Cheap portable microscope
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:08 pm
On a whim, I bought one of those cheap portable microscopes on Amazon Prime day for a friend who had seen someone else using one and liked it. He doesn't have a microscope and this seemed like a good way to get him interested without spending a lot. Anyway, he's starting to send me pics and for a $30 microscope, it is surprisingly nice.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DV ... UTF8&psc=1
Obviously this is no Zeiss, but it is a good way to get someone interested in the micro world without much of a financial commitment. We also thought it might be useful at work to see small breaks in PCB traces and solder joints.
Thoughts on this particular scope:
- There might be better scopes in this price range - I didn't research that.
- It seems to be functioning at around 50x. As for 1000x - hmmmm???
- The wireless feature is nice, and easy to hook up on iPhone. Less easy for me to hook up on Android. It does seem to cause a little delay so that the image freezes as you move a subject around. The hard-wired scopes may have less delay.
- This one hooks up via wi-fi (not bluetooth) to the phone. I don't know if that means you need to be on a wi-fi network or if it would work on normal LTE mode allowing you to go out of range of a router.
- The camera is surprisingly decent. Video has not been tried yet. Sends the image right to your phone, which is also your viewing screen.
- It has the advantage of portability and is good for viewing something stationary or large that can not be viewed under a regular microscope.
- Longevity - TBD
Overall I'm pleasantly surprised and my friend is out there somewhere right now searching for insect wings and etc to view under his microscope.
Heather
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DV ... UTF8&psc=1
Obviously this is no Zeiss, but it is a good way to get someone interested in the micro world without much of a financial commitment. We also thought it might be useful at work to see small breaks in PCB traces and solder joints.
Thoughts on this particular scope:
- There might be better scopes in this price range - I didn't research that.
- It seems to be functioning at around 50x. As for 1000x - hmmmm???
- The wireless feature is nice, and easy to hook up on iPhone. Less easy for me to hook up on Android. It does seem to cause a little delay so that the image freezes as you move a subject around. The hard-wired scopes may have less delay.
- This one hooks up via wi-fi (not bluetooth) to the phone. I don't know if that means you need to be on a wi-fi network or if it would work on normal LTE mode allowing you to go out of range of a router.
- The camera is surprisingly decent. Video has not been tried yet. Sends the image right to your phone, which is also your viewing screen.
- It has the advantage of portability and is good for viewing something stationary or large that can not be viewed under a regular microscope.
- Longevity - TBD
Overall I'm pleasantly surprised and my friend is out there somewhere right now searching for insect wings and etc to view under his microscope.
Heather