Olympus CKX53 Breakdown – Tissue Culture Microscope

Read the Edited Video Transcript of ‘Olympus CKX53 Breakdown’

Hi, this is Chad with Munday Scientific. Today, we’re going to talk about this tissue culture microscope—the Olympus CKX53. Michael is going to join me as we go over its features.

We’ll work from the top down.

Right here, you have a filter holder where you can insert a colored filter. A lot of folks doing tissue culture work prefer a green filter, which can easily be added here.

Next, we have the phase slider. Often, you’ll see the IPC phase ring installed here. Different phase rings and sliders can be used with the same microscope. For example, you might have an EX-2 SLP with various phase rings. If you’re changing objectives, make sure the phase ring in the slider matches the objective—I’ll show you how in a moment.

We also have the aperture stop, also known as the diaphragm, and the condenser. This part can be a little tricky, especially during shipping, because we remove it before sending the scope out. I’ll show you how to reinstall it.

To remove or attach the condenser, loosen this thumbscrew while holding the condenser securely. There’s a flange right here—Mike, can you show that? You want to align the condenser with this flange and keep it steady while tightening the thumbscrew. Make sure it’s securely in place before releasing it.

Continue with the ‘Olympus CKX53 Breakdown’

Moving on, this is the stage top table where you place your specimen. It includes a stage insert, and underneath, you’ll find the objective turret and nosepiece.

This model has a four-position objective turret, and we currently have a 10X objective installed. Earlier, we mentioned the IPC phase ring—let’s revisit that. If you look closely at the 10X objective, you’ll see it’s labeled “IPC.” That means there’s a built-in phase ring that matches the one in the phase slider, allowing you to see cells with phase contrast.

If you’re using other objectives—like a 4X or 40X—they may require a different phase ring. You’d need to move the slider accordingly to match the correct ring to the objective in use.

Now for the controls:

• The rheostat knob adjusts the light intensity.
• The power button is located right here.
• You have both coarse and fine focus knobs.

If the focus drifts slowly on its own, the focus tension likely needs adjusting. You can use a flathead screwdriver to tighten it—insert the screwdriver here and push it toward the wall. That should firm up the tension.

Light is directed 100% to the eyepieces by default. There’s a toggle switch here to split the light between the eyepieces and the camera port. If you’re having trouble getting an image on your camera, try flipping this switch.

The camera adapter mounts right here and is secured with a thumbscrew. Adding a camera is very straightforward.

One last note: When we ship this microscope, the eyepieces are typically removed. The eyepiece tubes can rotate 360°, and they’re locked in place with small screws. You can see the locking screw here. We remove the eyepieces (or occasionally the entire head) for safer shipping.

Let me show you how easy it is to remove an eyepiece: just use a small flat-blade screwdriver to loosen the locking screw, and the eyepiece pulls right out. We prefer removing the eyepieces rather than the head, as it’s easier for the end user to reinstall.

And that’s it for the Olympus CKX53. It’s a fantastic tissue culture microscope. Typically, labs use a 10X and 20X objective on setups like this.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at .

Anyway, you can find us at microscopemarketplace.com if you’re interested in purchasing the Olympus CKX53.

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