Strange Reichert Objective 1,5 Qu

[Xavier]

Hello,

This my first post on this great forum.  An unbelievable source of information.

Recently I bought a Reichert Me F2 optical bench with a lot of accessories.
One of the objectives is a mystery to me.
It's a large objective RMS size with 1,5Qu inscription.
It gives a very strange view.  The glass is clear but the view is blurred.  The image is very sharp but the light scatters every where.

http://debeerst.ning.com/reichert-universal-microscope-camera/reichert-objective-15qu

Also tried it on a Zetopan and the same result.

Has any one an idea what the use is of this objective?
Answers in Deutch are no problem. I can read German but my writing is horrible.

Thank you

Xavier

[Rene]

Nice equipment there, Xavier. Reichert was still Reichert in those days, btw.
My guess is it is a quartz objective for uv-microscopy, possibly with 1,5 mm thick coverslip? No idea whether it was metallurgical usage, for sure they were used in biology.

But what about the magnification?

Best wishes, Rene

[Peter V.]

Hallo Xavier,

diese Infos fand ich in einem Ebay-Angebot:

Reichert 40/0.52, 250/1.5 Qu np Metallurgical Objective for Zetopan Microscopes

You are bidding on an extremely rare Reichert 40/0.52 (catalog number), 250/1.5 Qu np special purpose objective for Zetopan MeF-1 and MeF-2 Inverted Metallurgical Microscopes, serial number: 341481. This objective designed to use with heating stage. Because of the extreme high temperature involved (up to 1700° C) the sample chamber is water cooled and observation done in a vacuum. The window to the chamber is of 1.5mm quartz glass, hence the 1.5 Qu nomenclature. The front lens of objective is very large in diameter to achieve a relatively large numerical aperture (0.52) given the exceptional working distance the heating stage required. This objective has concave mirror at the front end; it is cardioid-type objective configuration. It has 20.2mm threads sizes - RMS (Royal Microscope Society) standard and comes with 24mm dovetail sliding bracket. This very rare (Reichert made a small number of these objectives) 40X special purpose metallurgical objective is in very good condition cosmetically and optically. This objective made in Austria. No Reserve! Start Bidding Now!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Reichert-40-0-52-250-1-5-Qu-np-Metallurgical-Objective-for-Zetopan-Microscopes-/111419883708

Herzliche Grüße
Peter

[Xavier]

Thank you, Rene and Peter, for the answers.
That makes sence.  There was a Vacutherm with the Me F2. 
I found it a dangerous and strange piece of equipment.

It's a very beautiful objective.  Shouldn't there be no other application for it?

Regards,

Xavier