OMAX - MD827S30L Built-in 3MP Camera 40X-2000X Digital Biological Compound Binocular LED Light Microscope with Double Layer Mechanical Stage Oil Immersion NA1.25 Condenser

Whoa, this is not a simple student microscope. It is a beautiful instrument & using it with a computer & screen is great fun! Am still working on complete usage with the camera.

I have used many different scopes over the years at work and teach lab courses that require students to use compound microscopes, but I wanted one for home use and specifically to easily capture digital images for website and class use. This microscope works great for the purpose I bought it for, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the scope and images for the low price I paid. It is easy to set up and use, especially if you're familiar with compound microscopes and e.g. already know what a condenser is and what it does. (The instructions tell you how to adjust it, but not why this is important.) It plugs right into the computer via USB to capture images on screen. I found that once you have installed the software and set up the scope, you have to always plug it into the same USB port to make it work or the computer won't recognize it (I use Windows 7). The ScopeImage software manual reads a bit like "Chinese English" in terms of grammar - certainly not written by a native speaker - but it's not too difficult to understand and figure out how to use. The maximum image resolution the camera can save is 2048 x 1526 pixels (jpg or bmp). I have successfully used photo stitching software to assemble several images into large, high resolution pictures of around 5,000 pixels across. I've also used focus stacking software on image Z stacks with great results. It even captures video (avi) if you are observing things that move. You can use a ruler or stage micrometer to calibrate the software to measure objects. Overall, it does a great deal of things and I have been very pleased with it. For print quality images, I prefer to use the higher resolution cameras on the more expensive scopes at the university, but for online image archiving and class use, this scope does a great job.

I have used many microscopes that cost 5 to 10 times more than this smaller version and I would recommend this to anyone who needs to do biological or metallurgical work at magnfications from about 40X to 2000X. I used a calibrated grid to calibrate all of the lenses with the computer that I am using, which is a Windows 7 Professional driven Compaq. It is very easy to set up and use but you need to go on-line to get the most recent manual. There is a paper in the box that lets you know exactly where to find this. It is important because the manual this is in the CD is not for this microsope. If you are going to use this as a metallurgical microscope (not using tranmitted light but using reflected light) there is no through lense lighting. You will need to have an outside light. I purchased the AMScope LED-8WD from Amazon to go with this microscope. I had read a review that says you can not run the software on a Windows 8 machine. That is true if it is Windows 8RT but not a true Windows 8 machine. I installed the software on two of my Windows 8 computers and it works very well. You may have an issue with the drivers because windows installation may say that it is incompatible. Ignore this and make sure that you install the drivers for the camera before you plug in the USB cable. When installing the software leave the USB unplugged until you get a message saying that you need to plug in the camera. I would be happy to share more about this if you get into trouble. As an additional note: I also purchased the AmScope 20x-40x-80x Digital Stereo Microscope with top and bottom illumination. Which is another great microscope with digital camera lense. You have to remove the lense from the body and it is held in there with a very small phillips screw. There is nothing in the instructions that tell you this. This could also be too much microscope for your needs as oftern you want to record digital images at even lower magnification. You can see my review on this by looking up this AmScope. In the past, I ordered the AGPtek USB 800X digital microscope with 2 MP camera and believe it or not you can get some great pictures with it. I took some of some composite material that I was trying to analyze and I needed about 10X magnification. I will also review this separately. Make sure you buy a stand with this one such as the universal stand with x-y base.

it is good. The 'lens size' is very small. My vet is always disappointment that she cannot get a good view of the cells. It is also very difficult to get that 'fine tune' focus. I can never get the eye pieces so that I can see through comfortably. But it doesn't matter because I can view on the computer. It is a good starter microscope

Very well made microscope and at a great price. Almost everything on the scope seems sturdy and assembled well. The mechanical stage is smooth and precise without any excessive play. The lenses are all free of defects and artifacts. The ocular inserts seemed just a little too snug requiring a bit of finesse and jiggling to get them to insert into the head assembly. The LED bulb appears to be as bright and white as the older halogen style without the incredible heat. All the control surfaces seem sturdy and accurate with the exception of the condenser set screw, head assembly set screw, and coarse focus lock mechanism. The two set screws feel like they require a steady and gentle hand to prevent damage and/or promote longevity. The coarse focus lock lever seems less well designed or included as an afterthought as it is clumsy in operation and doesn't engage in a manner which inspires confidence. None of these are deal breakers, just identified weaknesses. The image is not quite as great as what I'm accustomed to from much more pricey microscopes, but at 1/3 of their price this is an easy tradeoff to make. This unit was purchased to instruct biology, histology, and microscopy for homeschool. It will work wonderfully for that purpose using the included USB camera and software. I typically instruct 5 kids at once and this feature alone will reduce the amount of time during demonstration as they can all view the live image at the same time from a 32" monitor to include all adjustments made and methods used to accomplish the tasks being demonstrated. Overall, I am very pleased with the value of this purchase and quality of the microscope. Note: The software does not scale it's measurements according to the objective lens you have active, so you must set up and calibrate a scale for each objective. It is a straightforward process using a calibration slide on the X and Y axis under each objective lens and saving a calibration "ruler" file labeled by magnification for easy identification later. It is a little tedious as it requires you to load the proper ruler file for measurements on each different still image capture, but an easy enough dialog to navigate.