Challenges of ZOOM - microscopy

One of the most important features of compound microscopy is the perfect pupil fit of illumination systems and objectives. This advantage enables the compound microscopy to use many different kinds of contrasting methods. In the field of ZOOM - microscopy the fit of Illumination to imaging systems is not the best and because of this the use of contrasting methods is much more complicated. An other big challenge is the design of objectives for ZOOM - microscopy. A compound objective matches perfectly to a defined object size and a settled numerical aperture. But an objective for ZOOM - microscopy must meet the object size and the numerical aperture for many different ZOOM - positions. Therefore such an objective must be much stronger than one for compound microscopy. But despite of all challenges ZOOM - microscopy is very attractive because of some unique features. Especially one can change the magnification continuously while the object of interest remains in focus and at the centre of view for all the time. This is the biggest advantage of ZOOM - microscopy.