Illumination techniques utilized by contestants in the 4th annual Small World competition included polarized light, phase contrast, darkfield, fluorescence, interference contrast, Nomarski DIC, Hoffman modulation contrast, and Rheinberg illumination. Judges for the 1978 contest were Martin L. Scott (Eastman Kodak), Verlin Y. Yamamoto (U.S. Veterans Administration), Robert F. Smith (Cornell University), and John G. Delly (McCrone Associates).

• First Prize
  David Gnizak
  Independence, Ohio, USA
  Gold, vaporized in a tungsten boat, in a vacuum evaporator (55x)
  Vertical Illumination
  Normarski Differential Interference

• Second Prize
  Lynne Osman Elkin
  Hayward, California, USA
  Thin section of a leaf of dicanthium annulatum (256x)
  Fluorescence Illumination using infrared film

• Third Prize
  John E. Turner
  Chicago, Illinois, USA
  Tradescantia filament trichromes (45x)
  Phase Contrast, Darkfield Illumination

• Fourth Prize
  James C. Carlisle
  Ithaca, New York, USA
  Scale from silver dollar fish, with contracted guanophores and single-spread melanophore (1000x)
  Phase Contrast

• Fifth Prize
  James Bell
  Allston, Massachusetts, USA
  Resorcinol crystals (150x)
  Crossed Polarized Light Illumination

• Sixth Prize
  Ralph Elston
  Ithaca, New York, USA
  Fourteen-day-old American oyster larva (400x)
  India Ink and eosin stains
  Interference Contrast

• Seventh Prize
  Stephen Skirius
  Chicago, Illinois, USA
  Fish scales of pomoxis annularis (80x)
  Hoffman Modulation Contrast with crossed Polarized Light Illumination

• Eighth Prize
  Andre Gorzynski
  Buffalo, New York, USA
  Photochemical bleach crystal (50x)
  Crossed Polarized Light Illumination

• Ninth Prize
  Paul Kolsanoff
  San Francisco, California, USA
  Kodak Ektamatic activator (100x)
  Polarized Light Illumination

• Tenth Prize
  Stephen Skirius
  Chicago, Illinois, USA
  Pigment in scale of large mouth bass (80x)
  Hoffman Modulation Contrast Technique, with Crossed Polarized Light

• Eleventh Prize
  Susan E. Brown
  San Diego, California, USA
  D19 stock solution crystals, 2 hours old (100x)
  Polarized Light Illumination

• Twelfth Prize
  John J. Kroll
  Livonia, Michigan, USA
  Sodium chloride crystal in salt solution (100x)
  Rheinberg Illumination

• Thirteenth Prize
  Paul Chapello
  Argonne, Illinois, USA
  Crack propagation specimen (156x)
  Nomarski Differential Interference

• Fourteenth Prize
  Stephen Skirius
  Chicago, Illinois, USA
  Hexanitrodiphenylamine high-explosive crystals (35x)
  Crossed Polarized Light Illumination

• Fifteenth Prize
  James Bell
  Allston, Massachusetts, USA
  Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) crystals (125x)
  Crossed Polarized Light Illumination

• Sixteenth Prize
  Lynne Osman Elkin
  Oakland, California, USA
  Thin section of a corn leaf (320x)
  Fluorescence Illumination using infrared film

• Seventeenth Prize
  William H. Love
  Berkeley California, USA
  Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) crystals (20x)
  Hoffman Modulation Contrast with crossed Polarized Light, and full wave plate

• Eighteenth Prize
  Brian D. Leavy
  Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA
  Edge of clinopyroxene crystal in epoxy mount (50x)
  Crossed Polarized Light Illumination

• Nineteenth Prize
  H.S. Baird
  Northridge, California, USA
  Tongue of a fly (30x)
  10x objective on 600-millimeter bellows
  Rheinberg Illumination

• Twentieth Prize
  Brian N. Ivanovic
  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
  Pupa of holly leaf miner, showing fully developed adult (20x)
  Darkfield Illumination

The Nikon Small World Competition is open to anyone with an interest in photography through the microscope. Truly international in scope, entries have been received from the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Winners have included both professionals and hobbyists.

The subject matter for this year's contest is unrestricted and any type of light microscopy technique is acceptable, including phase contrast, polarized light, fluorescence, interference contrast, darkfield, confocal, deconvolution, and mixed techniques. Entries submitted to Nikon are then judged by an independent panel of experts who are recognized authorities in the area of photomicrography and photography. These entries are judged on the basis of originality, informational content, technical proficiency and visual impact.

For the first time, entries may be submitted either on film (in 35 millimeter transparency format) or uploaded digitally through your web browser. The links below provide options for entering the contest.

Digital Entries - Entrants may enter Nikon's Small World Competition by uploading digital images directly to our servers. Before you begin, read the Contest Rules and prepare your images for uploading according to the instructions. You may also download a 2008 Competition Entry Form in portable document format for submission of entries by mail.

Prize List - Winners will receive one of 20 prizes, sorted according to rank in the competition. First place is a vacation trip valued at $5000 (US) or the equivalent amount of photographic, scientific, or industrial equipment and accessories at their suggested retail selling prices in the USA. Honorable mention winners will receive an 16 x 20-inch print of their entries.