More OT stuff about Russian engineering: I have just acquired a Soviet era compound microscope. Every single control was frozen solid with hardened grease. It took me a week to get it all to pieces, cleaned, adjusted and back together. The image is reasonable considering the objectives and eyepieces are only achromats - not flat field optics. I nearly bust a gut getting it in and out of the car - it weighs 19,5kg! The microscope is a copy of one of the Leitz instruments of the 1980s or thereabout. The only trouble I anticipate is finding replacement light bulbs. The one in the lamp housing looks new, but is of a pattern I've never seen before. As soon as I've found a phototube (that can be modified to fit the frame) I'll be in the photomicrographic game again.
The finish on the mechanical parts, slides, screws and in particular the fine focus mechanism is rather rough. The grease they used contained graphite which became as solid as cement. This made disassembly very difficult. I soaked some parts in light petrol ether overnight and even then it was difficult. Where I'm going to store this monster when its not in use I have no idea. At the moment its up on top of a filing cabinet, but getting it there was a weight lifting exercise. There's no place you can get a good grip. _______________ Dr E D F Williams http://personal.inet.fi/cool/don.williams Author's Web Site and Photo Gallery Updated: March 30, 2002 ----- Original Message ----- From: "mike wilson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, March 07, 2003 11:12 AM Subject: Off topic: Russian engineering / On topic : MZ-S > Hi, > > Just a response to the recent posts on Russian cars. Having > come back from two weeks in western Siberia, I can testify that > Russian cars work very well indeed. The cars never frightened > me at all. Russian driving is something else. No smiley. > > As more and more western cars appear, one thing became obvious > to me. The numerous small scale collisions that occur on > Russian roads in winter are going to become much more > expensive. Whereas before, a metal bumper would only need > straightening and repainting, the new plastic sort have to be > replaced. > > WRT MZ-S, I can report that in a day of -18+severe windchill, > the camera and 28-70 2.8 never failed to work, unlike my fingers > and most other extremeties. Going from that into a +20, humid > cafe caused both to take a severe bath due to condensation but > this also had no apparent effect. > > mike >
