European source for beginner scopes?

[josmann]

So I don’t live in Europe, but I get a lot of folks from Europe asking me what they should buy. Most people are looking to spend under 300 ($ or € or £) and most people are beginners so I’m hesitant to direct them to the used market.

In the US, I always have a good answer. The BoliScope as I’ve come to call it provides the best in class value for a new scope as far as I can tell: https://bolioptics.com/40x-1500x-led-bi ... -xy-stage/

The price on that is pretty great considering it’s trinoc and compatible with accessories for the Amscope 490 and it also plays very nicely with vintage 160mm optics thanks to a very neutral optical path. If anyone knows a better deal on a similar new, domestically shipped scope, please let me know!

Anyway, my question is: in the European market, is there something comparable to the BoliScope? A nicely built and equipped scope at a good price? Hiding on some obscure optics supplier’s catalog?

[MikeBradley]

A good source of microscopes in the UK is Brunel microscopes: http://www.brunelmicroscopes.co.uk/

They a have a dedicated website dealing with various used and reconditioned microscopy related items and there are often reasonably priced microscopes there: https://www.usedmicroscopes.co.uk/

Michael

[apochronaut]

Another option is to buy directly from one of the many distributors or factories in China. Many will sell 1 unit and sometimes the package is customizable. If you go to the Made in China website, search your preference, then connect with the quoted agent you can see what's available. Sometimes you will get rerouted to something they want to sell you from what you want but I found the site useful. As with any purchase, shopping around is advised and there are numerous options on the site.
Some of well known Chinese distributors such as Bestscope use the site extensively. In my experience, Bestscope is very reliable and supremely honest. They even set up a bank account in a Canadian bank so I could pay directly to them in Canadian $, which is highly unusual. Almost always, when dealing internationally, Canadians have to pay to exchange into $U.S.

[josmann]

Another option is to buy directly from one of the many distributors or factories in China.

Yeah I think that's a good option if you're seasoned but a lot of folks that are asking are young and/or inexperienced so they might not be super comfortable with that process.

Anyone in the EU wanna start a business importing decent hobbyist scopes and reselling them for fair prices???

[Scarodactyl]

Imagine the overhead. You want to do this right of course so you are going to have to test them--not every scope you get from China will be in good condition. Maybe it's something you can fix, maybe not, and you'l have to hash that out with your Chinese supplier without losing too much money or thr business relationship. Now you have customers to deal with--you have to ship them delicate equipment that they don't know how to use--what's a user error and what is an equipment problem? It feels like it could quickly become a full time job whether you like it or not, and that would have to be reflected in the markup on the scopes.

[apochronaut]

Another option is to buy directly from one of the many distributors or factories in China.

Yeah I think that's a good option if you're seasoned but a lot of folks that are asking are young and/or inexperienced so they might not be super comfortable with that process.

Anyone in the EU wanna start a business importing decent hobbyist scopes and reselling them for fair prices???

That's too bad because the factory or distributor will have a higher level of responsibilty than a sales machine style of dealer. Fear isn't the most reliable tool to go shopping with.

Dealers such as Amscope don't provide and are known for a low level of service and one of the reasons is that they buy a certain number of units for resale at such and such a price, then resell them as is. They rely on factory inspection not their own. That's the system they have agreed on in order to maximize profit at the lowest purchase price and it will be the same eith anyone else they sign a dealer agreement with unless they agree on a different pricing structure. The factory expects the dealer to be the service rep. for the lower price offered. It doesn't take place as the factory intended, partly because the service rep. doesn't stock a sufficient parts inventory and lacks a sufficient knowledge base. In order to change that, the price has to go up.

If you buy a single microscope from the same factory or disttibutor, you will pay more than the local dealer will but less than what they sell it for. The factory or distributor becomes the service rep., where they have parts, a knowledge base and a much higher incentive to provide service and not just sales.
The one time I had to send something back , the distributor sent them back on their shipping account. They arrived in Beijing in less than 7 days and they replaced the items immediately with brand new ones at their expense.

[Scarodactyl]

It is ridiculous how cheap some things are direct from China. I have gotten a couple things with QC issues but nothing too insane.

