(Part 2) Best lab handheld digital microscopes according to redditors

Think of centuries of scientists who would've killed to work with this, and we can have one delivered to our door to take pictures of our split ends for under $20 Canadian. We live in an age of luxurious miracles.

• Laser Pointers - My top recomendation. They are fun to use at night if the person aiming them is mature enough not to point it at stupid things. They can be used for presenting stuff, but I have never found them to be needed for that. I like shiny bright stuff and my pets do too (even fish).
  
• Hand Held Microscopes - This is the one I got. What you get for the price is really pretty amazing to me. Other idea might be the ones that attach to your phone camera, but I've never tried that. The Carson handheld microscope is not professional quality, but for under $15, wow. Things that I've looked at: scratches on my electronic screens, leafs, dead bugs, cat hair, my skin, other peoples skin, textile, printed image quality, currency, and rocks. The quality is not the same as a microscope and you need to be really still or rest the scope on something. I can only use it at the lowest magnification without complaining. The benefits are it's portability and cheapness. Some people are not as interested by this.

Except all of those features are (or can be) available on microscopes because by it's very nature it's just a miniaturized photo-negative.

> Don't be all condescending thinking microfiche is all easy-peasy lemon squeezy.

I spent far too many hours of my childhood in dusty town-clerk basements and libraries helping my parents do genealogical work so I know very well how they work. There is nothing particularly "precision" about them. We're not talking about reverse-engineering a commercial-grade film-reader, just having the ability to get access to the data.

> intense magnification

Not particularly no. Typical microfiche only needs a 20-48x to get a 1:1 magnification; rarely up to 72x; and if your goal is simply to be able to read the documents far less.

Here is an X-Y base with backlight and a 75/300x Digital Microscope for less than a hundred bucks total with all of the features of a typical microfiche reader - including printing assuming you already have a printer.

My point, that you clearly have missed, is that unlike tape, or archival-grade DVD/BluRay, or praying that an HDD lasts or whatever, is that microfiche is absolutely trivial to gain access to if the underlying hardware is no longer available. I could go into my garage and come out 20 minutes later being able to read whatever was on the film. It may not be pretty but it would be functional - I can't say the same with any of the other options.

> https://www.amazon.ca/Carson-Lighted-Microscope-Flexible-MM-840/dp/B00QTNBC4U/

And this is the one I have :)

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-44310-Handheld-Digital-Microscope/dp/B004IANQNQ/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1344198876&sr=8-11&keywords=celestron+microscope

Most USB microscopes are basically a webcam with a magnifying lens, so don't expect amazing results. That said, the AndonStar aluminum USB microscopes are decent and should work out of the box on any OS (even Linux recognizes it).

Here's a 14MP microscope with HDMI out for $300.

And a similar hdmi-out microscope, but for more for sciency-slides for $150

Edit: I paid $60 for it a year ago but now they go for twenty.

I have the binocular Amscope, and a middle-of-the-road digital microscope that comes recommended.

I much prefer the Amscope by a large margin. The digital scope is great for putting an image up on a monitor, or recording, or taking photos, bit it has latency, motion blur, and rolling shutter distortions.

For my daily driver of assembling electronics, the Amscope is the winner.

You can get any USB microscope then grab a usb-microUSB adapter.

I have this one and its pretty good and comes with the adapter already.

Mostly calyx shots of the lower buds. She's hardly drinking and the main cola doesn't have any white hairs towards the tip so I'm worried that the sugar leaves are going to yellow. I'll inspect her a bit more towards the top. Its hard to tell cloudy from clear.

I used a $20 USB microscope, off amazon here

That's looking pretty good, I'd invest a little in something like a Jewelers Loupe to look at the trichomes and not cut and dry till they're all cloudy, I prefer a fair amount of amber trichs before I cut and cure.

http://www.amazon.com/Grow-Room-Microscope-Handheld-Magnifier/dp/B01D96ERFU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1465083995&sr=8-3&keywords=jewelers+scope
I bought one of these on geek or wish for like $5.

Hi there. I'm using a usb microscope. It does a pretty good job.

Decent microscopes can be have for ~$100. Look for the USB ones that display the image on your PC screen instead of the ones you have to squint into. I have a 7 year-old myself and am thinking about the Celestron 44302.

I use the Dino-Lite AM2011.

Software is super easy to use. Shows the picture and all you do is click anywhere on it to snap a picture. You can also take video...I have a video somewhere from a while back of a spider mite crawling around. Little bastards!

And that's the best pic you could get? Lol link it so I don't buy that one. I'm looking at getting this one or this one. I've seen much better shots from the 2nd one that someone posted on here. If you aren't happy with it maybe return it and try out a celestron, I wouldn't hang onto it for $80 if I wasn't happy with the performance, there are other options out there.

