What is Reddit's opinion of AmScope SE400-Z Professional Binocular Stereo Microscope, WF10x and WF20x Eyepieces, 10X and 20X Magnification, 1X Objective, LED Lighting, Boom-Arm Stand, 110V-120V?

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While digital microscopes are great for QA inspection, nothing beats an stereo microscope for actually doing work on a board. The stereo scope gives you depth of field so you can actually tell how far something like your solder iron is from the board and the likes.

I've mainly used the scope OP has but I have also used this lower model AmScope for $224 USD (https://www.amazon.com/AmScope-SE400-Z-Professional-Microscope-Magnification/dp/B005C75IVM). It's not as easily adjustable as the higher models, obviously they have to cut features to make it cheaper, it seems like a perfect scope for hobby work.

Once you start working under a microscope, no matter how good your eye sight, you can never go back, and you will also realize how terrible your soldering actually is.

I find that most digital scopes are slow to respond to movement. Your soldering iron can become wavy in the video feed. Also looking a screen and soldering is not very easy. Go with Amscope or other knockoff. Best bang for the buck: https://smile.amazon.com/AmScope-SE400-Z-Professional-Microscope-Magnification/dp/B005C75IVM/ref=sr\_1\_6?crid=1O8AJRZOUTLFR&keywords=amscope&qid=1651770105&sprefix=amscope%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-6

https://www.amazon.ca/AmScope-SE400-Z-Professional-Microscope-Magnification/dp/B005C75IVM

you can get these for about $200, they are fantastic for a few reasons.

best bang for your buck

very small on the bench

VERY long working distance, most microscopes only focus a few inches away but this guy is is high enough up that you aren't bumping your irons off it or whatever

stereo.

the only thing I'd do is throw the light in the garbage and get a cheap LED ring light. I've got two of these microscopes and every time I try other ones that my friends use, they drive me bonkers.

anyhow, the key important things to look for in a scope for this kind of thing is that it's in the range of 10X, is stereo, and has a big working distance.

nice to haves would be different base/mounts if your desk allows it, also having one with dual objectives lest you plug a digital camera into it while still being able to use the eye pieces. the price for these skyrockets and unless you are going to document what you do or make videos, it's a massive waste of money.

You said it's a Nikon microscope, but what one? I have been looking for one like this on a swivel like that. Which one is it?

I've been looking at this

I am new at this, but the setup I had for electronics seems to be working well for mini painting. I am using one of these binocular microscopes:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005C75IVM/

and two LED lamps which total about ~~1600W~~ 1600 Lumens of 5500K light.

Edit: Whoops, 1600 Watts would be blinding.

A microscope will help tremendously. Get one with an LED light and an adjustable viewpiece. This is the microscope I use at work. It does pretty well.

Grab some kapton tape and a good vise or very solid pair of helping hands.

A multimeter, quick alloy, desoldering braid, solder sucker, a collection of tips would be my next purchases in your shoes.

EDIT: Spend the money on the soldering iron. A good soldering iron will give consistent heat for quicker, cleaner work.

A low cost AmScope is a good option for starters: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005C75IVM/

I highly echo /u/MeshColour , this microscope is effectively a toy in my eyes. I've gotten one as a gift many years ago and the image sensor is just extremely awful to the point of being unusable.

I quickly bought myself one of these amscope ones (back when they used that truly awful incandescent light source) and it has been far more usable. I then set up a rig with my D5100 DSLR to digitize what I was seeing. A few years later when modern phone cameras got good enough, I just started to hold my phone to the eyepiece and it worked great. You also cannot get enough light, ever, the more lighting you have the better things will go, both for your eyes and for your cameras. I found a ring light to be by far the best upgrade for these types of setups.

My use case though was precision work with circuit boards.

For example, this first picture;

> https://brainyv2.hak8or.com/AT91SAM9N12/FinalThoughts.html

And the vast majority of these macro shots;

> https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOmEnFM-1nN6bQX01bM79AkG6bK0lQYbilGCs9S4mnhmfGlFtGNGGh-MCb4aiRnEA?key=X2JYNS1RMWYwM2tlWDMydkNMc2JSS3cwN2xrWHFB

Thank you so much!

This AmScope one together with a 0.5X objective lens will get you very far!

I'm really grateful for this answer thanks a lot. I really appreciate it and I feel like I clearly understand the problem now.

Here are the photos of my lenses and Zoom wheel:

https://ibb.co/Y8jmMfR

https://ibb.co/VpkypVv

https://ibb.co/wS1XRjp

I have 10x eye pieces, no lens and a 0,8x to 4x Zoom Wheel.From what I understand, the zoom option does not play a role in the focus so my only option would be to get 20x eye lenses or a 0,5x lense like you said but the prices seem to be really high for that considering I got this Microscope for $200CAD (around 150USD).

While I can definitely feel the quality of it, I'm not sure it's worth it at this point. Maybe I should have stuck with the AmScope on Amazon...

EDIT: Question.. I think the AmScope gave me more distance with its 10x eye lenses. Is it possible or is it just a feeling because of how slim the design is?

Even a $200 20X binocular will help. I actually have the 90X version which is more like $450; I find that 20X-45X is about right for most work.