An Illuminating Update

Jul 30, 2023 • 8:18 PM UTC

Ashok Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

140x Magnification

Lesson Plan

Mitali

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Hello all!
I've been wishing to get a nice gooseneck lamp since years now. Although Amazon India had a couple of options they weren't just the right thing that I was looking for. Few weeks back I spotted this amazing one at IKEA in Bangalore and OMG I could not have found a better one. It gets disassembled and fits in a 10 inch x 10 inch box so it is portable as well. Since its a clip on lamp, I can invert the whole lamp and illuminate samples from the bottom. This is exactly what I needed to go along with my Foldscope set-up. With this lamp I can also now switch between Bright field and Dark field illumination without disturbing the sample at all!
The only problem is that it doesn't run on batteries so I need a power supply. Anyway, Since I have found the right casing, I plan to buy another one and rig it up such that it runs on batteries. The light is yellow and not blue/white but I like the aesthetics of it :D

Here are pictures of the lamp and the kind of data I've been getting with it:

The Lamp

Set-up for Bright field and Dark field imaging with the Foldscope
Since, the light needs to come at an angle for dark field imaging, I just tilt the head of the lamp instead of having it face the sample directly.