Need to select first microscope for photography

[davenc]

Greetings from North Carolina. It's hot here. Really hot right now. And, we're stuck mostly inside. So, I am back to wanting to use a microscope to explore and to make prints from the things I see. I'm really enjoying and appreciating your YouTube videos and advice. Your generous with your time and I appreciate that.

I've had this interest for a couple decades now and every time I research buying one I end up giving up. It is so confusing and the prices are all over the map. Perhaps you experts here can advise me?

I am considering:
GreatScopes:
$946 Revelation III Trinocular
$200 PLAN Objectives
$59 High Point Eyepieces
$32 Super Blank Slide Kit
$179 Dry Darkfield Condenser
—————
$1,416

$619 MiniVid Camera USB 3.0
$200 guess 60x PLAN Objective (I do not wish to mess with oil and 100x is probable not that useful to me)
$115 200 Prepared Slides (from Amscope)
—————
$2,350


However, when I check OMAX, AmScope, or Swift it appears I can get nearly the same setup for half or less. What am I missing here?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

[BramHuntingNematodes]

If you take just a little time you could likely get a fine old trinocular scope with objectives for just two or three hundred bucks. Maybe start there and see if you really like the hobby before dropping two thou. Heck, you could probably get a decent old student scope shipped to your house for fifty and take some pictures with your cell phone. You get the practical experience to know which features really mean that much to you with very little risk.

If you don't like fiddling with microscopes a lot, this might not be the best hobby for you. If you look at the premium research scopes being produced today, you can spend a lot of money, many thousands even, on contemporary features to reduce time spent with a microscope for a given task. They call it throughput or some such, and it's for people that don't have to care for microscopy but have to do a lot of it anyway. I don't think greatscopes' machines necessarily fall into this category (these prices are still very introductory for new microscopes) and so will still require quite a bit of fiddling!

[apochronaut]

You have to be careful with the pricing of Chinese microscopes. There are a lot of unknown factors involved and it is easy to pay up to 1000.00 more from one broker than from another. I'm already seeing that microscope and actually from Greatscopes too, at 749.00 for the trinocular, which is a little high for a microscope like that . 946.00 is way too much. High eyepoint eyepieces? You are a glasses wearer? 200.00 tor a 60X plan. That's close to double.

I would say you are sitting at about 700.00 too much . LW Scientific does have a history of buying and selling some of the better Chinese equipment but I can't quite figure this one out. It's a step backwards for them.

The LW 200M was a really good microscope with a 23mm f.o.v. capability , 100 watt capability, fluorescence capability, phase capability., oil DF capability. This is the 20 watt version . It was and still is made by Changsha Suny.
https://americanlaboratorytrading.com/l ... scope_9615

[davenc]

I decided to test the waters, as you suggest. I ordered on Amazon the Swift SW380T, an AmScope A60X 60X Achromatic Microscope Objective, and AmScope Deluxe Assorted Sample Specimens Set w/Microscope Slides & Slipcovers for under $500. I will start with my iPhone for images and research which camera would work well with a Mac.

A camera suggestions is appreciated.

Thanks, and it is great to have access to this site and the videos. I'm looking forward to messing about with this microscope.

[wtroutDPM]

If you are trying to get into digital photography with a camera and not a phone, there is no better book than Brian Matsumoto's " Practical Digital Photomicrography",and his "Introduction of Digital Photomicrography. Available at Amazon for $15 to $20. He discusses he use of the older Leitz Ortholux and Zeiss and Olympus scopes for this purpose. Lietz Ortholux I will do everything but make love to you. It is a very stable and heavy scope, but they were built to last. Make sure you get a transformer with the scope. I think many members of this forum would agree that this is a classic. Good idea to get one that has been serviced by a certified Leitz technician. I am relatively new to this hobby myself, and I got one from a used microscope dealer who was a certified Leitz technician. I saw one on e-bay not long ago for $1600 and was refurbished by a leitz dealer. Good luck