Those are a bit better. Can you get me the T in "The Gathering" on the back? It has a very unique printing pattern.

I got a similiar loupe to this: https://www.amazon.com/Grow-Room-Microscope-Handheld-Magnifier/dp/B01D96ERFU/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1526326799&sr=1-8&keywords=60x+loupe

Oh you noticed? awesome! Well I've been in the process of starting up a YouTube channel for the past few months and needed a place to film, since I'm constantly building and inventing crazy things. I ended up settling with an unused room in my house. I filled the room with some IKEA tables, 5 3D printers, electronics testing equipment (signal generators, lab bench power supplies, signal modulation hardware, oscilloscopes), followed by all of my electronics stuff in boxes full of my RC hardware (propellers, FPV equipment, lipo battery connectors, brushless motors), passive electronics components, varieties of LEDs, raspberry pis, arduinos, software defined radio hardware, RF antenna hardware, and all my tools (some are hanging, many still in boxes). Anyways, when filming soldering, a macro lens could only get me so far. So I decided to get the most recent andonstar soldering microscope since the resolution is really adequate and it can record video as well as images, which has worked out really well. Progress in releasing the first couple of videos has been really really slow since I work a full time job in a lab and volunteer helping college students with robotics, as well as doing some consulting for bachelors and masters Capstone projects.

My understanding is that they typically use inexpensive USB microscopes

It's almost painful, lol. I went through several “microscopes” until I found this. It's nice. Lookin good OP 🙌
What strain is that?
Digital Portable Android USB... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IEFGC5E?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

If you like it, mind sharing what scope you bought? I've been thinking about this one.

Opti-Tekscope OT-M HDMI Microscope, Camera- True Digital HD Imaging at 1920x1080p resolution- 300x Optical Zoom, (+4x Digital)- Brilliant https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JKHJRPM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_O.pACbPKXTNPH

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00XNYXQHE

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01JKHJRPM/


Or this macro lens and a cheap used Canon DSLR

https://www.adorama.com/ca3528is.html?gclid=CjwKEAjw4IjKBRDr6p752cCUm3kSJAC-eqRt70MhEpwvVdYIFKK42PA0lVfU2D08U25vcYF7EE_pBBoCgL3w_wcB

1:1 reproduction basically means that it can focus close enough to see something the size of the sensor at the resolution of the sensor. So say hypothetically the sensor had 10 micrometer sized pixels, with this lens you could resolve down to 10 micrometers with whatever you're shooting.

There's the Dino-lite USB microscope for $99 on Amazon although that only goes up to about 200x.

I got this one: WiFi USB Microscope, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QX3Z78Q?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

It is a bit rough around the edges, but works.

Thankfully you can do that without a scanning electron microscope, like OP used. My kids and I had a lot of fun doing just what you describe with a USB microscope a friend had.

I know exactly what you need. This is what I use and sell 2 or 3 of these as my rock and mineral shop every month. It is 220x magnification and hooks up via HDMI cord to a tv or laptop. The best part IMHO is that if you get a sd card it also takes pictures and videos! In my shop we have it hooked up to a big tv and customers can play with it, it never fails to amaze!

(You can see some of the microscope pics I've taken at World_of_rocks_ypsi on instagram)

*edit Forgot to mention it's only like $140 soooooo 👍
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T5UBJHO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_2vtHybHAX87RF

Curious: This one on Amazon LOOKS exactly the same, but only $20 (shipped from China)

http://www.amazon.com/8-LED-Digital-Microscope-2-0MP-Camera/dp/B00835RQVU

It's a really cool area. I made this print for my brother who works a lot with electronic design, the resolution of the microscope is pretty insane. Linky

You can try this

$26.99 on Amazon

USB Microscope

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VN45RY6/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These work great. Lets you take images and vid.

I picked up one of those and a better stand (similar to this, though I had to jury rig it to fit, so there may be better solutions). It's a decent setup, and while a little touchy to use, it's a bit better being able to put things up on a big monitor to view.

Plus the images it can capture are not terrible.

Did you just cut off all the side branching or is that natural?

I want to see the finished product when it fattens up like other people commented in a month or five weeks

https://www.amazon.com/Carson-MicroBrite-60x-120x-Lighted-Microscope/dp/B00XJINDX6

This is probably not the quality you're looking for but a field microscope is what you're looking for like this

I am using this one Koolertron 1080p and display it on a nice big screen. So far not disappointed with it.

This one works well for me. Connecting to and viewing on my phone is nice.

