Fast Focus

Purpose

If you have a focus motor installed, focusing is usually done usingFast Focus or a knob on the joystick.

• Use the Fast Focus Adjustments dialog box to move the stage up and down.

Focusing in the negative direction or down through the tissue moves the stage closer to the objective lens. To avoid breaking the slide, verify that you have adequate clearance before attempting large movements in this direction.

Focus knobs on the microscope

Do not use the fine focus knob on the microscope if you have a focus motor, as this can strip the gears of the focus motor.

• It is possible to use the coarse focus on the microscope, but keep in mind that these movements in the Z-axis are not recorded by Neurolucida unless you also have a focus position encoder. This would be problematic for a 3D reconstruction or a multi-section neuron tracing since the Z-axis information is essential to the accuracy of your data.
• Unless you have an internal Z motor on your microscope, we recommend that you avoid using the focus knobs on the microscope after the initial set-up of the slide on the microscope.

Joystick speed

If focusing with the joystick is too slow, check the specifications of your joystick; many have a switch that controls the speed of focus and have multiple settings. If you have an internal Z motor on your microscope, then the system is designed to be used with the microscope's fine focus knob, and the focus on the joystick is disabled.