Looking at Cracks in Rocks

[RyanGriffith]

Hello!

I was reading some cool stuff done with a Nikon SMZ-U Stereomicroscope to look at cracks in a solid piece of rock:

"In order to directly observe [...] microcracks [...] a stereoscopic microscope (Nikon, SMZ-U) with a magnifying power of 110 times was used."

Do you think I would be able to acheive similar magnifications with a digital USB microscope?

Appreciate any advice!

[PeteM]

You could get similar magnifications, but face other issues.

A cheap USB scope won't likely have much working distance, so it could be harder to light the subject. In addition the optics will be not as good and you won't have (while viewing) the 3D effect of stereo. Though, at 110x, not much of that even in a good stereo scope.

Is 100x+ magnification really required to view these cracks?? I'd think a much lower magnification might be sufficient. Curious what's revealed by these cracks?