Old is sometimes better

People sometime ask me why I use SEM for my work when I rarely use a magnification of greater than x200. The simple answer is improved depth of focus compared to optical microscopy. To date I've been using a JEOL FESEM for the work, however the lowest magnification Joeline will play at is x25. Sometimes we need lower magnification. For that we use the old Cambridge S360 which we can use at x5. Just to clarify Cammy is ~25 years old, whereas as Joeline is 10 years old next April. Yes, these 'machines' have character.

Cammy and Liz

Typical x5 image from Cammy

 

It's not all work - I've had a chance to visit some old haunts including St Clair:

  At the weekend it was back to the vineyard, Sunday was glorious: