Dissecting microscopes - recommendations?

[mountainpathfinder]

I'm thinking of getting a dissecting microscope. At 46, I'm having problems with small details even with reading glasses. Does anyone have any suggestions about makes/models or sources for these? What's the price range for a good one? Thanks!

[ckswank]

I know what you mean about the eyesight going! I recently bought a 20X-40X-60X-80X binocular microscope with a 5 MP camera & video capture, but have yet to use it. Probably the 20 power is sufficient for identification. The brand is a Amscope. They are strictly online sales through their own website & Ebay & a few other retailers. They are not "top of the line" but the prices are very reasonable for hobbyists. I think I paid around $165 for mine. Been too busy to get it up & running, but will post a review after I have. Here's a link to some reviews of the products they sell.

www.scienceforums.net/topic/25379-amscope/

Charlie

[mountainpathfinder]

I'm interested in hearing about how yours worked out. I think that I've looked at them online.

[jshuey]

I purchased Am scope's high-end dissecting scope a few months ago. I was pondering buying a friend's old Zeiss scope, but for about a third of the price, I decided to give Am scope a shoot. This thing sells for around$650 for the base model, up to twice that dependiong on the features you want to add. For compasion the used Zeiss was asking $3,000 and that was a real bargin (It was REALLY a nice scope).

I am very pleased with the AmScope thing. here is the page with info:
store.amscope.com/zm-2b.html

The only real extra I bought was a "trinocular" camera port for photos...

Good things about it

It has a very wide field of view compared to most consumer-type dissecting scopes - this was the main feature I was looking for - a scope that lets me see a lot of the bug at once.

the 6.5-45X range really is perfect for everything I do. You don't need to worry about the adapters to increase or decrease the magnification.

It has a smooth zoom feature, allowing you to adjust magnification to exactly what you want.

The optics really are professional grade, and the extra-wide field of view makes it feel like a "real" professional scope.


Annoying things about it.

you have to refocus when you change the zoom. If you want a scope that stays in focus when you zoom in and out, then you are going to pay a few thousand more for a professional scope.

The camera port requires that I flip a mirror, which cuts off an eyepiece - a bit cumbersome. Calling it a trinocular is a bit of a stretch when only 2 of the three ports work at any given moment.

The plug for the bullet lamp is ill fitting, and really is defective. But I use an external ring lamp for lighting, so this doesn't bother me. If I used the bullet lamp, it would have required me sending it back.... which would have been a bummer. AmScope has a VERY bad reputation for service on various forums.

As to the microscope cameras on the market, be VERY cautious. I bought a 5meg one a few years back, and it was so crude that I sent it back. The ability to control contrast was zero, so everything came out crazy looking - nothing like what I was seeing through the lens. I think that the majority of these units on the Internet market are probably pieces of crap (including cheap the Am scope models). Expensive units are probably better - but I don't want to risk it. I use a "real" digital camera though an adapter to capture reasonable photos. (I already owned an adapter tube that cost almost as much as the microscope - so this was a relatively easy decision for me).

I've attached a representative photo from this microscope. Keep in mind, that it will look like crap at full resolution, but the preview is about the size that it will be printed at.

Shuey

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[jshuey]

I screwed up, those photos were from my old set up. Here is one with the new scope

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