Low budget Microscope/Camera for SMD Soldering/Inspection

[sairfan1]

For a while i was looking for some microscope camera to inspect soldering or fix when needed, I asked this question in the forum and i came to know to spend a little more and buy some stereo microscope.

I'm sharing here links from aliexpress i want to know if someone have good experience with any of these, or you can recommend some in budget, I can spend about $300 for this.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/1005002776263692.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.19d62e0eCHIaVl

This one is more expensive, not sure if its some brand or just showing it in a way to look good.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/1005002747049011.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.19d62e0eCHIaVl

[jmelson]

For a while i was looking for some microscope camera to inspect soldering or fix when needed, I asked this question in the forum and i came to know to spend a little more and buy some stereo microscope.

I'm sharing here links from aliexpress i want to know if someone have good experience with any of these, or you can recommend some in budget, I can spend about $300 for this.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/1005002776263692.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.19d62e0eCHIaVl

We have this one at work, although with a dual-rod stand that allows the scope to be off to the side of the stand, giving more room to work on larger boards, etc.
The ring light sticks down too far, so I made my own ring light, with a piece of PCB material with two concentric copper rings and a groove cut between them.
I soldered 8 white LEDs withn 1K series resistors on each LED, running off a 12 V wall-wart supply.  The PCB's center hole is large enough to fit well up that black cone on the bottom of the scope.
Jon

[RayRay]

$300 is definitely not considered "low budget"!
Anyhow, in my opinion, the G1200 provides an exceptional price/quality ratio:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001470325891.html
And it has an option of having a reachargable battery.
If you want somehing more advance, this would suffice:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000013736134.html
But it doesn't come with a stand, so you'd need to purchase it in separate.

[sairfan1]

We have this one at work, although with a dual-rod stand that allows the scope to be off to the side of the stand, giving more room to work on larger boards, etc.
The ring light sticks down too far, so I made my own ring light, with a piece of PCB material with two concentric copper rings and a groove cut between them.
I soldered 8 white LEDs withn 1K series resistors on each LED, running off a 12 V wall-wart supply.  The PCB's center hole is large enough to fit well up that black cone on the bottom of the scope.
Jon

In your opinion how scope works for you, is it good enough?

[sairfan1]

$300 is definitely not considered "low budget"!

Mostly i see around $800 or above, so it looks like my budget is quite below, I also came across some reviews and discussions they were all about higher budget
I'm worried if spending this much money is enough or should i wait more to have enough budget.

[RayRay]

Well, just like there's a honda and a ferrari, there's microscopes with varying quality/features and costs.
$300 is well above the minimun pricing for one, so I personally don't consider it to be low.
Anyhow, you need to take into consideration the features you're after (such as if HDMI or PC connection is needed, so you could see things on a larger screen) as well sa the size of the circuit boards you'll be working with. For small to medium sized boards, even a $70 microscope will suffice.

[GerryR]

Amscope makes some reasonably priced digital as well as optical industrial inspection microscopes.
Main site:
https://amscope.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAtouOBhA6EiwA2nLKH1pMBt-iRegF7fxibvcPgCdJlZKxlaOhSzVTc_xm3_bcp4CDMfiEqBoCNh0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
One of many digital scopes.
https://amscope.com/collections/stereo-microscopes-industrial-inspection/products/uhm210-11

I have an optical binocular with a camera mounted in one eyepiece and a regular eyepiece in the second one.  The software that comes with the camera is quite adequate and easy to learn / use.

[jmelson]

In your opinion how scope works for you, is it good enough?

The scope is fine, the field of view is quite good, working distance is good.  But, you want to make sure the boards you will be working on can fit under the mount without blocking the board.
Jon

[Psi]

Don't get a microscope unless the shipping is DHL/FEDEX/UPS
The optics are just too delicate for normal drop-kick shipping.

'Luckyzoom' on aliexpress is a seller that I trust the most for getting microscopes from china. 
Have done 5 purchases from them over the years, a friend got one, as did i, and company i work for got 3.
The price will be a little higher because they only ship microscopes DHL/FEDEX/UPS.

[wizard69]

You might want to look for used Olympus stereo microscopes.   New ones are expensive but sometimes deals pop up for used ones.   Often the price is around your set point for the simpler stereo microscopes.

I only bring this up because we use more than  few of Olympus's offerings at work and they hold up really well to continuous use.   Beyond that they have a huge range of accessories that can also be found used.   It is funny that I bring up used because there is an auction going on at Dovebid for a number of Olympus scopes.   Maybe not what you want but the reserves on lots of 6 are very low.   Then there is E-Bay.

For a while i was looking for some microscope camera to inspect soldering or fix when needed, I asked this question in the forum and i came to know to spend a little more and buy some stereo microscope.

