Control of Leica motorised stereo microscopes in micro-manager

Usage & Issues
#1

Hi all,

I think the answer is probably no as it doesn’t say on the website there is any support for them but has anyone tried controlling Leica motorised stereo microscopes with Micro-Manager? E.g MZFLIII or later models M205FCA and M165FC?

Thanks for the help,

Matt

#2

The answer is probably yes, if you want to control stuff like focus and zoom. Leica uses an ascii based protocol via virtual serial port for this, and they have apparently not changed that protocol for years. I have a M205 available so I can in theory test this, but I am using that lab rarely so I do not know when I would get around to do it.

But for image capture, the answer is most likely no. Only very old cameras using the FireWire protocol are supported by MicroManager. If anyone has got MicroManager to communicate with recent USB3 Leica cameras I would be very interested in this.

#3

Hi Stein,

Sorry for the delay on this i posted then it slipped my mind and it doesn’t email you when replies come through which would be a very useful feature! Yes it would primarily be to control shutters in the stereo microscope and the fluorescence filter turret. Its a Leica M 205. We’re not so bothered about software control of zoom or focus. Most parts are also encoded so if MM could read that info that would also be useful. Yes Leica cameras would be a problem, we would potentially try to use one that is supported if the motorised bits on the Microscope will run in Micro-Manager. If we can’t get the required functionality then we will have to use Leica LAS-X software, its easy to use but but like many we don’t want more software packages than are necessary especially now when its harder to teach new things.

Thanks,

Matt