[deBult]

Reliable sources for new and 2nd hand scopes in Europe

UK: https://www.brunelmicroscopessecure.co.uk/index.html (already mentioned above, also good new scopes and supplies)

NL: https://www.neopta.eu/ (also some supporting supplies)

GER: http://www.mikroskop-online.de/ (mainly Zeiss and Leitz)

GER: https://www.microscopia.de/ (repairshop for Leitz and Leica, others on inquiry, 2nd hand scopes of all major suppliers)

[Marc]

Anyway, my question is: in the European market, is there something comparable to the BoliScope? A nicely built and equipped scope at a good price? Hiding on some obscure optics supplier’s catalog?

the microscope you post is mounting simple achro objectives and the head and chassis are old.

In Europe I can recommend this model around 350 euro:
https://bmsmicroscopes.com/BMS-C0-223-t ... objectives

the reason for that good price is because this model is around 2010 year, and probably this is an out-line stock. Years ago the price was around 600-700 euro. The new Chinese models at that segment now comes with inverted nosepieces, although this is not relevant on quality.

It mounts a good quality semi-plan optics and a precise and heavy chassis of 7 Kg weight.

I have seen new upgrades on this model with plain optics and LED around 1.000 $:
https://www.homesciencetools.com/produc ... an-optics/

I have this model and I'm very happy with it. It is very upgradable. There is possibility to add phase contrast, quintuple nosepieces, kohler diaphragm... This is a very good option for a hobbyist in the market, which probably will expire in coming times. I acquired its phase contrast kit for only 200 euros because it was at the end of stock. So definitely I imagine the whole line is ending its life.

There are quite european brands with a very good relation price/quality: Optika, Kern, BMS, Euromex, Levenhuk, Motic(international)... Also there are smaller import business who are selling on-line rebranded chinese microscopes, although their prices are not specially better.

https://www.optikamicroscopes.com/
https://www.motic.com/
https://www.breukhoven.nl/
https://bmsmicroscopes.com/
https://levenhuk.com/
https://www.euromex.com/

one online shop:
https://www.astroshop.eu/microscopy/23

[Marc]

It is ridiculous how cheap some things are direct from China. I have gotten a couple things with QC issues but nothing too insane.

bad thing is when buying directly from China will have VAT taxes and import duties. It can arrive until 40% depending countries.
I doubt strongly that an individual buyer could obtain better prices in Chinese on-line platforms than buying to those brands

[Marc]

Reliable sources for new and 2nd hand scopes in Europe

when I bought my first microscope I discarded the used market of the expensive brands (Olympus, Nikon.. ). Is too expensive anyway. Somebody can buy a 30-40 years old Olympus device probably with achro objectives and risks of imperfections or damages. And anyway the later upgrades with used Olympus components will be very expensive. Even an old piece of plastic named Olympus can have absurd high prices in Ebay.

I wonder where is the sense, specially when later anyone can check how many of those users are buying their upgrades in AliExpress. Because later they don't wish to buy an used Olympus plain objective for 200 euro when in AliExpress costs 70, and differences are not noticeable for common purposes. Recently somebody asked in this board about some wonderful youtube videos recorded with a Motic because he believed were not authentic.

For a beginner I wouldn't take that road. I would go for a new modern device in good quality/price.

After some years perhaps one could find that he is so engaged, or he wish special features, or to participate in photography contests. Then one could invest more than 6.000 euros in a new Olympus or a similar device for his new higher requirements.

I'm not any expert but that's my view.

[Scarodactyl]

It is ridiculous how cheap some things are direct from China. I have gotten a couple things with QC issues but nothing too insane.

bad thing is when buying directly from China will have VAT taxes and import duties. It can arrive until 40% depending countries.
I doubt strongly that an individual buyer could obtain better prices in Chinese on-line platforms than buying to those brands

To give an idea this is the Unitron Z650HR

It retails for like ~3kusd from them. I got one direct from China for like 700 dollars (plus not much more for 15x eyepieces and a 2x aux lens). Even with shipping and duties the value can be there.

[apochronaut]

It is kind of ridiculous to think that if you are paying X amount of duty and tax on a direct import from China, that you won't be paying that anyway from a dealer selling the same item, which they had to import from the same source. It is there, just partly rolled into the markup then with extra tax added on their profit margin.

It is always best to buy as directly as possible. You did well on that "Unitron". My BS-3090 ended up being in the range of 5200.00 U.S., when everything was totalled, including shipping and border fees. I paid in CDN. , so I can't remrmber the U.S. $ exactly. There isn't a hope in a million that microscope would have come that cheap from anyone else willing to deliver it to me here and it came with some factory perks. The Unitron branded version was 12,000 then. Add shipping and 13% tax to that.