Choose Best Microscope for your Sample

The flow chart below may help you select the best microscope. It certainly doesn't cover every factor in the choice and LMCF can help you if decide if you are not sure. Browsing this simple introduction to microscopy may help you better understand the different types of microscopes.

 

flow chart

Upright systems - SP8 confocal | 780 upright confocal| Multiphoton | Axio Imager | Stereoscope | Dissecting scope

Inverted scopes - 780 inverted confocal | 710 inverted confocal | SP5 inverted confocal | 510 Inverted confocal| Live cell station | Deltavision | VivaViewSpinning disk | Axio Observer | Laser Capture

The excitation and emission wavelengths available are listed here. The Leica SP5 and SP8 confocal has tunable detectors (400-800 nm in any bandwidth) and the 780/710 confocals have 32 channel arrays for parallel spectral detection and unmixing.

FRAP - All scanning confocals are capable, but the 780s/SP8 are generally a good choice for this. The DeltaVision has point based 405 and 488 nm lasers for very rapid activation and bleaching experiments.