Digital Portable Android USB Microscope Otoscope Endoscope Inspection Camera with 10-200X Magnifier for Kids, Student, Household, Support Mac Windows PC Android https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IEFGC5E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_IOMcAb6N13SB8

I had a toy microscope as a kid -- it was a fun idea but not so good since seeing truly small things well requires more budget. I'm now in a business where microscopy is critical and have some nice hardware I can use to see truly small things, but there's a lot of fun in looking at larger objects. This can be done with cheap hardware and I use an older pen-style scope like what you posted even for "serious" business-related work (https://www.amazon.com/Supereyes-Portable-Microscope-Endoscope-Magnifier/dp/B0066H7H1Q ). These come with software a lot of the time but it's maybe not very good, so I use something called "SharpCap" which is meant for astronomy but is actually just an easy program to display USB camera images in real time so it works nicely for USB camera microscopy. I'd recommend getting this kind of setup (USB camera that plugs into a computer for display) since the display will be nicer and my instinct is that 80 dollars/euros is too little for a microscope/display/storage/stage that will work to anyone's satisfaction.

I found this one on Amazon ( https://www.amazon.com/Opti-Tekscope-Microscope-Advanced-Definition-Industrial/dp/B0184CCOY0/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=usb+microscope&qid=1567129440&s=gateway&sr=8-10 ). It has LED lighting (important for illuminating objects from the top) and looks solid, with metal construction that seems nicer than the one I have. Something like this would plug into a computer and display in real time, allowing you a large working distance from the object while being steady enough to watch the screen while focusing. There are lots of them like this for sale, some with higher magnification, but I think anything like along these lines would be a great toy microscope.

Celestron Handheld USB Microscope via Amazon


solid for its price :) so far i'm happy. I've been zooming in on everything like fingers, markers, hand sanitizer, etc.

Got $46? Not only is it small and does it go to 1000x it wirelessly connects to smart phones and computers

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QX3Z78Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_R.SEDb385B4B5

Thanks you for the detailed reply. I ended up ordering #1 and this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0797PPX8D/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_9moBDbJ4PXZ3R.

I am not sure if it will give me the extra height I will need, but your idea of simply raising the scope higher by placing books underneath the stand should work just fine. I am excited to try out this new setup next weekend.

Forget the loupe and splurge on the $13 handheld microscope. This is maybe the best piece of gear I've bought since it takes all the guesswork out of the equation.

There's only one way to know when a plant is actually finished it's optimal growing phase and it has NOTHING to do with it's size or it's colour or it's shape as all of that varies due to genetics and growing environment conditions. Get yourself a handheld 30x+ Microscope (every grow store sells them) and look at the trichomes. When they are 66% amber and 33% clouded the plant is done adding weight and terpene production. If they are still clear and glassy looking it's got some time to go.

That's not to say you can't take it earlier or later if you prefer, but it's not ACTUALLY done until it's done.

USB microscopes that take pictures or very nice cameras

like these, not necessarily this brand, just a quick Amazon search to show you

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Microscope-Magnification-Endoscope-Magnifier/dp/B01DHVOGMG/

Got this one guys:

https://www.amazon.ca/Carson-Effective-Magnification-Microscope-MM-840/dp/B00QTNBC4U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1494398210&sr=8-3&keywords=carson+microscope

You should get miniaturization analysis of your donor area (see: https://newhair.com/baldingblog/do-i-have-dupa-diffuse-unpatterned-alopecia-photo/ ). You can get this by purchasing this instrument and sending me photos: https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-LCD-Handheld-Digital-Microscope/dp/B004IANQNQ/ref=sr_1_14?keywords=celestron+microscope+camera&qid=1570126460&s=gateway&sr=8-14

William Rassman, M.D.

Just grab a cheap microscope that you plug into your phone, they are around $20, here are some examples:

https://amazon.com/dp/B06WD843ZM - $23.99

https://amazon.com/dp/B07SR7YPV5 - $22.99

https://amazon.com/dp/B07DRGR6LX - $20.99

https://amazon.com/dp/B07F7T7SC1 - $19.98

https://amazon.com/dp/B07QST536T - $19.87

https://amazon.com/dp/B07VN45RY6 - $17.99

https://ebay.com/itm/223686268795 - $17.77

https://ebay.com/itm/323846974439 - $17.14

https://ebay.com/itm/133091483263 - $15.99

Heya-hi!

Let me tell you a few things, as I have relevant experience dealing with your issue!

Yes, there are a few notable USB microscopes for SMD soldering, but only one that your attention should be drawn towards.
http://www.amazon.com/Microscope--Adjustable-Collections-Inspection-Guaranteed/dp/B00PEZ3GMK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1450480697&sr=8-6&keywords=usb+microscope

^ I have personally used this one during trips in hotel rooms to fix various logic boards and miniscule components.

Please do not purchase the one you linked to, as that model (and the 200~ clones) suffer from terrible latency issues and it must stay very close to the project. 250~C solder isn't too good on a plastic lens.

The one I linked to has an EXTREMELY nice stand, I use it for multiple things now! Also, 5X-10X will be good for most of your microsoldering needs.