We agonized over the two systems for quite a while before finally settling on the Nikon C1si. The Olympus scope uses a slit and PMT arrangement, while the Nikon system uses a multi-anode PMT with no slit. Overall the Nikon system (at least on paper) should be more sensitive and faster than the Olympus system, although the spectral resolution might be less. We've been using the C1si for many months now and it has been working quite well and we are pleased with the results it is giving us. One thing; with 32 spectral channels it can produce huge data sets if you are using both high resolution and spectral mode, so make sure you have lots of disk space somewhere to put all your data! The spectral unmixing feature in the software also works quite well, but you must have a good reference library to start with. Luckily making your own is fairly simple; make a set of controls, one unstained, and one with each of the dyes you are planning to use. So if you are using a green dye and a yellow dye you will need three controls. You then scan and store three spectra; no dye, yellow dye, green dye. Then if you scan a sample with both yellow and green dyes the system can distinguish between background (from the dyeless control) and the yellow and green dyes with the click of a button. I have no direct experience with the Olympus scope, so you may want an independent opinion on that one as well.
Best of luck!
Craig
On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 11:39 AM,
<[hidden email]> wrote:
Hi all,
We are planning to purchase a confocal system for FRET experiments including spectral analysis. We have a lot of experience with Zeiss Meta510, but it is out of our budget. We are thinking about FV-1000 or Nikon C1si. Does someone has suggestions? The speed of spectral imaging in Nikon is superb, but we never worked with this system.
Thanks,
Inna.
-------------------------------------
Inna Slutsky, PhD
Dept. of Physiology and Pharmacology
Sackler School of Medicine
Room 511
Tel Aviv University
Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
tel: 972-3-640-6021
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