Best lab compound monocular microscopes according to redditors

Every single person here should be able to give you an answer to that 🤣
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006FCI0G8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gt8.AbHK1DNB8

AmScope M158C-E Compound Monocular Microscope, WF10x and WF25x Eyepieces, 40x-1000x Magnification, Brightfield, LED Illumination, Plain Stage, 110V, Includes 0.3MP Camera and Software

My personal suggestion lol

I guess I could have predicted the questions that would be asked.

Here's the story. I have a cheap microscope that I bought less that a month ago, and I've been spending time every day looking at tiny alive things.

My oldest daughter recently came down with a lice infestation, and her huge (think Merida in Brave) curly hair is like a lice fortress. When my wife was treating her, I had her set aside a live louse.

I'd heard that one way to kill lice is to dry them out, and thought that letting it sit in salt water and letting the salt water dry around it might do that. I put a tiny drop of salt water on top of the louse in the lid of a petri dish and went to bed. When I got up the water was dried, the louse was still alive, and it just happened to have one of its feelers embedded in a salt crystal. It's been about 24 hours now and he's still alive, still wiggling. I've heard that they die after 2 days away from sustinence, so I'm testing that.

I kind of wish I had more of them so I could do other experiments on them.

edit: I take videos in the microscope by simply holding my phone's camera up to the eye piece.

editedit: 100x magnification

"Hey, I'll tell you what. You can get a good look at a butcher's ass by sticking your head up there. But, wouldn't you rather to take his word for it?"
Just kidding, something like this could be very satisfying on a budget of about $75. I don't think you would want to go much cheaper.

I'm tempted to buy one of these just for fun. I have no specific uses in mind just a curiosity for the things around me. Is there anything terrible about the $79 one that pops up any major red flags?

The main thing I'd probably use it for is to look at stuff from my aquarium.

this one looks like what I used in my bio classes at school which is kinda making me want it.

https://www.amazon.com/TELMU-Microscope-Magnification-Illumination-Microscopes/dp/B07DQQKJNZ

So how does that particular model compare to, say this or this? I'm mostly curious from a hobbyist prospective.

Here's what I've found so far. The search continues...

Refractometer with Brix + SG scales - $19 Brülosophy link | non-affiliate link

5 gallon No Chill cube - $11.50 Brülosophy link | non-affiliate link

pH Meter (starts 3:15pm) Brülosophy link | non-affiliate link

40x-1000x Microscope (starts 3:50pm) Brülosophy link | non-affiliate link

Hey guys, is this a good Microscope?

Not at all. I bought this model ($129) off amazon because it came with the USB camera. In hindsight you can go to the companies website and buy the USB eye-peice and stick it on any microscope though. The camera is fairly low-resolution, but good enough for me at the moment. The microscope itself is good build quality for the price, however I might upgrade in the future to a model that has a seperate fine/coarse focus adjustment, and a moveable stage so you don't have push the slide around to locate objects.

I bought this a couple months ago. It has 4x, 10x, 40x and 100x as magnifications. It's pretty easy to focus on the object at 4x. It gets progressively harder after that.

It also has ability to attach to your computer but I have not been able to do so. I have the number for support that I called but got a I need to call but am too lazy. I was also told that anything over 2000X would require immersion oil. If I knew all this, I wouldn't have bothered with this.

Also Amscope seems like they hate doing what they do. The instruction manual is pretty shitty and when I unpacked, the microscope seemed like it had been sitting in a dusty warehouse for fifty years.

Edit: Link. Also, most of the images you see on this sub are not from a $200 microscope :)

Check out this AmScope model. I have a friend who has it and is having a lot of fun with it. Pretty good for $75. You can even buy a cheap USB camera that fits it.

I'm a PhD student in the biological sciences, and I don't own a microscope because I have access to big expensives ones that are far better than anything I could buy. But, I could see myself getting one for fun if I ever don't have access.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Q768K8/ref=oh_details_o01_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the one I picked up and it works well. The digital imager was only another $30. For the price of a really big beer, I got my mini-lab

I bought mine on amazon here's the link You can always get a more expensive one, but this one works for me!

I was looking at microscope similar to that one, it is an AmScope brand but looks almost the same and comes with a camera that connects to a PC (which he has as well).

As for those cell phone holders I have one for my telescope and it will not work for a tablet.

These seem cheap and decent: https://www.amazon.com/AmScope-Microscope-Magnification-Brightfield-Illumination/dp/B006FCI0G8/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1525928202&sr=8-9&keywords=microscope+with+camera

My district suggested we get these.

I just got it for fun, lol. I snagged this one off amazon, and then later upgraded the camera: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006FCI0G8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's a bright-field microscope, and not well suited for taking pictures of non-transparent, thick objects like weed - so I had to jerry-rigg some external lighting for it

I'm a scientist (chemical engineer in a research position, finishing my PhD), and my wife is molecule biologist. So we just thought it'd be fun to be able to look at stuff. and it's been a real blast!

A really neat aspect to having a camera is that you can also take videos. So i've got some cool ones of blood cells moving around. (and my sperm swimming around, lol)

Not 100% sure how UK shipping would work but I have [this one] (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B006FCI0G8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) from amscope and it has a usb connection that lets me show it on the computer or project the image. It's not the greatest but lets you see onion cells just fine. I haven't tried blood yet, I should give that a shot.

AmScope M100C-LED Compound Monocular Microscope

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005O0XVTS/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_CmFPub1R9HH5C

If you've ever used a nice microscope, you will think that this one is really cute. But it works great and fits into a shoe box.

