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The mechanical stage on a microscope moves in three dimensions. First, it moves up and down on the vertical axis to obtain focus. This is the basic requirement for a microscope stage.<\/p>\n
But it also moves on the X-Y axis to allow you to \u2018scan\u2019 your specimen. This can significantly improve user experience because you can make fine movements of the slide to achieve optimal viewing positioning for your experiments.<\/p>\n
Beginner and entry-level microscopes usually don\u2019t provide X-Y axis movement. Microscopes from about $150 and up will often have a mechanical stage, but make sure you check the microscope before buying it!<\/p>\n
> This article is part of our series on compound microscope parts<\/a><\/p>\n\n A compound microscope\u2019s stage is the part of the microscope where you place your prepared slides.<\/p>\n With a compound microscope the stage is raised because there are several sub-stage lighting components under the stage (such as your Abbe condenser and iris diaphragm).<\/p>\n The main manipulation you do with the stage is move it up and down for focusing your microscope. You achieve this by moving the focus knobs found on the base of the arm of the microscope. There are often coarse and fine focus knobs, although some entry-level microscopes will only have a coarse focus knob.<\/p>\n You will find the stage will also have clips for holding your specimen down while doing your experiments.<\/p>\n Some stages also have a \u2018stage stop\u2019, which helps to prevent the stage from hitting up against the objective lenses above.<\/p>\n Stereo microscopes have very basic stages.<\/p>\n The stage on a stereo microscope is simply the base of the microscope. You don\u2019t need sub-stage lighting for a stereo microscope because you\u2019re looking at opaque objective that are best lit from above.<\/p>\n However, you may find your stereo microscope\u2019s stage will have a frosted glass base and basic sub-stage light that can be useful at times.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also find that stereo microscopes have larger stages because \u2013 simply \u2013 you can place larger items under a stereo microscope. You\u2019ll often want to place rocks, jewelry and other large items on the stage.<\/p>\n For a stereo microscope, you move the head<\/em> (not the stage) up and down to obtain focus. Again, this is simply because the stage on a stereo microscope doesn\u2019t need complex sub-stage lighting infrastructure.<\/p>\n A mechanical stage is an advanced type of stage that provides better user experience<\/strong> because it allows you to move the stage horizontally on the X-Y axis.<\/p>\n This allows you to center your specimen to get optimal viewing. You don\u2019t have to worry about the focal point being in the periphery, or, out of view entirely.<\/p>\n Without a mechanical stage, you need to do this manually with your fingers. It\u2019s much less precise and \u2013 frankly \u2013 can be very frustrating.<\/p>\n A mechanical stage usually has knobs for both vertical and horizontal axis manipulation.<\/p>\nWhat is a Compound Microscope Stage?<\/h2>\n
What is a Stereo Microscope Stage?<\/h2>\n
Mechanical Stage Functions<\/h2>\n
How to use a Mechanical Stage on a Microscope<\/h2>\n
Focus Adjustments<\/h3>\n
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