Leica MZ16FA stereo microscope.

The Leica MZ16FA stereo microscope is a high-quality microscope with fluorescence capability. Although not as specific as a dedicated epi fluorescence microscope, the fluorescence filters on the MZ16FA cover a useful range of excitation and emission wavelengths. The fluorescence filters available on the MZ16Fa are: UV excitation – visible light emission, blue excitation – green emission, green excitation – red emission and a filter that is specifically designed for GFP3 imaging. Three objective lenses of different magnification are available for the MZ16FA allowing a magnification range of 3.5X to 230X thereby covering the sample size range from macro to micro.

All functions on the MZ16FA (e.g. zoom and focus) are computer control which, when combined with the Leica IC 3D camera system on the microscope, enables a number of unique functionalities for the microscope. The camera system consists of two high quality cameras; one camera for each of the stereo light paths. These cameras are capable of recording 24-bit colour images with up to 2088 pixels by 1055 pixels and enable the full stereo functionality of the microscope to be used. In particular, it is possible to record true stereo pair images of a sample. The image capture software can be used to convert the stereo pair images to a relief map of the height variations in the surface of an object with a vertical accuracy of a few microns.

Another unique function of the microscope is to record a series of images where, under computer control, the image focus is changed by a small amount from one image to next. This image series can be combined using the image capture software to form a single image from which any depth of field effects have been removed. That is, an image that shows in-focus detail over the complete height of a sample.

For more information from Leica go to http://www.fluorescence-microscopy.com/