(provided you insert the eyepiece after pushing those folds back manually as described in
chapter 3 – see figure 3.13).
Eyepieces with a larger maximum diameter up to 37.5 mm (like the Olympus WK 10x/20L
series) can just fit when the clamp sheath is new (before breakage of the flexure fold
connections in the sheath). Once the clamp sheath flexure fold connections have been
broken such larger eyepieces will not fit without excessive pressure that brings with it a
high risk of damage to their casing finish so this should not be attempted. Furthermore,
tight-fitting eyepieces will have very limited angular adjustment room (see figure 3.15) so
may not be able to project a well-centred, evenly illuminated image (although my tests
with the Olympus WK 10x/20L-H gave very good results).
The lower limit of usability with the standard eyepiece clamp of the AF51 is an eyepiece
body diameter of about 33 mm. Smaller than this and the clamp will not be able to grip the
body of the eyepiece.
Some eyepieces have a significantly narrower diameter e.g. some vintage eyepieces from
Zeiss (e.g. 28 mm diameter for the Zeiss W Kpl x10) and Reichert (e.g. 29 mm diameter
for the BPK 10x) as well as some modern cheap generic eyepieces. These are too narrow
to be gripped by the indentations of the inner sheath of the AF51 standard eyepiece
clamp even when the 3 clamp screws are fully tightened.
For this reason such ‘thin’ eyepieces require an optional narrowing adaptor insert (figure
5.3).
This adaptor is not provided with the AF51
but the CAD file for it is provided on
the PUMA Microscope GitHub page. To use it simply orientate it with the 3 lugs on the
adaptor matching the 3 recesses in the clamp and insert the adaptor all the way in till the
lugs mate into the recesses.
Figure 5.3 The optional thin eyepiece adaptor.
Left
: The adaptor with its vertical flexible flaps.
Middle
: to fit is
align the 3 lugs with the 3 recesses in the clap and insert it all the way in so that these mate.
Right
: A
correctly fitted adaptor will lie 2 mm below the rim of the clamp evenly all around.
OptArc AF51 Camera Page 51 of 99 User Guide v1.02
