micro-ipso without the cable release or 10x eye piece
Toronto. Decades ago, people said that to get ahead, one had to think big! IBM even had a catch phrase – THINK. Years later when I worked in a data centre, IBM folk could get these IBM signs in capital white sans-serif letters on a blue background.
One of the earliest applications of photography was in the scientific laboratory. Scientists used the art to capture the powerfully magnified images they saw in the eye piece of the microscope. Jabez Hogg who wrote a massive primer on microscopy (15 editions from about 1850 – 1900) eulogized its virtues – until he learned a fee was charged to use daguerreotype technology in England (Daguerreotypes had the best resolution available at the time).
Later, microscope makers sold small field cameras and supports to record these amazing highly magnified images. Decades later when minicams became popular, camera makers made accessories to connect their products to microscopes. Leitz brought out a line of accessories called “micro-ipso”. This series of adaptors used a funnel-shaped tube to adjust the camera type and distance. A leaf shutter was included to avoid the motion effect of focal plane shutters on highly magnified images. A tiny telescope ensured both camera and microscope were in sharp focus simultaneously. A double cable release moved the focussing prism out of the way before the shutter operated.
The adaptors connected still and small movie cameras to a microscope. Leitz included a 10X periplan (flat field) eye piece to fit the microscope. Nowadays video cameras and monitors replace all this gadgetry. Scientists and audiences can view the monitor and focus, move, or even change the 1×3 inch glass slides holding thin layers or complete specimens.
