Oil immersion
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In light microscopy, oil immersion is a technique used to increase the resolving power of a microscope. This is achieved by immersing both the objective lens and the specimen in a transparent oil of h
Two Leica oil-immersion objective lenses. Oil-immersion objective lenses look superficially identical to non-oil-immersion lenses.
Oil-immersion objective in use
Condenser (optics)
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A condenser is an optical lens that renders a divergent light beam from a point light source into a parallel or converging beam to illuminate an object to be imaged.
Oil immersion
…oils used have an index of refraction of around 1.515. An oil-immersion objective is an objective lens specially designed to be used in this way. Many condensers also give optimal resolution when the condenser lens is immersed in oil. Lenses reconstruct the light scattered by an object. To successfully achieve…
A condenser (right) and its respective diaphragm (left)
A condenser between the stage and mirror of a vintage microscope
Light microscopy with and without condenser. At low magnification, using a condenser may limit the field of view, and in such cases it is preferable to not use it. At high magnification, a condenser makes borders less marked, and is generally preferable in such cases.
An example of a situation where microscopy without condenser is preferable at high magnification is the evaluation of crystals (calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease pictured).