Incoming stuff, STEREO MICROSCOPE 10X-20X-30X-60X

[ErikTheNorwegian]

As

[Psi]

Hopefully it's not too powerful.  8-10X is really the max you ever want for electronics.

[Spawn]

Check this seller too, they also claim to make custom microscopes, so you can mail and ask if they can make a 6x or 8x one. His microscopes are pretty cheap too.

EDIT: Changed the link, they have even cheaper ones...

[EEVblog]

Hopefully it's not too powerful.  8-10X is really the max you ever want for electronics.

My x7-x40 range Olympus SZ microscope is ideal, and I'm glad I've got the x40 capability, it's handy for a lot of stuff.
I'm actually considering getting x20 eyepieces to give me twice the magnification. But x14 would be too high a minimum for normal use, so I'd have to swap eyepieces as required.
But yeah, x8-x10 is the sweet spot for general electronics use.

Dave.

[EEVblog]

As i get older,my eyes get weaker and the stuff i work with gets smaller.. there is no logic in that.. except in what i no longer see..

So action taken and microscope ordered..

I found this  one on the bay..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SHARP-STEREO-MICROSCOPE-10X-20X-30X-60X-/200356828998?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ea6329746

AMscope have good rep, so I'm sure it's a decent microscope.
The 53mm working distance is the important part, you need the biggest working distance you can get, and 53mm is decent.

Dave.

[robrenz]

The 0.5 barlow lens is the key to great working distance. 

This is from my very first post on EEVblog  Simon thought it was spam. 

I have been looking for a reasonably priced boom mount sterero zoom microscope for a long time.  Features that I wanted were a very long working distance (distance from the objective to your work). This is so I could solder or assemble/disassemble under magnification. And very wide fieild of view.  Amscope model SM-3BZ provided all of these features. http://store.amscope.com/sm-3bz.html .
One important thing I learned is that the .5 Barlow lens is what gives the 165mm 6.5" working distance! Your total magnification is your eyepiece mag. x your zoom mag.(.7 to 4.5) x your Barlow mag. So the lowest mag possible is 10 x .7 x .5 = 3.5 mag. At this setting you have 165mm working distance and 57mm field of view. if you now zoom to 4.5 you have 10 x 4.5 x .5 = 22.5 mag. At this setting you have 165mm working distance and 8.9mm field of view. So if you want to maintain that 165mm working distance at higher magnifications you need to get a set of 20x eypieces also. this will double the magnifications above without changing the working distance. Wtih the 20x eyepieces and the .5 barlow you have 165mm working distance and 28.6mm field of view at 7x mag and 4.4mm field of view at 45mag.  You could get the same values with 10x eyepieces and no Barlow but your working distance drops to 100mm.  If you put the 2x Barlow on your working distance drops to 30mm Ouch!
I asked them to exchange the 2x Barlow for two 20x eyepieces and I would pay the $20.00 US difference.  No problem and it came with the 2x Barlow anyway!  That give me the ability to go to 180x. at 180x I can see the ripples in each individual pulse puddle of laser marking on a metal crystal can!
Also got the 48 led light ring. Scope is worthless without lighting.

If you mention that you saw the Microscopes on thier Ebay store you get free shipping!  So my entire package cost $463.98 US delivered.
The quality is outstanding both mechanicaly and opticaly.  Ii is all metal construction and all glass optics. I still cant believe the qulaity at this price.
Keep in mind this is the model I picked for my purposes and you can get much less expensive and much more expensive units from them. I do feel this is the ideal model for serious electronic work with the boom mount and the huge working distance and wide field view.  You can get the same models with camera tubes but I take pictures right through the eye piece and i works great for the number of times I need to take a photo.

I give it three thumbs up!

[Rufus]

My x7-x40 range Olympus SZ microscope is ideal, and I'm glad I've got the x40 capability, it's handy for a lot of stuff.

I have a 7x to 45x Kyowa and a 0.5x auxiliary lens which hardly ever gets removed. 3.5x with twice the working distance and DOF is much more practical for doing work rather than inspection.

[siliconmix]

Only US $204.88 delivered to Norway, but plus whatever our government wants in VAT and customs, THEY are greedy left wing bastards..

theyre all at it , taxing the crap out of everything right wing left ,midway sloppy

[G7PSK]

What is the difference between tax and demanding money with menaces? I use a jewelers loupe to look at small components not best for soldering the thing is it works fine for watches but a lot of the newer electronic stuff 10X is not powerful enough, I will have to get one of those microscopes soon and a micro-manipulator to go with it the stuff is getting so small.

[mariush]

The scope in the first post is now discounted at 130$ ... us only.

[EEVblog]

My x7-x40 range Olympus SZ microscope is ideal, and I'm glad I've got the x40 capability, it's handy for a lot of stuff.

I have a 7x to 45x Kyowa and a 0.5x auxiliary lens which hardly ever gets removed. 3.5x with twice the working distance and DOF is much more practical for doing work rather than inspection.

I suspect you are right. I've got a 0.5x barlow on order.

Dave.

