Science bio-imaging question: What platform are people liking for confocal / super-resolution imaging these days? Leica? Zeiss? Olympus? Nikon? Other? - ThreadSky

bwjones.bsky.social • 56 days ago

Science bio-imaging question:

What platform are people liking for confocal / super-resolution imaging these days? Leica? Zeiss? Olympus? Nikon? Other?

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septinlab.bsky.social•56 days ago

Depends on what you want to image. Nikon SORA has been great for fixed and live stuff in cultured single cells. It performed the best in demos compared to other systems, and has lived up to expectations.

dornan.bsky.social•56 days ago

For us Olympus (Evident) is awol. Leica systems are good but v. expensive. We have multiple Zeiss’s, & 2 Nikons. Both come with excellent technical support (an essential component). Our newest ‘std’ confocal is the Nikon AXR NSPARC - with Resonant & Galvo scanner, NIR channel & SR capacity (~120nm).

dornan.bsky.social•56 days ago

The Nikon AXR’s multiple capabilities means it is becoming our go-to confocal system. The software is much more user friendly than previous vers. & is generally v. stable (though Nikon seem to like having mult. options for performing the same task).

dornan.bsky.social•56 days ago

For greater SR capacity (~50nm) & again great for fast acquisition we have a new Zeiss Elyra7 that is brilliant, though requires greater user understanding of its processes/capabilities, & works best with ‘brighter’ signals.

scott-paulissen.bsky.social•55 days ago

Depending on application I prefer Leica and Nikon. Zeiss, as always, has a good technical solution in their Airy stuff, but support hasn't been there for me to recommend.

Leica has a strong differentiator with their multiplex&FLIM. Nikon are less expensive and have some interesting ai denoising.

mauriceylee.bsky.social•55 days ago

I like our Andor Dragonfly spinning disk confocal with two Sona sCMOS cameras. It's connected to a Nikon Eclipse Ti2 body. The powerful lasers, high NA Nikon objectives, and Nikon's PFS autofocus system allow us to easily do SMLM.

md-dew.bsky.social•55 days ago

I do use the zeiss airy scan a lot and really like it. I actually have had really service from zeiss. Abberiors Stedycon has had excellent service and is great product. ASI doesn't really do software, but love the company and their products and support. Worst microscope is biotek cytation.

samuelconnell.3i.social•55 days ago

As somebody tasked with asking similar questions over a few decades (and now working at 3i) I'll humbly suggest that there's another option besides the Big 4. 3i is large enough (~50) to have a stable 30 year journey where service, support & R&D are our calling cards & small enough for flexibility.

samuelconnell.3i.social•55 days ago

You've seen suggestions below for SoRa spinning disk systems. Super easy to use workhorse rigs with push button airy scan level resolution if you'd like it. You mention you like your Zeiss optics; 3i's 25 year OEM partnership with Zeiss means you can have your optics and coupled with a SoRa rig.

bwjones.bsky.social•55 days ago

Yeah, I was wondering if 3i had been doing anything with super resolution and was going to look.

monica-bic.bsky.social•56 days ago

If you are asking about STED, the new lines of Abberior are amazing. The stellaris life time of Leica is also great and covers many applications. I heard great things about the SIM Elyra, tried once and loved it!

segv.com•56 days ago

I currently use a Zeiss Elyra for everyday SIM--it's definitely past its prime but still works for me. Nikon for live-cell work. I had a chance to test-drive a Nikon with an NSPARC detector and it was completely amazing. I hope our core can get one.

rachaelott.bsky.social•56 days ago

I liked the Olympus FV4000 a little more than the Zeiss 800 with Airyscan, and our Olympus techs were super great!

ademaribic.bsky.social•56 days ago

I like Zeiss, but we went with Leica for our core and I don't regret it because of the service-their techs are super helpful and will fix stuff or help you fix stuff asap when a deadline is looking (including hardware parts replacement). Zeiss techs won't do that

bwjones.bsky.social•56 days ago

Yeah, service is super important. We've absolutely had problems with Zeiss service over the years. We currently have an Airyscan and it's the service bit that frustrates me. Amazing optics tho...

ademaribic.bsky.social•56 days ago

Yup same, their optics is supreme but it just wasn't worth the hassle with the techs. A good image is a good image-sometimes splitting that hair just isn't worth it

annikabarber.bsky.social•56 days ago

I like Leica for the service. Zeiss also ok. Andor has been absolutely terrible. And don’t get me started on Imaris as an image processing software option. It is overpriced, user unfriendly, terrible service.

polymathguy.bsky.social•56 days ago

Nikon

elfulbito.bsky.social•55 days ago

Leica's flexibility with spectral and FLIM detectors is quite interesting. Although we have several depletion lines for STED, we are only using the 775 line. Still, the versatility of the detectors allows us to use several probes or fluorophores with optimal results.

elfulbito.bsky.social•55 days ago

The only thing is the acquisition speed. I was recently testing a Leica combination with a Crestoptics spinning disc and was impressed by the image quality and ease of use.

elfulbito.bsky.social•55 days ago

The current offers are very good on the market, but I firmly believe that it depends mostly on technical support. Apparently, this changes quite a lot from region to region. But I am a new arrival to the playground.

christlet.bsky.social•56 days ago

Looking at corporate structure, Nikon and Zeiss look better than Leica (part of Danaher) and Olympus (now called Evident, owned by Baines Capital)

mads100tist.bsky.social•56 days ago

We do have a Nikon spinning disk for our single molecule stuff. I use a Zeiss 880 w Airyscan for the rest (rarely use the Airyscan, but it's there)

madscientistphd.bsky.social•55 days ago

I hear this about Airyscan from all the experienced folks...

mads100tist.bsky.social•55 days ago

It's just not convenient at all

bwjones.bsky.social•56 days ago

What's yer take on the super-resolution capacity of those platforms?

christlet.bsky.social•56 days ago

I have thoughts but it might be better to use a longer-form and more private medium (DM or email)

bwjones.bsky.social•56 days ago

Yes, please. I'll owe you. Either DM or email whichever you prefer.

bwjones.bsky.social•56 days ago

Honestly, not too happy about private equity getting into bioimaging. It does not bode well for Olympus...

bwjones.bsky.social•56 days ago

I did not know about Danaher...

christlet.bsky.social•56 days ago

They killed the bioimaging arm of GE Healthcare (ex-Applied Precision, makers of the beautifully engineered Deltavision and OMX) in favor of Leica

bwjones.bsky.social•56 days ago

Yeah the bioimaging arm of GE Healthcare had local implications for my town.

I also was surprised at how much more complicated the Leica workflow has gotten over the last few years.

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