How Microscopy as a Hobby Unlocks Hidden Worlds

While many microscopists work in research, clinical or educational settings, there is also a small group who spend their spare time enjoying microscopy as a hobby. Quite a few submissions for our ZEISS Microscopy Image Contest 2021 came from hobby microscopists.

Enjoy their beautiful images and thoughts on microscopy as a hobby:

Mr. Witzke had a toy microscope as a child, but nothing to do with microscopy for many years after that. It wasn’t until he was retired that he had time to really enjoy this hobby.  

He uses an old ZEISS Standard 18 with a polarization device and Epi-Fluorescence Illuminator.

Dr. Balint works as a clinical veterinarian for dogs, cats and exotic animals.  He is also a photographer who puts every possible thing under the microscope.

He uses various techniques for sample preparation and for imaging, too. His favorite lightning methods are polarized light, color dark field, and Nomarski DIC.

Mr. Jones' interest in the ‘micro-world’ has stayed with him and, over time, he has built up a collection of antique and modern microscopes, including three ZEISS microscopes that he uses for photomicroscopy.

Together with his father back in the 1960s, Mr. Edmunds would look at insects and see minute details of their structures. His interest in biological science lagged behind his interests in Chemistry and Engineering.

Upon retiring after a successful career as a chemical engineer, he took up his interest in microscopy once again. Using vintage microscopes that he could acquire and restore, the minute details of biological samples fascinate him once again.
Further exploration of the physics of microscopy led him to acquire both polarizing and phase-contrast equipped microscopes. With the added capability of the polarizing microscopes, he has explored the birefringence of crystals. With phase-contrast, he has been able to see greater detail in many of the tiny organisms which I find in pond water.

The workhorse of his microscopes is a trinocular ZEISS GFL equipped for both polarization and phase-contrast. A simple digital camera inserted in the trinocular objective position is used to capture images.