I've been wanting a Zeiss stereo zoom microscope since the first time I used one at the Alexandre School in Belgium. Alexandre uses one and has a second one on the instructor's bench in the classroom. After using this scope for a week, I was totally spoiled. Chris DeCammillis also has one and I've used his, which made me want one more than ever. The cost of a new Zeiss stereo zoom is around $3500. As luck would have it, I picked up a used one from an industrial liquidator for a really good price.
My scope arrived with 10x23 eyepieces which have slighly larger lenses to accommodate eyeglass wearers. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that there are other 10x eyepieces with slightly smaller lens diameters. It also came with a standard table top base and focusing system and no objective lens, so it was way too powerful for engraving.
When removing the micscope from the base, the first thing I noticed was its light weight. I mean this sucker is light as a feather! The case is made from some sort of high impact plastic or polycarb material. Quite honestly, it feels cheap. My cameras and lenses are all pretty heavy as are my Meiji microscopes, so it's quite a shock to see how light the Zeiss is.
I was hoping I could adapt the Zeiss to my GRS Acrobat stand without much trouble. The Zeiss is smaller in diameter than the Meiji so it doesn't fit tightly into the metal ring that holds the scope. Another issue is that the Zeiss protrudes father than the Meiji and contacts the headrest attachment on the Acrobat stand. This keeps it from setting flush in the mounting ring. This can be easily remedied by making a short spacer to fit between the headrest mount and the mounting ring. I don't use a headrest so I modified mine with a hacksaw, but I don't recommend this to those who use headrests.
After the scope was setting flush into the mounting ring, I cut 3 pieces of heavy leather shims and placed them at each thumbscrew location and tightend the screws. Perfect, solid fit!
The bad news: the scope came with no objective, so it's impossible to engrave with.
The good news: the 0.5x objective on my Meiji threads perfectly into the Zeiss so I can now use it!
The bad news: While it works, something is just not right with the optics. I suspect the 0.5x is not an optimum reduction for this scope. I can't explain why other than my eyes can 'feel' something's not right. I'm sure Zeiss has a reason for their odd number 0.63x objective which I have on order.
The best news: The 0.63x arrived from Germany and now the scope is perfect.
One look through a Zeiss and you immediately see a difference. First is the brightness, and second is the extremely high resolving power of its optics. In other words, it's very bright and extremely sharp...and at all zoom ranges (many microscopes and camera lenses darken as magnification (zoom) increases). Zeiss is a world leader in optics and it really shows in this microscope. There were plenty of times when I wish I had just a bit more light, but that's not the case now. The brightness of this scope is simply amazing.
Along with brightness and sharpness comes an additional bonus, and that is edge-to-edge sharpness across the field of view. This isn't easy to achieve, and camera lenses, binoculars, and rifle scopes that are this sharp and bright are difficult to manufacture and extremely expensive.
The zoom knob has a set screw which can adjusted for click-stop zooming or continuous zoom. I have mine set to click, but I see no advantage. The scope zooms smoothly and effortlessly, and the knob rotates in the opposite direction as my Meiji scopes.
My Stocker & Yale fluorescent ring light is held in place temporarily by a rubber band until I decide on the best way to mount it.
In conclusion, this is an amazing piece of optical gear. Is it worth it, considering you can probably buy 2 or 3 microscopes for the cost of the Zeiss body alone? Is it THAT much better to justify the price? Of course this depends on the individual, but after using this scope for a couple of weeks now, I have no regrets and would have no regrets if I had paid regular price for a new one. I still believe the Meiji stereo zoom scope made in Japan is the best microscope for the money. I have two of them and they are absolutely excellent scopes. The Zeiss Stemi 2000 is simply the brightest and sharpest microscope I've ever used.
My scope arrived with 10x23 eyepieces which have slighly larger lenses to accommodate eyeglass wearers. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that there are other 10x eyepieces with slightly smaller lens diameters. It also came with a standard table top base and focusing system and no objective lens, so it was way too powerful for engraving.
When removing the micscope from the base, the first thing I noticed was its light weight. I mean this sucker is light as a feather! The case is made from some sort of high impact plastic or polycarb material. Quite honestly, it feels cheap. My cameras and lenses are all pretty heavy as are my Meiji microscopes, so it's quite a shock to see how light the Zeiss is.
I was hoping I could adapt the Zeiss to my GRS Acrobat stand without much trouble. The Zeiss is smaller in diameter than the Meiji so it doesn't fit tightly into the metal ring that holds the scope. Another issue is that the Zeiss protrudes father than the Meiji and contacts the headrest attachment on the Acrobat stand. This keeps it from setting flush in the mounting ring. This can be easily remedied by making a short spacer to fit between the headrest mount and the mounting ring. I don't use a headrest so I modified mine with a hacksaw, but I don't recommend this to those who use headrests.
After the scope was setting flush into the mounting ring, I cut 3 pieces of heavy leather shims and placed them at each thumbscrew location and tightend the screws. Perfect, solid fit!
The bad news: the scope came with no objective, so it's impossible to engrave with.
The good news: the 0.5x objective on my Meiji threads perfectly into the Zeiss so I can now use it!
The bad news: While it works, something is just not right with the optics. I suspect the 0.5x is not an optimum reduction for this scope. I can't explain why other than my eyes can 'feel' something's not right. I'm sure Zeiss has a reason for their odd number 0.63x objective which I have on order.
The best news: The 0.63x arrived from Germany and now the scope is perfect.
One look through a Zeiss and you immediately see a difference. First is the brightness, and second is the extremely high resolving power of its optics. In other words, it's very bright and extremely sharp...and at all zoom ranges (many microscopes and camera lenses darken as magnification (zoom) increases). Zeiss is a world leader in optics and it really shows in this microscope. There were plenty of times when I wish I had just a bit more light, but that's not the case now. The brightness of this scope is simply amazing.
Along with brightness and sharpness comes an additional bonus, and that is edge-to-edge sharpness across the field of view. This isn't easy to achieve, and camera lenses, binoculars, and rifle scopes that are this sharp and bright are difficult to manufacture and extremely expensive.
The zoom knob has a set screw which can adjusted for click-stop zooming or continuous zoom. I have mine set to click, but I see no advantage. The scope zooms smoothly and effortlessly, and the knob rotates in the opposite direction as my Meiji scopes.
My Stocker & Yale fluorescent ring light is held in place temporarily by a rubber band until I decide on the best way to mount it.
In conclusion, this is an amazing piece of optical gear. Is it worth it, considering you can probably buy 2 or 3 microscopes for the cost of the Zeiss body alone? Is it THAT much better to justify the price? Of course this depends on the individual, but after using this scope for a couple of weeks now, I have no regrets and would have no regrets if I had paid regular price for a new one. I still believe the Meiji stereo zoom scope made in Japan is the best microscope for the money. I have two of them and they are absolutely excellent scopes. The Zeiss Stemi 2000 is simply the brightest and sharpest microscope I've ever used.
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Glad you like your new scope. I have a cheap Omano and it's fine but the brightness is an issue. Sometimes it's hard to find the tip of the graver unless the light hits it just right. It's kinda weird what gets us excited isn't it. I always get the "my dad's a little weird" when I talk about something like this at home. Another good reason for the forum.
