The new eevblog review of cheap usb microscope is great!
I am also start with cheap microscope few year ago, their price is attractive to try and play around.
Everybody are welcome to compare the cheap usb microscope capture video to the below 1080p lifecam studio mod one,
most people should note the great different, without the bad the good cannot be realized.
The detail lifecam studio modification video is available in youtube,
I strongly suggest diyer mod the lifecam themselves with their lens and stand and it's more fun.
Please be care do not purchase the older lifecam cinema model it's 720p only and the internel is different(please refer to the above member old link for detail),
the newer lifecam studio 1080p(although it's already released for 2 year but it's still the top) in amazon always has discount over the microsoft suggest retail price,
btw, CS mount can also be attached to the lifecam studio with deeply mod, all CS mount lens can be used afterward!
http://www.ricoh-mv-security.eu/en/ssd_products_image_processing.phpcapture video from 1080p lifecam studio
http://www.diyinhk.com/support/cam1080a.mp4The first video demonstrate the motion quality of the microscope, it's capture at the great 15cm working distance and with only four 5mm cree led for lighting. Most usb camera only capable of static quality, when the object is moving, serious motion blur will happen and it is not good for real time smt soldering.
http://www.diyinhk.com/support/cam1080b.mp4The second video demonstrate the depth of field of the microscope, the PCB is 45 degree to the table. The XMOS chip is 10x10mm, using triangle formula the DOF is >10mm which is unbeliveable huge for this kind of device