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The Zeiss 'Large Mechanical Stage Number 44' served as a standard pattern for Zeiss microscopes for many years.
Its rotational mechanism and the screw locking in position were both integral. The centering of the
stage was controlled from the stand itself. To accomodate the control for locking the rotation of this stage (see the bottom view below), there is a depression and
cutout (red arrow) on the right side of the stage support. The outer ring of the stage is fixed by a pin built into the stage support so that it can be centered but not rotate in the stage support, its rotation being inside its own outer ring; it is lockable with the knob seen extending from it in the view of the bottom side seen below, right. The stage has three vernier scales; one for
the X-axis, one for the Y-axis and a third for the position of the left sided check-piece holding the slide.
The photostage was another option, fitting into the stage support. As shown below, (images courtesy of James Solliday) it provided a much smaller range of travel
for the slide but had concentric controls. The X-axis was linear, but the Y-axis in an arc. The reason for this is not immediately obvious,
but is designed for aligning the position of the subject on the slide so that it is adjusted in a way that could make it
exactly parallel to the camera's horizontal axis, or otherwise compose the picture in a more exact way than simply rotating the stage.
The Zeiss 'Large Mechanical Stage Number 44' served as a standard pattern for Zeiss microscopes for many years.
Its rotational mechanism and the screw locking in position were both integral. The centering of the
stage was controlled from the stand itself. To accomodate the control for locking the rotation of this stage (see the bottom view below), there is a depression and
cutout (red arrow) on the right side of the stage support. The outer ring of the stage is fixed by a pin built into the stage support so that it can be centered but not rotate in the stage support, its rotation being inside its own outer ring; it is lockable with the knob seen extending from it in the view of the bottom side seen below, right. The stage has three vernier scales; one for
the X-axis, one for the Y-axis and a third for the position of the left sided check-piece holding the slide.
The photostage was another option, fitting into the stage support. As shown below, (images courtesy of James Solliday) it provided a much smaller range of travel for the slide but had concentric controls. The X-axis was linear, but the Y-axis in an arc. The reason for this is not immediately obvious, but is designed for aligning the position of the subject on the slide so that it is adjusted in a way that could make it exactly parallel to the camera's horizontal axis, or otherwise compose the picture in a more exact way than simply rotating the stage.