Vintage Leitz Laborlux Binocular Microscope, Electric Lighting c1957, Cased

Here we have a well-quipped example of a vintage Leitz Laborlux binocular laboratory microscope in black enamel finish dating from the late 1950s and carrying serial number 536617. The condition of this example is generally good, with some evidence of wear to the paint finish on the frame and especially on the stage surface where the paint finish is wearing thin in places, which is what you'd expect from an example of this vintage with its original stage. Turning to the main technical details of this binocular microscope, we have the following.

1 A binocular eyepiece unit with twin 10x magnification vintage CTS eyepieces. The binocular unit has a quick-release mechanism, can swivel by a full 360 degrees and the focus and eyepiece separation can be adjusted manually via a central thumb-wheel with graduation markers. The binocular unit is +1.25x magnification, thereby giving the eyepieces an effective boost to 12.5x magnification. 2 The instrument's main focus and fine focus is by a single set of thumb-wheels located at the base of the frame which moves the stage - travel and focus are in generally usable condition with a little stiffness to the action, still offering adequate focus control.

Please note that the frame on this model of microscope is not designed to tilt. The focusing technique is to achieve near-focus, then reverse the direction of the thumb-wheels, which automatically engages the fine focus mechanism - a rather neat Leitz feature. 3 There are four quality objective lenses on the quadruple turret, as follows.

3.5x - Leitz 3.5/0.10 10x - Leitz 10/0.25 45x - Leitz 45/0.65 100x - 100/1.25 oil immersion. The objective lenses supplied therefore provide an effective magnification range from around 44x up to 1,250x magnification when using the 100x lens with oil immersion techniques. 4 A fully mechanical stage which is the original Leitz item that's showing some surface wear, with twin thumb-wheel x-axis and y-axis controls on a drop-down adjuster located on the left side of the stage that's really easy to use with no obvious wear in the rack and pinion gearing. It's also fitted with a two-part adjustable sprung slide holder mechanism that fits into a dove-tail recess in the stage and is perfect for holding slides in place during viewing sessions. 5 Below stage there's a condenser by Leitz which has a swing-over lens feature, a lever-operated iris for controlling lighting levels and a rack and pinion system to adjust the height. There's also a swing-out filter holder for adding coloured, opaque or dark-field filters.

There's also a funnel stop unit in the case which can be used as an alternative to using the condenser. 6 Lighting is provided by an electric sub-stage illuminator with a tungsten bulb in a Leitz lamp-house that slots into the instrument's base - it's rotatable, has an on/off torpedo switch and just plugs into a mains-voltage wall socket.

The lighting source is shown in action in several of the listing photos. I also have blue correction filters available that will fit the filter carrier - see my other listings for 30mm diameter blue filters.

In summary, this is a nice clean, well equipped and highly usable example of a vintage 1960s Leitz Laborlux binocular microscope in pretty good condition. This example may therefore appeal to collectors as well as specialists seeking a quality instrument with binocular set-up.

It's also extremely good value for a such a quality vintage instrument from well-known makers Leitz. It's supplied with a usable range of objective lenses, a fully mechanical stage which is a must for high-magnification applications and it's got very usable electric lighting and the correct case for this model. This is also quite a large, heavy and bulky laboratory microscope equipment especially with the large storage case, so owing to its weight it will be partially dismantled, very well packed and dispatched by insured courier upon receipt of cleared funds. Thanks for looking - please check out my other listings if you get a chance.

This item is in the category "Antiques\Science/Medicine\Scientific Instruments". The seller is "arcboutant" and is located in this country: GB. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Australia, United States, Bahrain, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, China, Israel, Hong Kong, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Korea, South, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Barbados, Brunei Darussalam, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Grenada, French Guiana, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Macau, Monaco, Maldives, Montserrat, Martinique, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Paraguay, Reunion, Turks and Caicos Islands, Aruba, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Chile, Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Kuwait, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Vietnam, Brazil.

Period: 1951 to Present
Material: Steel
Type: Microscope
Antique: Yes