MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Hello
I'm new to this world so i don't know if i can post links of other pages or something like that so i apologize if i can't.I was wondering if this microscope

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2MP-1000X-8-LED ... 419d0a35b5


can fit my needs, because i need to see some bacteria like Escherichia coli Streptococcus sp. Staphylococcus sp. Campylobacter sp. Eimeria sp. Isospora sp. and others. I'm looking for a cheap USB digital 8 led 1000x microscope to suit my needs, but i wanna know if the experts approve this device for the reasons i need it. So, please let me know if i can see some of these bacteria that i mentioned previously with this kind of microscope. Thanks.
Best regards.


Luis

Greetings Luis, and welcome here.

In short, I seriously doubt that the microscope that you linked to will be able to resolve bacteria.

Firstly, I am sceptical about a 1000x magnification claim in this type of microscope. In my experience these handheld USB types give good workable results up to maybe 150x, and they are quite good at it. But anything more will almost certainly require an optical train that is inherently different.

Secondly, the illumination is from above, and therefore does not pass through the specimen. Such methods of illumination are great for seeing colour and 3-D effects at lowish magnification, but less effective in resolving power. Bacteria, being as small as they are, require maximum resolution to show themselves, and probably only with the help of a condenser and iris ( gadgets that control the light shining through the specimen).

With a very basic compound microscope, I have seen bacteria at as low as 400x as dark silhouettes, and I was able to make out their shape: spiral, coccus etc. So even though magnification is important, the correct optical configuration is critical.

I think a basic compound microscope fitted with an condenser and an oil immersion lens will probably better suit our needs. But don't expect brilliant images of the internal workings of bacterial cells, either. First check out some images on the internet of what can viewed with light microscopes when it comes to things as small as bacteria, otherwise you might be disappointed.

You may also find this article useful: http://www.microbehunter.com/observing- ... icroscope/

Mintaka wrote:Greetings Luis, and welcome here.

In short, I seriously doubt that the microscope that you linked to will be able to resolve bacteria.

===========deleted for brevity===========

With a very basic compound microscope, I have seen bacteria at as low as 400x as dark silhouettes, and I was able to make out their shape: spiral, coccus etc. So even though magnification is important, the correct optical configuration is critical.

I think a basic compound microscope fitted with an condenser and an oil immersion lens will probably better suit our needs. But don't expect brilliant images of the internal workings of bacterial cells, either. First check out some images on the internet of what can viewed with light microscopes when it comes to things as small as bacteria, otherwise you might be disappointed.

You may also find this article useful: http://www.microbehunter.com/observing- ... icroscope/

This is exactly the advice you need, the USB hand-held will simply not fulfill your requirements. A basic monocular 'scope really can cost less that a USB hand-held. Mintaka is spot-on with his advice.

Best of luck, you should be OK if you avoid the very limited hand-held USB 'microscope'...

Luis, absolutely not!

Check this link on this site's Home page to understand what is required to observe bacteria.

http://www.microbehunter.com/observing- ... icroscope/

Luis, you will not see any individual bacteria with that scope. You need a "real" compound microscope. Even with a professional microscope, bacterias can be difficult to capture because of them being so small and also transparent which makes it hard to get good contrast. Staining is normally used to increase the contrast or methods like phase contrast and DIC can also be used for living bacterias. I would buy a used microscope on ebay with, for example, phase contrast, which would allow you to see bacteria. You need objectives with 40X and above to get decent size of the critters on film. Expect to pay a couple of hundred dollars at least for a decent scope.

Here is an example I took with an Olympus microscope with a 60X objective. Note that a 60X objective will give you roughly 600X magnification as the eye pieces magnify the image another 10X.



Bacteria Colony - Bacillus by https://www.flickr.com/photos/micromundus/, on Flickr

read this article http://www.typesofbacteria.co.uk/using- ... teria.html and I would recommend considering this microscope for your needs https://www.ebay.com/itm/OMAX-40X-2000X ... SwQaJXRcRO

Luis

I looked at the specs of the scope mentioned in the link above this one.
As hkv and others remarked, you need good optics to see bacteria.
And it may be important to have good contrast, e.g. phase contrast and more.
I am not sure that this scope can be upgraded in this sense.
Moreover, its illumination is a 3W LED. Although the wattage rating alone does not describe a LED completely, 3W appears to me adequate maybe for humble bright field only.
The 20x eyepieces offered with the scope are not really useful for anything.
I notice that the offered objectives are achromats, not plan-achromats.
For a price tag of over 1600 USD I would at least consider other options as well.

Good luck

Please see:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10114#p86030

MichaelG.

I use something like the linked product at work. It is very good for some things, but 1000x is completely untrue. In reality 100x is pretty accurate. You definitely will not be able to observe bacteria in any way.

Those digital microscopes are a diction. They claim of 1000x is meaningless. They are really practically limited to 20 or 30x on a small computer screen. Of course you can blow them up with a projector to look much larger but the resolution is not there. I use mine as a kind of poor man's "stereo" microscope.