[free_electron]

I bought a russion made stereo microscope through opticsplanet.com a couple of years ago. It uses a stepped lens, not a continuous zoom. The big advantage was that it has a boom stand. You clamp the boom on the side of the bench and then you can swing the microscope in and out.

The microscope that the TS bought is hard to get a pcb under and work on it.

Let me see if i can find the model i bought...

Got it. Lomo sf-50

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=lomo+sf+50&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=714137156639294818&sa=X&ei=kymMT9HBFovYiQLyr9zgCw&ved=0CC4Q8wIwBA

That one has the boom stand.
I only use it as a backup now since i found a Mantis in a local junkstore. They didn't know what it was ... 50$ ... Woohoooo!

[EEVblog]

The scope in the first post is now discounted at 130$ ... us only.

That is just stupidly cheap.
I'd get one for kicks at that price, but it's $99 extra for postage to Oz.

Dave.

[carloscuev]

Just bought one! I'm impatient to get it in my hands !! Any hi-res pictures or review yet Erick?

Cheers !

[DavidDLC]

When I received my microscope, man I loved it as well and I do so far, I have it for several years now.

When it arrived besides electronics use I started to look at insects and small objects, amazing !

David.

[carloscuev]

It really is! That's why I spent that money I was planning for another things before sale ends! hope my soon to be wife doesn't get mad xD

[Monkeh]

Please resize your images or use the supplied thumbnails, that's ridiculous.

[carloscuev]

Nice to see the incandescent lamp is could be easily changed for a led type:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230777352103
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251044610596

[SeanB]

I just use a cheap Celestron USB microscope, with 6 white LED's as illumination. Works well enough for me.

[EEVblog]

I am looking at this one, gives a more depth field when light comes around the object.

from http://www.ebay.com/itm/54--110v-220v-/400254378502?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d31052206

I just got one of those (not AmScope, but looks identical, with 48mm thread mount and all).
It works very well indeed, nice even adjustable light.
Very pleased with it's performance.

Dave.

[tjw]

Hi,
    thanks for the information and photo's of the microscope, it's very helpful. I have a few questions I am hoping you blokes can address.

The 10x-20x-30x-60x has a stated working distance of 53mm. The same seller also has a 10X-30X SUPER WIDEFIELD STEREO MICROSCOPE with a stated working distance of 100mm using 'Super Widefield' objective lenses. This 10x-30x model can also be fitted with a Barlow 0.5 lens. There is no mention of a Barlow lens for the 10x-20x-30x-60x so I assume this is not an option.

I want to use the microscope for working on watch movements and surface mount electronics and I am guessing the bigger the working distance the better.

- what would the depth-of-field of the 10x-20x-30-60x and the 10x-30x be ?
- how does depth-of-field change with magnification level ?
- what is the difference between the standard and 'super widefield' objective lens models, besides working distance ?
- what does a Barlow lens do ?
- is 10x and 30x sufficient for electronics/watchmaking, given that working with tweezers under 10x requires steady hands. I imagine using tweezers under 30x would be a challenge ?

Best regards, tjw.

[king.oslo]

THEY are greedy left wing bastards.

Word. This is the leader of the thieves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jens_Stoltenberg


I can recommend getting a trinocular. That way the user can connect a camcorder and display the images on a wall-mounted LCD whilst keeping the eyepieces for steroscopic view. Very convenient. Highly recommended.M

[TerminalJack505]

I've got an Amscope.  I'm very happy with it.  My only complaint is that the ring light isn't quite bright enough at the maximum magnification.  It's not a big deal for the work I do, though.

[bingo600]

My x7-x40 range Olympus SZ microscope is ideal, and I'm glad I've got the x40 capability, it's handy for a lot of stuff.

I have a 7x to 45x Kyowa and a 0.5x auxiliary lens which hardly ever gets removed. 3.5x with twice the working distance and DOF is much more practical for doing work rather than inspection.

I suspect you are right. I've got a 0.5x barlow on order.

Dave.

Dave would you mind to give a review of the 0.5 barlow lens , does it fit etc ....

I have a used  Olympus with x20 Eyepieces , and it's to much magnification
Microscope   : SZ-40 - Think it's a SZ-4045
Eyepieces.   : GSWH 20X/12.5

Ohh and : I'd like if Peter, from precision*world  (AmScope) , would comment also
I might need a 0.5 Barlow and some kind of "Light-Ring"

/Bingo

[EEVblog]

Dave would you mind to give a review of the 0.5 barlow lens , does it fit etc ....

I had in mind a video on chosing a stereo microscope for electronics work.
The 0.5 barlow I got works a treat. Screws perfectly into the 48mm thread on my Olympus SZ, and has a matching thread on the bottom so my LED ring light screws on under that. It does indeed almost double the working distance as expected.
I'm pretty sure the barlow I got and LED ring are identical to the Amscope branded ones, they just offered better postage to Oz.

I can't seem to find any x20 eyepieces that seems suitable for my Olympus. Mine WFX10 ones are threaded, and all the ones on ebay seems to be non-threaded?

Dave.