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AmScope B120C Siedentopf Binocular Compound Microscope, 40X-2500X Magnification, Brightfield, LED Illumination, Abbe Condenser, Double-Layer Mechanical Stage?
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009JROROU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabt1_dlC_WCbVFb6AB5NC9
This is the next scope I'll be getting w the camera, I was reading that 1000x is really the minimum to see enough detail on spores to use them for identification. It's fairly decently priced with good reviews check it out!
Hi, here is some advice:
1 - Magnification doesn't matter
Magnification or "zoom" is calculated by multiplying the objective magnification by the eyepiece magnification. The issue is that the eyepiece doesn't add any resolution to the image it simply makes it larger. Usually, people use a 10x eyepiece. Some microscope brands will misleading their customers into buying higher magnification microscopes with both a set of 10x and 25x eyepieces (which suck). 20x and 25x eyepieces have a very bad FOV, they severally decrease the image quality and nobody on this subreddit will ever recommend you buying them.
2 - if you can, buy a binocular microscope
3- most companies don't make their own microscopes
Olympus, Nikon, Leica and Zeiss manufacture their own microscopes (they are quite expensive though)
Omax, AmScope and all the other companies you will find on amazon buy microscopes from china and rebrand them. So that's why you will find a lot of identical microscopes sold by different brands.
You said your budget was 150$, but everything I managed to find for that price is either a monocular microscope, or it doesn't have a condenser (or both)
I used this model for almost 3 years and even though it's a bit over the budget, but it's probably the only thing I can really recommended.
-has 4 objectives
-has a proper condenser with a filter holder, that allows you to do more advanced illumination techniques like DARKFIELD and OBLIQUE ILLUMINATION.
- it's probably the best alternative for the price.
(I know it comes with the useless 25x eyepieces)
I’m brand new to microscopy and just bought this as my first microscope, it’s worked well so far and seems like a great microscope
From your goals with the microscope and price range in mind, I'd 100% look into getting an affordable binocular scope. I personally use the amscope b120c and it has been absolutely fantastic for me. When looking at the packages they offer for this one, I really suggest not getting the camera for it that is recommended. You can get better quality from your phone using a universal phone-to-eyepiece mount (you can buy these on Amazon for ~10$, they're marketed more towards telescopes but work for microscopes as well).
A lot of professional scopes get incredulously costly very quickly, and so there are actually a lot of helpful DIY techniques that have been created to help with building your own dark field, polarizing, etc Illumination techniques as well if you eventually want to do that. The binocular aspect has been a life changer too-- I quite literally never want to use monocular again if I can help it, it's a gamechanger.
All that I mind, I think that scope is a pretty great option considering your <300$ preference, the things you want to use it for, and in the point that it is definitely a good scope, especially for beginners. I've been using mine for ~3 years, and still happily find new things every day through it :)
Arch user here. I just bought a microscope but haven't set it up yet.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009JROROU/ref=cm_sw_r_u_apa_fabc_Lqt1FbXWWVP07?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
My plan was to use my Pixel 5 with a mount and run an Android viewer on my screen to collect images.
If you are referring to a cheap USB microscope, they will all basically run in Cheese or VLC or GUVCview. The only thing you won't get is their proprietary software, which I'm not sure why you'd want if you are running Arch.
Yes! I currently use the Amscope 40x-2500x, and there is actually a variant that comes with an optical camera- however, if i can spare some money and trouble on your end, i actually ended up just getting a universal optical piece to phone mount for telescopes and microscopes and use it far more than my optical cam! This is because I can save the videos directly to my phone, and it seems that you actually get better quality video through the phone anyways.
There are a lot of good beginner microscopes that actuall go a long ways, I'm still using the one I mentioned above after a year or so! Just be sure to pick up some slides and covers, and a small eye-dropper for ease of slide preparation :) another thing I would recommend is checking out 'Journey to the Microcosmos' on youtube! They are very good to watch if you are becoming interested in this topic, or just like to learn more about it through non-esoteric videos!
Most beginners start with an AMscope or a beginner Olympus scope- I currently use the AMscope 40x-2500x and it works great even after a year! It uses binocular viewing to ease the strain on just using one eye (which actually is such a huge benefit that I will no longer use monocular microscopes just because I don't want to go back) and there is a variant of that scope that comes with a camera attachment, however i actually prefer using a little universal phone mount for telescopes and microscopes from Amazon that works perfect! It even seems to get better quality video, with the plus of being able to save videos directly to my phone.
Whats great about compound light microscopes like these is that you can actually make your own filters at home for a range of viewing! So far I am creating my own Polarizing filter, and dark filter to get a different look at the microcosm. Also, if you are just getting into it, check out 'Journey to the Microcosmos' - voiced by someone you may recognize ;)
This looks like a pretty good one for a reasonable price out of the Amazon choices.
https://www.amazon.com/AmScope-B120C-Magnification-Illumination-Double-Layer/dp/B009JROROU/
You can get a B120C with or without an included camera. If you have a fairly decent cell phone camera (especially a dedicated telephoto lens), your best bet for quality imaging will be a cell phone camera adapter.
In general, a few hundred dollars is more than enough for a quality scope. There isn't a whole lot of difference until you spend more or get into advanced hobbyist territory buying older clinical microscopes on eBay. If you skip to the "product positioning" section in this review I talk about how there really isn't a big difference in what scope you buy.
You're arriving into microscopy at a golden age of cheap, decent microscopes. Well done!
You'll be spending some serious time at your microscope, so I like to recommend comfort and ergonomics. You need to figure out a desk (STURDY, shaky desks suck for microscopy) & chair combination that puts you at a good height & distance from your scope, but you also want a scope that you can use without too much strain and hassle. I recommend a binocular (2 eyes) compound (multiple lenses/magnification options) scope with a mechanical (use dials to move your sample around, rather than manually sliding your slide around) stage.
Here's one for $200, shipped, on amazon. I don't have this exact scope, but I use another amscope and am very very pleased with it for the price.
I assume you want to get at what causes hair to split, microfracture, etc. rather than a lower magnification look.
Seems like you have your fair share of knowledge into what you want to observe, thats very good to begin with.
After hearing you were inspecting leaves and their microscopic fauna, I was about to reccommend a good dissecting microscope- however, since you are more in the range of a few ten to hundred μm, I would definitley reccommend a microscope.
I purchased an Amscope 40x-2500x with a digital camera attachment, but let me tell you, I never ended up using its included camera because of resolution, and ended up getting a multi purpose tele/microscope phone mount and using my phone as a camera, which worked fantastic. The microscope costs 164$ used on amazon, or 180$ new, without the included camera. This saves you about 100$, and you can buy the phone mount for 15$ and get a great bang for your buck.
Its an amazing microscope and I don't know why it doesn't have more reviews under its belt, but every microscopy post I have on my profile is taken with that very microscope. I am soon posting one about a macroscopic Stylaria worm soon, which will showcase the resolution better because I now know how to operate it properly, haha.
All in all, you're saving about 100$ off the microscope taking the route I wish I had taken, and if you want to invest more, poke around later after getting used to the microscope for different magnifications of objective lenses and focal lenses online, or some pipettes/slides/concave slides for your specimins. Happy microbe hunting!
Link to the microscope on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009JROROU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_NcnkEbA47J64P
Link to phone mount: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013D2ULO6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_fknkEbJ582N8W
Definitely modeled after an AMScope.
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