The one comment I have not seen is that most modern
LMs have a setting for the lamp that will give the
correct "color temperature" for white light.  This
setting, used in conjunction with a neutral color
balance filter (Nikon calls it NCB) should provide a
nearly white balance for those nice white backgrounds.
 The other things are to remove the H&E filter, and
any polarizer filters for standard photomicrography. 
I also agree with using a slide type film (I use one
of the Ektochromes).  The difficulty with using a
print film is that the corner photo lab (or even a
professional photo lab) has their enlarger color
balance set up for green grass, blue skies and skin
tones.  Not the usual colors seen in a nicely stained
section!  Thus, use of the slide permits the
microscopist to say "when you make the prints from the
internegative, the colors MUST match what is in the
slide!"  Seldom works the first time -- you have to
train the photo lab people to give you what you are
paying for.

Roger Moretz, Ph.D.
Dept of Toxicology
BI Pharmaceuticals
--- Jeffrey S Crews <cruzetti@juno.com> wrote:
> Alas, it is quite difficult to get a good white or
> white-gray background
> when using color print film for photomicrography.
> Use slide film, either
> daylight-balanced like Ektachrome 400  or
> tungsten-balanced like T160.
> When using daylight film, you have to use a
> color-balancing filter
> because tungsten light is richer in red (long)
> wavelengths than is
> daylight or a flash. I think that Olympus' filter is
> called a LBD2N. 
>  If you have a color temperature-balancing unit like
> Olympus has, that is
> also a great help. It will tell you when you have
> the light properly
> balanced for your film type.
> 	When you find a filter-film combination that works,
> remember that you
> have to always keep the light voltage at the same
> level because it will
> become redder as you turn the voltage down and bluer
> as you turn it up.
> The easy way to do this is to always shoot with the
> light turned all the
> way up.
> 	When you get your slides, you can have prints made
> from them. The best
> ones are digital prints made from scanning in the
> slide, and you can get
> a floppy or CDR with the file on it, too. Many small
> photo labs now offer
> this service.
> 	I realize that shooting a slide and then paying for
> a print is not the
> cheapest way to go, but it does give the best
> quality. For quickness and
> routine prints for a lab notebook, just use a
> Polaroid and save the slide
> film for publication. If you have to do a lot of
> photography, get a
> digital camera and stop paying for film, period. You
> can justify the
> initial cost to the higher-ups with the vastly
> greater utility and
> film/processing savings.
> I hope that some of this made sense.
> 
> Jeffrey Crews, HTL (ASCP)
> Organogenesis, Inc.
> 
> On Sun, 25 Jun 2000 12:57:23 -0400 (EDT)
> Elizaha@aol.com writes:
> >Hi,
> >     I was wondering if anyone can give me advice
> or hints about light 
> >
> >microscopy photography? I only have limited
> experience with this so 
> >here is 
> >my problem. I am using  Kodak Royal Gold 100 film
> for prints. There is 
> >always 
> >a brown/tan background on the image where to me
> should be white (ie no 
> >
> >tissue). This is I guess because of the
> filter....??? but what I am 
> >trying to 
> >find out is how  or is it possible to get a white
> background? I know 
> >it is 
> >done Iv'e seen it a thousand times in publications
> and books.  Is 
> >there a 
> >combination of filters that is required....for H&E
> and are these 
> >changed when 
> >you want to take pictures of images with DAB as the
> chromagen.!????Can 
> >anyone 
> >recommend a book?
> >
> >Thanks again for all the help!
> >Elizabeth
> >
> 
>
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