This is with an Amscope 620C-E1 microscope. I was just wondering if this is the image quality I should expect with this scope at this magnification?


This was with plastic slide and cover, but I was getting a similar image with glass slide and cover.

So I'm really interested in buying a microscope as a hobby item. I've always been fascinated by biology and when I was little I had a cheap slide to focus 40x microscope that was given away to younger cousins. I've been on the verge of purchasing a new microscope for a year and a half. I'm looking at three different price brackets:

$80 (The scope this article links to.)

Cordless LED biological compound microscope offers five magnification settings: 40X-100X-250X-400X-1000X
Widefield glass optics and optical glass lens condenser provide high resolution sharp clear images
45 degree inclined 360 degree rotatable monocular head with locked-in eyepiece
Cordless LED illumination with three AA batteries and wall-power adpter/recharger included
Sturdy solid metal framework with dual side focus



$130 Here

45-degree Inclined 360-degree Rotatable Monocular Head with Four Magnification Settings 40X-100X-400X-1000X
Precise Optical Glass Lenses; All-Metal Framework and Mechanical Parts
Separate Coarse and Fine Focus and Abbe Condenser with Disc Diaphragm
Built-in Tungsten Light with GS and CE Approval
5-Year Warranty Including Parts and Labor against Manuafcturing Defects



$195 Here and here. 8 settings up to 2000x

1st link:

High quality professional optical glass elements; 45degrees;inclined 360degrees;swiveling binocular head
8 levels of magnification: 40x-80x-100x-200x-400x-800x-1000x-2000x
4 achromatic objectives DIN 4x, 10x, 40x(S), 100x(S,Oil); 2 pairs of eyepieces: WF10X and WF20X
Sliding interpupillary distance adjustment; Ocular diopter adjustable on both eyetubes; Stage upward moving lock protects objectives and slides
Variable intensity illumination; Coaxial coarse and fine focus adjustment; Focusing knobs on both sides; Stain-resistant double layer mechanical stage; NA1.25 Abbe Condenser with iris diaphragm and filters; Rack and pinion adjustment condenser

2nd link:

Binocular Sliding Head with Adjustable Ocular Diopter on Both Eyetubes
Eight Magnification Settings 40X, 80X, 100X, 200X, 400X, 800X,1000X & 2000X
Graduated X-Y Mechancal Stage and Tension Adjustable Separate Coarse & Fine Focus
Precise Ground Glass Lenses and Sturdy Metal Framework
5-Year Warranty against Manuafcturing Defects


Here's what I'd use it for:

Looking at pond scum, amoebas, blood, sperm, insect parts, pollen, etc.

The $80 scope shown is an awesome value. Is it silly to consider paying $115 more for 1000x more magnification?

Is 2000x magnification complete overkill for these applications?

How can expect the 2000x magnification to compare to the 1000x? Is oil immersion required for 2000x?

Between the two $195 scopes, which one is best? I'd really appreciate some advice on this one.

How important is the apparent lack of a fine control knob on the $80 scope?

Would it be worth it to get the $130 scope when all it adds is a fine control knob, or would it be better just to choose between the $80 and $195 scopes?

My friend, I disagree. I believe the phone attachments are pretty good for their price, I’ve got done great shots with them. They do require a lot of skill and precision in attaching the lens to the camera of the phone, but still, pretty good quality.

BUT, on the other hand, Take a look at my review for this microscope :

AmScope SE120 Portable Binocular Stereo Microscope, WF10x Eyepieces, 20X Magnification, 2X Objective, LED Lighting, Reversible Black/White Stage Plate, Track-Controlled Table Stand, Battery Powered https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DUIST02/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_b-uIAb37GAPCV

The pros:
It’s very lightweight as it’s made out of plastic and uses battery. So don’t have to worry about carrying a cord. It’s small enough to fit in my desk drawer. Produces great quality! I use it with my DSLR and phone adapters all the time when my stereo microscope magnifies too much.

The cons:
Since it’s very light, my DSLR (and phone) makes it hard to turn the focus knob to raise the lens upwards. Taking pictures by applying pressure to my devices can sometimes tip over the center of mass. The light is like 1 LED and doesn’t provide very adequate lighting. There is no other movable parts other than the focus adjustment and stage clips.

Conclusion:
Its wonderful to look at rocks and other small-médium sized objects that are too big for stereo microscopes. Get this if you plan on having something portable and lightweight and small.

Thanks. I'm thinking of buying this microscope. It says it has 600x magnification! I think that should be good enough to see bacteria.

I'm using a Celestron 44104 and a Celestron 44421 microscope imager. I just started using the linux package 'enfuse' for focus stacking.

I haven't seen a microscope adapter for a tablet before. The phone adapters with really well though, maybe you could either use a phone, or modify it to work with a tablet: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07JW9KHZ2/

These types of microscopes work great for general purpose viewing. They have a few different magnifications, and LED lights to view from the top or bottom. Plus they usually run on batteries so it's portable. https://www.amazon.com/TELMU-Microscope-Magnification-Illumination-Microscopes/dp/B07DQQKJNZ/

Finally there are these clip on lenses you can get for phones and tablets that can magnify, but not as much as a real microscope. Cheap and you might get good enough results with it. https://www.amazon.com/Camera-Fisheye-iPhone-Samsung-Smartphones/dp/B01CTZY89M/

I have a Celestron 44104 with a Microsoft Lifecam studio connected to the eye peice.