
very competent people.

I later gave feedback on the ticket to a representative from GE,
mentioned to them that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to not offer
service contracts to customers with otherwise perfectly functioning
systems and instead to force them to purchase upgrades in the $100,000
range. They responded... by offering a service contract! It is
contingent on our microscope "passing" an inspection (which we have to
pay a not unreasonable amount of money for over-and-above). They are
also apparently re-examining the length of warranty that they provide on
replacement parts (we would have gotten only 3 months of warranty on a
$10,000 replacement workstation computer, which is completely absurd).
Overall I am impressed, provided that they follow through with all this.
I think the message here is that it pays to respond to those feedback
requests.

Regards,
Mel

On 6/3/2015 7:47 AM, Cammer, Michael wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> I laughed when I saw this because earlier in the day I got a message DeltaVision asking to meet.  GE, which bought DeltaVision, is certainly not a "a flaky Euro company" and yet they seem to have destroyed it.  (Maybe they have redeemed themselves; I guess that is what the meeting is about.) I'd rather have expert staff who would talk me through problems even if I have to be at the scope early in the morning to speak with Europe than have to deal with opacity, secrecy, and service staff who don't know the instrument who work for a storied U.S. corporation.  And anyone want to chime in about the current state of what appears to be a very sad story of Olympus, once a top shelf Japanese company with wonderful employees, open policies regarding technical specs, positive response to customers, great equipment, that we have relied on for years, but...
>
> Sometimes Eurotrash may be just the thing you need.  (And I'm referring to microscopy, not recalling my late 1980s - early 1990s bachelor days in NYC in too much detail.)
>
> Regards,
> Michael
> _________________________________________
> Michael Cammer, Optical Microscopy Specialist
> http://ocs.med.nyu.edu/microscopy
> http://microscopynotes.com/
> Cell: [phone]
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Confocal Microscopy List [[hidden email]] on behalf of George McNamara [[hidden email]]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2015 9:23 PM
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: VT-Eye from VisiTech International
>
> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Hi Mary,
>
> I recommend not wasting your time with a flaky Euro company. Nice to see
> they finally updated their web site (first time in a decade)
> http://www.visitech.co.uk/vt-eye.html
> but besides the 'big 4' have much better presence in the US. A couple of
> interesting companies/products to check out are:
>
> Bruker Opterra
> https://www.bruker.com/products/fluorescence-microscopy/opterra-confocal-microscope/overview.html
>
> ThorLabs confocal
> https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_ID=5696#ad-image-0
>
>
> best wishes,
>
> George
>
>
>
> On 6/2/2015 6:09 PM, Mary Raven wrote:
>> *****
>> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
>> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
>> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
>> *****
>>
>> Dear All
>> One of our researchers is interested in the  VT-Eye from VisiTech
>> International.  I wondered if anyone had experience with that system. I
>> couldn't find much information on the system using their webpage.  It is
>> billed as an ultrafast confocal using acoustic-optical deflector technology.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Mary
>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> George McNamara, Ph.D.
> Single Cells Analyst
> L.J.N. Cooper Lab
> University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
> Houston, TX 77054
> Tattletales http://works.bepress.com/gmcnamara/42
>

--
Menelaos Symeonides
University of Vermont
Cell & Molecular Biology Graduate Program
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
318 Stafford Hall
95 Carrigan Dr
Burlington, VT 05405
[hidden email]
Phone: [phone]

[Stanislav Vitha-2]

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*****

On Wed, 3 Jun 2015 11:47:54 +0000, Cammer, Michael
<[hidden email]> wrote:

>
...  And anyone want to chime in about the current state of what appears
to be a very sad story of Olympus, once a top shelf Japanese company with
wonderful employees, open policies regarding technical specs, positive
response to customers, great equipment, that we have relied on for years,
but...  
Regards,
Michael
>

Regarding Olympus, the open policies regarding technical specs must be a
distant past. Few years ago I had to spend $1.99 in Harbor Freight Tools
for a digital multimeter to find out what is the pin out on our IX81 shutter
connector. Olympus would not tell me, it was apparently an engineering
secret.  
On the other hand, our local reps and the field service has always been
great in our area.


I have seen the VTeye demo maybe 8 or 9 years ago, so for sure things
like more sensitive detectors, faster computers and other improvements
will have an effect. Overall I was impressed by the speed  but not the
sensitivity of detection. At that time I thought the instrument was more
suited for people studying flow and particle motion rather than a live
biological system.

Regarding the Thorlabs confocal system that George McNamara mentioned
in the previous post, I would be interested to hear if anybody on this list
had a  chance to use it. I like the circular pinholes, but am curious how
much signal is lost by having the detectors coupled via the optical fiber.    
________________________________________
Stan Vitha
Microscopy and Imaging Center
Texas A&M University
College STation, TX

[George McNamara]

*****
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*****

Hi Alison,

My bad - I suppose for Euro englist speakers I should have originally
written flaky company that happens to be in Europe. At least my fellow
New Yorker, Michael Cammer, understood perfectly my intent.

My thanks to Michelle Peckham for mentioning Visitech now offers VT-iSIM.

Sincerely,

George


On 6/3/2015 9:09 AM, Alison North wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> George,
> Please put away your American flag when posting on this international
> listserver....  As a European working in the US I find your comments
> both offensive and ridiculous!  Should I throw away my lovely new
> Ultramicroscope from LaVision, or all of my excellent Zeiss and Leica
> equipment, because they are made in Germany?  Try attending some
> European meetings and you will find there is a whole range of
> fantastic products over there that you would enjoy using, and
> excellent companies who give great service worldwide.
>
> All the best,
> Alison
>
> On 6/2/2015 9:23 PM, George McNamara wrote:
>> *****
>> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
>> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
>> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your
>> posting.
>> *****
>>
>> Hi Mary,
>>
>> I recommend not wasting your time with a flaky Euro company. Nice to
>> see they finally updated their web site (first time in a decade)
>> http://www.visitech.co.uk/vt-eye.html
>> but besides the 'big 4' have much better presence in the US. A couple
>> of interesting companies/products to check out are:
>>
>> Bruker Opterra
>> https://www.bruker.com/products/fluorescence-microscopy/opterra-confocal-microscope/overview.html 
>>
>>
>>
>> ThorLabs confocal
>> https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_ID=5696#ad-image-0 
>>
>>
>>
>> best wishes,
>>
>> George
>>
>>
>>
>> On 6/2/2015 6:09 PM, Mary Raven wrote:
>>> *****
>>> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
>>> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
>>> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your
>>> posting.
>>> *****
>>>
>>> Dear All
>>> One of our researchers is interested in the  VT-Eye from VisiTech
>>> International.  I wondered if anyone had experience with that system. I
>>> couldn't find much information on the system using their webpage.  
>>> It is
>>> billed as an ultrafast confocal using acoustic-optical deflector
>>> technology.
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> Mary
>>>
>>
>>
>

--



George McNamara, Ph.D.
Single Cells Analyst
L.J.N. Cooper Lab
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX 77054
Tattletales http://works.bepress.com/gmcnamara/42