The Mighty Olympus BH2

I thought it would be appropriate to write a post about my favorite microscope in honor of World Microscope Day.

My first compound microscope was a cheap Chinese-made microscope I purchased from Amazon several years ago. The optics, controls, and its ability to be upgraded left a lot to be desired. So I decided to upgrade — but to what? After months of research and watching a lot of YouTube videos by Oliver Kim (aka “Microbehunter”) and Carl Hunsinger, I decided on buying an Olympus BH2.

As it turned out, Carl Hunsinger’s passion is overhauling and refurbishing old microscopes, particularly the BH2. This guy knows the BH2 quite literally inside and out. So I reached out to him, and a few months later I had a ‘new to me’ Olympus BH2 microscope that had been torn down, inspected, cleaned, lubricated, reassembled, and tested. It’s the finest scientific instrument I’ve ever used.

One of the best features of the BH2 is that it isn’t a microscope as much as it’s a system that’s ripe for upgrades. The first (and also the cheapest and easiest) upgrade I made was adding a darkfield filter, which you can purchase on eBay for around twenty US dollars. Later on I purchased an Olympus Photomicro Adapter L (not cheap, unfortunately) so that I could attach my Canon EOSR camera body to the BH2’s trinocular head.

My most recent upgrade, and probably the most fun, was the Olympus KPA Polarizing Attachment. These aren’t terribly easy to find, but I was fortunate enough to find one through Munday Scientific. I use polarized light microscopy for crystallography, and without the KPA, images like these would not be possible:

The Olympus BH2 was built to last lifetimes with little maintenance. Using it is a pleasure and only adds to my enjoyment of this hobby.

Thank you Carl Hunsinger, Oliver Kim, and the entire family (but especially Chad) over at Munday Scientific!