[FUN_Mail] Epifluorescent teaching microscopes

[Matthew Kittelberger]

Hi everyone-

I’m looking for ideas and reviews of decent, but not super-expensive, epifluorescent microscopes for an undergrad cell biology teaching lab.  Something that can be used for live imaging of subcellular structures.  Since they’re for a teaching lab, we’ll probably ultimately need up to 4 of these, and the Nikon and Zeiss systems I’m used to using for research purposes are probably too expensive.  There are some self-contained systems from companies like Keyence and EVOS (by Fisher) that are potentially interesting, and don’t require a dark room.  But I’ve heard from some folks that they are more or less just glorified plate readers, which wouldn’t meet our needs.  Does anyone have experience working with such systems, and can give me some feedback on that experience?  Or does anyone have other suggestions for decent quality systems that won’t break the bank?  Thanks so much, Matt Kittelberger

J. Matthew Kittelberger, PhD
Chair, Dept. of Biology
Associate Professor
Department of Biology and Programs in Neuroscience and in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg, PA 17325
ph. 717.337.6260
mkittelb at gettysburg.edu