I'm sharing here links from aliexpress i want to know if someone have good experience with any of these, or you can recommend some in budget, I can spend about $300 for this.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/1005002776263692.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.19d62e0eCHIaVl

This one is more expensive, not sure if its some brand or just showing it in a way to look good.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/1005002747049011.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.19d62e0eCHIaVl

[sairfan1]

I found a few new brands, I just wanted to ensure if any of these brands were used by some forum user so that i have some feedback

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002368320152.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.1c093c000uwMw6&mp=1

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001667614191.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.1c093c000uwMw6&mp=1

[jmelson]

You might want to look for used Olympus stereo microscopes.   New ones are expensive but sometimes deals pop up for used ones.   Often the price is around your set point for the simpler stereo microscopes.

Yes, I have a used Olympus at home, and like it very much.  I made my own ring light for that one,too, as described above.
Jon

[Jeff1946]

My iphone SE magnifier can do a pretty good job of magnification.  If your phone can do this give it a try. 

[tkamiya]

My suggestion will be to look for used Nikon, Olympus, etc, rather than going unknown model route.  Build and optical quality is so much better than inexpensive products.  What's important though, is you can LOWER the magnification enough.  10X is often too much for the purpose intended.  I find 5X perfect.

There are types you can zoom and/or switch between 10x and 40x.  What's called a barrow lens can be attached below it to lower the magnification to half that.

[rpiloverbd]

I find these helpful:

[sairfan1]

Thanks everyone helping me on this.

I checked ebay for used Nikon/Plympus scopes but there was not a single available, and looks like its going to be very expensive
I ordered one of above Chinese scope from Aliexpress I will get back to forum once i have it, so that we can review its capabilities.

[Psi]

I ordered one of above Chinese scope from Aliexpress I will get back to forum once i have it, so that we can review its capabilities.

If you ordered that 'typical' model that everyone on here has then you should be very happy with it.
They are great.  If it doesn't come with one then order the 0.5x barlow lens for it . The larger working distance is super nice.

When it arrives, take some time to get the focus adjustments right. There is the main focus adj on the microscope and one adj each on the eyepieces.  And there is also the adjustment for the eyepiece spacing (interpupil distance).  It should stay in focus when you zoom out and in again.

[sairfan1]

There you go, I choose and bought one from the above discussed options spent $450, It was shipped through UPS and received in 12 days in Canada, paid duty taxes about $33 (including UPS fee)

Here are some pictures attached how it was packed.

Please also refer to pictures having first look.

1. zoomed.jpg, it was zoomed picture was taken from scope eyepiece, this one look bit nice (distance from object was about 4 inches)

2. camera_picture.jpg this picture was taken from camera that claims 38MP camera, and it does not look like though, picture resolution is 8000x6000 and I believe its misleading, I request some members to download and examine this picture to ensure if its a fake resolution. Please note that no digital zoom was used for this picture. (I will also try to figure out)
(I was not able to upload the file shared through google drive) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jRAqWs-dy0ejD_AC2vFW3rf9Z9-zMks2/view?usp=sharing

Overall scope view is quite reasonable (though I'm not experienced user) but I can see a good clear view.
However there are few very small transparent spots in the view they are not trouble at all, looks like it was made with some C class lenses?
Its a little hard to align eyepieces to have equal view for both eyes but with a little effort I believe it works, not sure its something common among stereo scopes.

Here is the store link (if you want to buy or should not buy with this seller)
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/911706399

Link to item
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002368320152.html

[jfiresto]

... 2. camera_picture.jpg this picture was taken from camera that claims 38MP camera, and it does not look like though, picture resolution is 8000x6000 and I believe its misleading, I request some members to download and examine this picture to ensure if its a fake resolution

I see about the same level of detail when I decimate the JPEG to 1280x960 (1.3 megapixel resolution).

However there are few very small transparent spots in the view they are not trouble at all, looks like it was made with some C class lenses?

There is no excuse for spots – not on a fresh, new microscope! Do you see the same ones through both eyepieces and with the camera? If just one eyepiece, do they rotate when you rotate the eyepiece? (Just some questions to suggest what might already need cleaning.)

[sairfan1]

Please refer to attached camera picture, is there a way to ensure camera resolution? I do not have any experience with zoomed picture taken with a scope.

[jfiresto]

Traditionally, you look at resolution targets like these and find the finest details you can distinguish, although you tend to overestimate the resolution if you choose by eye.

For a low power stereo microscope, I print out a simple black and white target with a laser printer and look at the toner particles which are roughly 5~10µm across. If you are interested, I can upload a target PDF and show you what one of my microscopes can manage.

EDIT: For higher magnifications, I look at old UV-erasable EPROMs. People also use naked IC wafers which do not have a window in the way that can distort the image.

[sairfan1]

I do not exactly remember about 4/5 years ago Dave did a video about camera for PCB review, I was trying to find but could not.
Does anyone remember that and can share the link?