Winners of the 1985 Small World Competition came from a diverse group of disciplines including biology, pathology, aerospace engineering, botany, metallurgy, marine science, electronics, and gemology. The contest judges were Martin L. Scott (Scientific Imaging), William H. Love (University of California - Berkeley), Donald H. Fritts (University of Illinois), and Chester F. Reather (Johns Hopkins University).

• First Prize
  Dr. Jon D. Eisenback
  North Carolina State University
  Department of Plant Pathology
  Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
  Formalin-fixed whole mount of a spiral nematode, multiple exposure (160x)
  Darkfield

• Second Prize
  Louis Savas
  St. Vincent Hospital, Department of Pathology
  Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
  Plastic-embedded section of stained kidney glomerulus (100x)
  Brightfield

• Third Prize
  Teruya Ohtsuka
  National Institute for Physiological Sciences
  Myodaiji, Okazaki, Japan
  Detached retina of red-eared turtle (sp. Pseudemys scripta elegans), showing oil droplets located in the outermost inner segments of cone photoreceptors (400x)
  Brightfield

• Fourth Prize
  William R. West
  Carolina Biological Supply Company
  Burlington, North Carolina, USA
  Slime mold (sp. Dictyostelium discoideum) on agar (10x)
  Rheinberg Illumination

• Fifth Prize
  Arthur Strange
  BIOARTS: Photography for Science and Education
  Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
  Perforated film covering the sterile surface of an adhesive bandage (25x)
  Polarized Light

• Sixth Prize
  Pentti J. Alho
  Helsinki, Finland
  Rotifer Stephanoceros attached to leaf of hydrophyte Myriophyllum (16x)
  Darkfield

• Seventh Prize
  William R. West
  Carolina Biological Supply Company
  Burlington, North Carolina, USA
  Water bear (sp. Milnesium tardigradum) molting Eggs are laid in exoskeleton (40x)
  Rheinberg Illumination

• Eighth Prize
  Dr. Phil Gates
  University of Durham
  Department of Botany
  Durham, England
  Transverse section of soybean stem, stained with two fluorochromes to show distribution of cellulose (blue) and lignin (yellow) (50x)
  Fluorescence

• Ninth Prize
  John I. Koivula
  Gemological Institute of America
  Santa Monica, California, USA
  Secondary copper minerals from decomposed primary copper ores (25x)
  Brightfield

• Tenth Prize
  Allen B. Smith
  Grand Junction, Colorado, USA
  Thread pattern of hand-embroidered Japanese silk (30x)
  Brightfield

• Eleventh Prize
  Dr. Dennis D. Kunkel
  University of Washington, Department of Botany
  Seattle, Washington, USA
  Live water mount of asexual reproductive cells in the green alga Acetabularia (24x)
  Darkfield

• Twelfth Prize
  Michael J. Klein, M.D.
  Hospital for Joint Diseases, Orthopedic Institute
  New York, New York, USA
  Cross section of pinworm (sp. Euterobius vermicularis) in lumen of human appendix (200x)
  Darkfield

• Thirteenth Prize
  Richard H. Lee
  Argonne National Laboratory
  Argonne, Illinois, USA
  Stainless steel exposed to simulated coal gas corrosion (28x)
  Differential Interference Contrast

• Fourteenth Prize
  Charles V. Davis
  Jet Propulsion Laboratory-NASA, Institute of Technology
  Pasadena, California, USA
  Charge coupled device image of a buried end-channel MOS-FET configured as a source follower driven into avalanche condition, demonstrating near infrared luminescence (100x)
  Brightfield, Electronically Enhanced

• Fifteenth Prize
  Edward E. Keppler
  Argonne National Laboratory
  Argonne, Illinois, USA
  Niobium explosively bonded to copper (50x)
  Brightfield

• Sixteenth Prize
  Arthur Strange
  BIOARTS: Photography for Science and Education
  Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
  Perforated film covering the sterile surface of an adhesive bandage (25x)
  Polarized Light

• Seventeenth Prize
  William R. West
  Carolina Biological Supply Company
  Burlington, North Carolina, USA
  Soil fungus (sp. Arthrobotrys conoides) with entrapped nematode (40x)
  Rheinberg Illumination

• Eighteenth Prize
  Allen B. Smith
  Grand Junction, Colorado, USA
  Hand-embroidered gold silk thread and gold foil on black Japanese silk (45x)
  Brightfield

• Nineteenth Prize
  Robert L. Calentine
  University of Wisconsin
  River Falls, Wisconsin, USA
  Hatched egg of tapeworm (sp. Hymenolepsis diminuta) (300x)
  Brightfield

• Twentieth Prize
  Robert P. Kershaw, Jr.
  Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  Livermore, California, USA
  High chromium-nickel alloy electrolytically etched in sodium metabisulfate (100x)
  Polarized Light

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.