Nikon’s Museum of Microscopy
Labophot Entry-Level Research Microscope
( Circa early 1980s )
The Labophot was a sturdy, versatile microscope, produced in the 1980s. It offered research-level performance and a modular system that made it highly adaptable for clinical, biological, industrial, and educational laboratories. The Labophot utilized the Nikon CF optical system, which yielded high-quality images previously attainable only in costly research instruments.
Housed on a simple rugged stand, the Labophot could withstand the heavy demands of constant laboratory use. It was available with either a forward or rear facing quintuple nosepiece, and had a 6-volt, 20-watt Köhler illumination system consisting of a halogen lamp and a variable illuminator control potentiometer. The substage condenser mount allowed condensers to be changed quickly and without re-adjusting the centering screws. A variety of binocular and trinocular eyepiece tubes were available, featuring a 30-degree inclination and Seidentoph design to minimize the need for refocusing while switching from one objective to another. A quick-change filter holder allowed the user to quickly mount up to two filter blocks without disassembling the microscope.
The Labophot featured high-precision stages, mechanical rectangular or circular rotatable with six minute vernier gradations. There were two versions of mechanical rectangular stage, one of which had a long finger for accommodating 2" by 3" slides. The stage fingers could be removed for hand scanning of slides.
A choice of six condensers were optional equipment on the Labophot, and could be configured for either brightfield or darkfield use. A wide range of Nikon brightfield objectives were available to complete the basic Labophot setup. A variety of accessories were also available for phase contrast, fluorescence, and polarizing microscopy and for microphotography, as well as teaching head adapters, a zoom drawing tube, and projection screen. Many of these rugged microscopes are still in use today.
Today Nikon offers a number of different upright microscope options.
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