Trinocular Microscope

[amwales]

I got a trinocular microscope on a flexible arm with 0.5x barlow lense and ( crappy ) camera for my birthday.
The brand says Eakins but I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't an Amscope ( it looks identical ).

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001038582272.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.74c34c4d6FwARQ

I live in the UK and ordered from Aliexpress shipped from Spain ( No Duty or VAT ) for £309.
I was expecting it to take a month or so to arrive but I got it in about 5 days!!!

Anyone thinking of getting one, be careful of the sliding arms apparently they ship with chinesium rods
that are far too soft for the bearings and wear grooves causing problems sliding over time.
I was worried the articulating arm would be a little nasty but it seems really sturdy, its very heavy and
clamps firmly to my desk and doesn't wobble :)

When it arrived I was unable to get the camera and view through the eyepiece to focus at the same time.
Holding the camera a little further away from the mount seemed to get the camera in focus at the same time as the
eye piece.

It looks like they ship them with a camera and forget about the 5mm extension you need for that camera.
I ordered a C to CS 5mm mount adapter for a few pounds and the camera and eye pieces now focus together :)

I pretty excited as I intend to use it to solder some 80pin QFP parts :)

[lukego]

Just want to let you know that I've had an Eakins trinocular for around a year and I have been gradually optimizing the image quality. I'm soldering 01005 with it confidently now and even capturing decent video, mostly thanks to strong lighting (and in spite of my choice of camera.)

Full thread at https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/glare-problem-with-144-led-right-light-for-microscope/

[Nusa]

Eakins, Amscope, and many of the others are just branding microscope parts ordered from Chinese suppliers (e.g. http://www.yydag.com/en/ ). They all look the same because they mostly are the same. The differences are in stands and other accessories offered in their bundles in most cases. And warranties and customer service, if any.

[Psi]

When it arrived I was unable to get the camera and view through the eyepiece to focus at the same time.
Holding the camera a little further away from the mount seemed to get the camera in focus at the same time as the
eye piece.

You've solved the issue now, so doesn't really matter but.
Are you aware you can adjust the focus on *both* eyepieces by the same amount at once in order to shift the entire focus up or down until you hit an eyepiece limit?
(It's easy to miss this fact if you are used to using microscopes where only one eye piece can be adjusted and the other is fixed focus.)
This may allow you to get the focus back into the area where the camera is sitting.

Also,
If you find the camera is only looking at a tiny area of what you can see through the eyepiece then you may want to buy an adapter tube that's optically 1/2.
It will show a wider image on the camera.

[lukego]

If you find the camera is only looking at a tiny area of what you can see through the eyepiece then you may want to buy an adapter tube that's optically 1/2.
It will show a wider image on the camera.

I even needed a 1/3 adapter (reducer) for mine because my microscope camera has a small sensor (1/2.8".) I'm much happier since I made that change because with the 1/2 adapter I was having too much cropping and loss of brightness.

[Psi]

yeah.

For my setup 1/3 is too much and the corners overflow to black.
A 1/2 doesn't give me the entire view in the eyepieces but it's like 80% of it, so it's enough.
Without any lens at all it's like 30% of the eyepiece view, which is too annoying.

I'm not a fan of the articulating spring arms, like those in OP image.
It's too easy to shake the image from any movement.
I'm using the double arm boom stand.

[lukego]

I'm not a fan of the articulating spring arms, like those in OP image.
It's too easy to shake the image from any movement.
I'm using the double arm boom stand.

I have the articulating spring arm. In hindsight I would prefer to have the double boom but I don't want to pay the shipping cost for one now.

My compromise is to support the arm from underneath with an Omnivise. This does a pretty satisfactory job of fixing the shaking at the expense that I can't easily move it (but I usually don't while working.)

[ebastler]

Anyone thinking of getting one, be careful of the sliding arms apparently they ship with chinesium rods
that are far too soft for the bearings and wear grooves causing problems sliding over time.
I was worried the articulating arm would be a little nasty but it seems really sturdy, its very heavy and
clamps firmly to my desk and doesn't wobble

Looks like a convenient, flexible setup! Which parts effect the focus height adjustment? Is that done purely via the focusing mechanism, or does the articulating arm tilt up and down too? How stable is it in the vertical direction?

I notice on your photo that you have placed the device under observation on a thick plate, which is elevated further by rubber feet or such. Hopefully that does not imply that the focus plane can't be moved all the way down to the bench surface?

[amwales]

Which parts effect the focus height adjustment? Is that done purely via the focusing mechanism, or does the articulating arm tilt up and down too?

There are a pair of knobs that adjust the magnification.
There is a knob that allows to to raise and lower the head, along with a tension knob ( Rack and pinion ).

You can change the eyepiece distances ( interpupillary  distance ) and their individual strength ( dioper? ) I am an eye glasses wearer.

And of course the whole mechanism can be raised or lowered using the arm, there are knobs to set the
tension to keep it in place once set.

Once in focus it stays in focus when you adjust the magnification.

There's also a adjustment to tilt which you can lock in place.

How stable is it in the vertical direction?

To be honest I'm very happy with it and don't notice excessive wobbling.
But I do have a very stable work surface.
The best bit is how I can fold it away and keep the room I had on my desk.

I notice on your photo that you have placed the device under observation on a thick plate, which is elevated further by rubber feet or such. Hopefully that does not imply that the focus plane can't be moved all the way down to the bench surface?

I like to work on a piece of junk wood to avoid damage to the desk surface.
The arm can be raised and lowered very easily.

Also, If you find the camera is only looking at a tiny area of what you can see through the eyepiece then you may want to buy an adapter tube that's optically 1/2.
It will show a wider image on the camera.

It came with a 0.5 lens and another 0.5 for the camera
It is annoying that the cameras field of view is narrower than the one in the eyepieces but for the money I can't complain.

I'm soldering 01005 with it confidently...

It may tempt me out of my 0805 comfort zone
But I do just love those big parts right now.