GOETTINGEN/Germany – Introducing Colibri.2 Carl Zeiss now offers now an improved LED light source for fluorescence microscopy. Colibri.2 is adaptable to a majority of microscopes and is easily controlled in the AxioVision software.

A multitude of different experiments can be effortlessly designed and executed by using Colibri.2, even when precise timing for extremely fast acquisition. As opposed to mechanical shutters, LEDs are turned on and off in a single millisecond, minimizing the time the sample is exposed to damaging excitation light. This, in addition to fluorophore excitation with a monochromatic light source, reduces phototoxic effects and enables researchers to observe live cell experiments for a longer period of time.

Colibri.2’s new optical beampath is more light efficient and homogeneous than its predecessor. The range of available wavelengths for fluorescence excitation has expanded and leads to new combinations when customizing the Colibri.2 for different applications. There are many advantages of LED-based illumination systems, like the Colibri.2, over conventional white light sources that depend on mechanical shutters. LEDs have an extremely long lifetime, do not need to be aligned, and are vibration free. The illumination from a LED is void of intensity fluctuations and is specific for the excitation of a given fluorophore, resulting in images with an improved signal to noise ratio over traditional white light sources.

More information about Colibri.2: www.zeiss.de/colibri.