Re: widefield getting better images than spinning disk

Posted by Guy Cox-2 on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/widefield-getting-better-images-than-spinning-disk-tp7585177p7585198.html

*****
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.
*****

Repeat 100 times:

CONFOCAL ONLY THROWS OUT
OUT OF FOCUS LIGHT!  

The reason spinning disk systems lose light is to attain speed, and has nothing to do with the confocal principle.  

                                   Guy

Guy Cox, Honorary Associate Professor
School of Medical Sciences

Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis,
Madsen, F09, University of Sydney, NSW 2006

-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Sam Lord
Sent: Sunday, 22 May 2016 10:45 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: widefield getting better images than spinning disk

*****
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 would recommmend setting the exposure time to 100 ms or however long an exposure it takes to get a good image. If the image gets bright but the contrast still looks worse than wide field, then maybe there's an alignment issue. But I suspect your sample is just too dim to image with confocal at 10 ms per frame. Not many samples are bright enough for that.
Remember that confocal is designed to throw out light in order to improve optical slicing.