Specimens entered into the 2000 Small World contest included plastic bubble wrap, a mangrove leaf, bamboo, soap, a canine eye, a mouse tongue, medusa worm skin, chemical crystals, bovine arterial cells, zebrafish gills, and a human umbilical cord. Judges for the 26th annual contest included Dr. Kenneth R. Spring (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute), Martin L. Scott (Scientific Imaging), Dr. Nancy Kedersha (Harvard Medical School), and Michael W. Davidson (Florida State University).

• First Prize
  Daphne Zbaeren-Colbourn
  Bern, Switzerland
  Avicennia marina (mangrove) leaf (40x)
  Fluorescence and Differential Interference Contrast

• Second Prize
  Christian Gautier
  PHO.N.E. Photo Agency
  Paris, France
  Synapta sp. (medusa worm) skin (100x)
  Polarized Light

• Third Prize
  James E. Hayden, RBP, FBCA
  Bio-Graphics
  Blue Cell, Pennsylvania, USA
  Iris, ciliary body and lens of a canine eye (7.7x)
  Darkfield

• Fourth Prize
  Jakob Zbaeren
  Insel Hospital
  Bern, Switzerland
  Human umbilical vein
  endothelial cells (120x)
  Fluorescence

• Fifth Prize
  Karl E. Deckart
  Eckental, Germany
  Surface of aluminum milling grooves (10x)
  Differential Interference Contrast

• Sixth Prize
  James E. Hayden, RBP, FBCA
  Bio-Graphics
  Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, USA
  Danio rerio (zebrafish) gill branches (46.7x)
  Darkfield

• Seventh Prize
  Ines Schlegel
  Institute of Freshwater
  Ecology and Fisheries
  Neuglobsow, Germany
  Green microscopy dye (200x)
  Polarized Light

• Eighth Prize
  James E. Hayden, RBP, FBCA
  Bio-Graphics
  Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, USA
  Canine papillary (heart) muscle (25x)
  Darkfield

• Ninth Prize
  Ron Sturm
  Construction Technology Laboratories, Inc.
  Skokie, Illinois, USA
  Thin section of bamboo (10x)
  Polarized Light

• Tenth Prize
  Lars Bech
  Naarden, The Netherlands
  Fluoxetine (Prozac^®) melted with a -aminopyridine (50x)
  Polarized Light

• Eleventh Prize
  Lynn Boatner & Hu Longmire
  Oak Rigde National Laboratory
  Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
  Laser ablated surface of zirconia ceramic, showing fracture (300x)
  Differential Interference Contrast

• Twelfth Prize
  Daphne Zbaeren-Colbourn
  Bern, Switzerland
  Avicennia germinans
  (black mangrove) leaf (20x)
  Fluorescence, triple exposure

• Thirteenth Prize
  Ralph S. Common
  Division of Human Pathology, Michigan State University
  East Lansing, Michigan, USA
  Partially dried liquid handsoap (50x)
  Polarized Light

• Fourteenth Prize
  Lars Bech
  Naarden, The Netherlands
  Scopoletin heated with chloroform and acetic acid (45x)
  Polarized Light

• Fifteenth Prize
  Diane Gray
  Molecular Probes, Inc.
  Eugene, Oregon, USA
  Bovine Pulmonary artery endothelium cells (400x)
  Fluorescence

• Sixteenth Prize
  Luiz C.U. Junqueira
  Department of Pathology
  University of São Paulo
  Medical School
  São Paulo, Brazil
  Long bone epiphyses (growth plate) (40x)
  Polarized Light

• Seventeenth Prize
  Dr. K. G. Murti
  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
  Memphis, Tennessee, USA
  HeLa (cancer) cells in culture (1,350x)
  Confocal

• Eighteenth Prize
  Jim Pretorius
  Amgen, Inc.
  Thousand Oaks, California, USA
  Cross section of a mouse tongue (in situ hybridization) (30x)
  Darkfield

• Nineteenth Prize
  Carole Cliff
  Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  Bubble plastic wrap injected with ink.
  Brightfield

• Twentieth Prize
  Steven Nagar
  Department of Botany
  North Carolina State University
  Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
  Crystals of ferrous sulfate and cobalt chloride with immersion oil droplets (100x)
  Differential Interference Contrast

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.