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Trying out a low-cost USB Microscope

scottiebabe

Recently I purchased the “8 Dollar Microscope” and of course I ended up spending far more than $8… In total I ended up spending $50 CAD LOL

If you haven’t seen the microscope in discussion it is the following:

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It is essentially 0.3 MP UVC USB webcam with optics that provide a magnification of 50x to 500x. As you can see from the product photo, the included base shown in that photo would have poor utility for looking at electronics straight down. However, I received my microscope with a plastic adjustable stand similar to the following:

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Nice surprise! But, the included plastic stand was not easy to use, and would frequently bind up trying to adjust the height.

Assuming I would receive that tiny plastic swivel base I opted to purchase an aluminum alloy universal microscope stand:

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The height adjustment mechanism on this stand is smooth and easy to use. There is a small amount of backlash that is noticeable when trying to focus at the highest magnification, but it isn’t severe enough for me to be bothered by it. I really like the stand I’m glad I bought it.

The USB microscope sits inside the 1.4″ mounting hole and is held in place with 2 set screws:

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The aluminum stand looks great! The microscope doesn’t sit normal to the viewing surface, but as will be seen in the sample images it didn’t seem to be a big deal.

When the microscope was adjusted for a magnification of 50x the resulting field of view had a width of 12 mm across :

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That is a little bit smaller than I’d like but it is what it is. I would have like to capture maybe say 50 mm across, but I would also like more image resolution…

Here are some random photos I took:

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At maximum magnification, the lens casts a shadow onto your viewing area. So, you need to provided external lighting in that case.

Could you solder with it? At 50x magnification the working height was approximately 7cm. I think that is a personal question whether you are comfortable looking at a display and making fine movements with your hands..

Be careful with product specifications! There are 100’s of different listing for this style of usb microscope and some claim resolutions of up to 2 MP (I am skeptical that is true).

Was it a good purchase? The stand absolutely great, the microscope is fine for what it is a 0.3MP usb microscope…

The price of the digital microscopes with included displays is not that much more.

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Of course if you have any advise or recommendations on what to look for in these 4″ or 7″ digital microscopes I would be grateful to hear it Slight smile

Parents

  • Surprisingly good images! I wonder if you were lucky, and got a unit that is well-assembled with the lenses. Very neat that you have the adjustable zoom too.

    I had expected them to not be good for the low price. Having said that, I really like the low-price Carson magnifiers etc too, and they make nice gifts for children too. For instance this type of thing for longer-distance viewing, but it can be used a foot away from an item; my 9-year old nephew loves it, and takes it everywhere.

    image

    Another source for stereo microscope could be just ebay, keeping an eye out. I got a quite decent Meiji microscope for about £100 and the guy dropped it off to my home for that price too! It was really dusty, but after 30 mins of cleaning up it was great. However if you want to get the image onto the computer then the price goes up rapidly, since you'll need the camera and adapter to drop into one of the eyepiece ports. Although it comes in handy, I rarely use the microscope day-to-day. For soldering and quick visual inspection, I use a head magnifier (OptiVISOR is great, but I have not tried other head magnifiers). I went through a lot of non-head magnifiers however, to finally realize that the head magnifier suited my needs during soldering.

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  • Surprisingly good images! I wonder if you were lucky, and got a unit that is well-assembled with the lenses. Very neat that you have the adjustable zoom too.

    I had expected them to not be good for the low price. Having said that, I really like the low-price Carson magnifiers etc too, and they make nice gifts for children too. For instance this type of thing for longer-distance viewing, but it can be used a foot away from an item; my 9-year old nephew loves it, and takes it everywhere.

    image

    Another source for stereo microscope could be just ebay, keeping an eye out. I got a quite decent Meiji microscope for about £100 and the guy dropped it off to my home for that price too! It was really dusty, but after 30 mins of cleaning up it was great. However if you want to get the image onto the computer then the price goes up rapidly, since you'll need the camera and adapter to drop into one of the eyepiece ports. Although it comes in handy, I rarely use the microscope day-to-day. For soldering and quick visual inspection, I use a head magnifier (OptiVISOR is great, but I have not tried other head magnifiers). I went through a lot of non-head magnifiers however, to finally realize that the head magnifier suited my needs during soldering.

Children