Glossary | Microscopes | General | Microscope Series | Stemi 508

Your apochromatic stereo microscope with 8:1 zoom for outstanding image contrast and colour accuracy

The Stemi 508 is compact, reliable and equipped with optics and mechanics that are designed to cope with heavy workloads. With the large 36mm object field you always have an overview of your specimen. The 8:1 zoom gives you up to 50 times magnification of the details. Your specimens are even larger? Add interchangeable optics, and you can observe an area of up to 122mm. This makes the Stemi 508 the most outstanding device in its class. The Stemi 508 is more ergonomic than any other Greenough-type stereo microscope: with a viewing angle of just 35°, you can maintain a relaxed posture even after many hours of work. With the Stemi 508, you can observe and document your specimens exactly as they are: rich in detail, sharply focused and free of distortion or colour fringes. The Stemi 508 is your robust all-rounder for daily laboratory work and industrial inspections: precise, ergonomic and always user-friendly.

Here's what the Stemi 508 from ZEISS has to offer

• The Stemi 508 with 8:1 zoom delivers a high-contrast, stereoscopic image with no colour fringing or distortion. It ensures relaxed stereoscopic viewing without eye strain. The 35° viewing angle provides an ergonomic sitting posture.
• If workspace is limited, use the compact K LAB stand with a mirror-based transmitted light unit. It provides crisp or homogeneous brightfield, darkfield and oblique light. The latter is required as contrast for unstained specimens such as C. elegans. To prepare specimens in reflected light, integrate the double spot gooseneck.
• For longer periods of dissection work, the optional hand rest supports both hands.
• When working with several Petri dishes in parallel, you benefit from more space for your specimen and excellent oblique contrast. In such cases, opt for the N stand and the fibre-optic transmitted light unit.
• For the examination of dark-coloured specimens, the CL 4500 LED cold light source provides intense illumination with daylight quality and very good colour reproduction.
• Document high-resolution images with the Stemi 508 doc and a ZEISS Axiocam microscope camera. For optimal transmission, the entire light transmission is switched between the right eyepiece and the camera.

This is what the Stemi 508 from ZEISS has to offer

The Stemi 508 with 8:1 zoom delivers a high-contrast, stereoscopic image with no colour fringing or distortion. Relaxed stereoscopic viewing without eye strain. The 35° viewing angle ensures an ergonomic sitting posture. If the workspace is limited, use the compact K LAB stand with a mirror-based transmitted light unit. It provides crisp or homogeneous brightfield, darkfield and oblique light. The latter is required for contrast for unstained samples such as C. elegans. To prepare samples in reflected light, integrate the double spot gooseneck.

For longer periods of dissection work, the optional hand rest supports both hands. When working with several Petri dishes in parallel, you benefit from more space for your sample and excellent oblique contrast. In such cases, opt for the N stand and the fibre-optic transmitted light unit. For the examination of dark-coloured specimens, the CL 4500 LED cold light source provides intense illumination with daylight quality and very good colour reproduction. Document high-resolution images with the Stemi 508 doc and a ZEISS Axiocam microscope camera. For optimal transmission, the entire light transmission is switched between the right eyepiece and the camera.

Large 8:1 zoom with apochromatic correction

The Stemi 508's apochromatic zoom optics and efficient stray light suppression ensure a razor-sharp, three-dimensional image. You visualize objects in a field of view of up to 122mm, without distortion or colour fringing. The large 8:1 zoom allows you to view the tiniest structures in high contrast. Choose from a variety of apochromatic front optics and eyepieces to achieve magnifications of 2 to 250 times. You can either double the resolution or use the long 287mm working distance without compromising optical quality – the choice is yours.

Precise mechanics for heavy workloads

With its robust and reliable mechanical system, the Stemi 508 is designed for heavy workloads. Its precise zoom adjustment ensures a well-balanced 3D image, working with the stereo microscope is relaxed with no eyestrain. Whether you prefer the continuously variable zoom or the reproducible mode with activated click stops, the image remains in sharp focus across the entire magnification range. Do you often work with a microscope for long periods of time, and so appreciate a comfortable posture? Thanks to its small 35° viewing angle, the Stemi 508 is more ergonomic than any other Greenough-type stereo microscope.

Designed with all applications in mind

Choose from a wide range of stands and accessories to suit your application: from compact stands to stable boom stands, from simple transmitted light solutions to polarized light contrast. Depending on whether your object requires special lighting or simply an extremely bright light, you have a variety of light guides to choose from. Position your specimen precisely by using a gliding, tilting, or rotating polarization stage. The Stemi 508 is supplied with a C-mount adapter for a ZEISS Axiocam camera. This can be replaced in order to use any SLR camera or camcorder.

The Stemi 508 is a Greenough-type stereo microscope that uses a long working distance for easy specimen handling, and a large field of view. It is compact, robust, easy to operate and to maintain. This is why it is typically used for heavy workload applications such as PCB inspection, the dissection of biological samples or other similar routine tasks.

The Stemi 508 is equipped with two 11° inclined light paths and a powerful 8:1 zoom.

White LEDs rarely fail. Their service life is therefore defined by lumen maintenance; this corresponds to the operating time until the light output has declined to 70% of what it was when new. ZEISS specifies 25,000 hours, which corresponds to more than twelve years (for an 8-hour day, 5-days a week). White LEDs, whose light output corresponds to that of fluorescent tubes, are energy-saving and especially suitable where fast start-up times are required.

The flat transmitted light unit in the K EDU stand is powered by six white, particularly bright LEDs. The LEDs are mounted directly onto a printed circuit board. Their black colour provides the dark background required for transmitted light darkfield contrast.

Boom stands – stable, flexible and with a large working range. In stereo microscopy there are many different types of three-dimensional objects, and the applications are even more diverse. You are often interested in different details of the same sample. Your objects may be much larger than any table stand. Perhaps you also need to find and examine a small sample taken from a very large test area. Or maybe you share your Stemi 508 with other colleagues and have to swing the microscope quickly and flexibly between workspaces. Whether a veterinary surgeon, forensics specialist, conservator, archaeologist or dental technician, you need a large boom stand for your application. Large stands with boom arms make it easy to move your Stemi 508 to any position in the workspace. The microscope is always stable, allowing you to observe small object details in a stable manner. Choose the cost-effective A boom stand with a single boom arm, or the stable and easy-to-move SDA double-arm boom stand. You could also choose the U spring-balanced tilting-arm stand with good height adjustment, which is flexible enough to adjust to any location in a large sample area. In addition, you will need a long, free working distance. For this, use the Stemi 508 with 0.3x or 0.4x front optics or interchangeable front lens.