The VanGuard 1320BR Siedentopf Binocular Compound Microscope has a pair of 10x widefield high-eyepoint eyepieces, a reverse-mounted nosepiece with four DIN achromatic objectives, Kohler halogen illumination, nested coarse and fine focus, a 1.25 NA Abbe condenser with iris diaphragm and blue filter, and a mechanical stage. The Siedentopf binocular head has a pair of eyepieces with interpupillary adjustment, a fixed inclination to reduce eye and neck strain, and rotation capability to provide a more comprehensive view and enable sharing. A Siedentopf binocular head enables the viewer to change the interpupillary distance without changing the tube length, eliminating the need to refocus the image. High-eyepoint eyepieces ease viewing for viewers wearing glasses. Dioptric adjustment accommodates individual eye-strength differences. Achromatic objectives provide color correction of magnified images. A reverse-mounted nosepiece keeps objectives out of the way to prevent damage and contamination, and to enable more secure slide handling. A compound microscope is used for inspection and dissection of specimens when two-dimensional images are desired.

The microscope has lower (diascopic) brightfield, Kohler illumination that transmits light up through the specimen for enhanced visibility of translucent and transparent objects. Brightfield (BF) illumination allows the specimen to absorb light, resulting in a dark image on a light background. Kohler illumination focuses and centers the light path using two iris diaphragms, providing optimum contrast and resolution. The halogen light source provides bright light in a concentrated path, and a rheostat controls the amount of light emanating from the lamp. It has an Abbe condenser that can be adjusted to control the distance of the light from the stage, an iris diaphragm to optimize the amount of light illuminating the specimen, and a blue filter to help naturalize the light. The condenser is controlle