40X-2500X LED Digital Monocular Compound Microscope w 3D Stage +1.3MP USB Imager

I bought this microscope for my daughter (and me!) hoping just to get something a bit better than the $50 microscope I spent hours staring into as a kid. This microscope is in a completely different league from that and far exceeded my expectations. It feels like a professional quality device. The slide table has smooth and precise controls to move it in two directions, the light source can be adjusted in many ways, the optics seem clear and free of obvious distortions, the focus has corse and fine adjustments and feels smooth and solid, the overall build feels very solid. I recently had a chance to use very nice lab microscope and from my amateur's perspective this microscope feels like it is in a comparable league. Even the 1.3 MP camera worked flawlessly. I have uploaded a few plankton photos my daughter and I took (of plankton we collected in the bay) to the user photos above so you can see for yourself what the camera and microscope quality is like. Note that these photos were taken only the second time we powered up the microscope and that I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to microscopy. I'm pretty pleased with the results so far.The biggest drawback of this microscope, especially for amateurs like me, is the total absence of documentation. The microscope came with a software CD which had software documentation on it, but there is not one scrap of documentation about the microscope itself. The CD software didn't include a version for Mac but it turns out that PhotoBooth recognizes the USB camera so I observed and took photos with Photo Booth (hint: hold down the Option key when clicking to skip the count down). Fortunately another reviewer mentioned how tiny the screw is that holds in objectives so I knew to look for something tiny to take out the eyepiece and put in the camera. Like another reviewer I thought my objective was cracked at first, but when I removed I realized that it had a wire needle built into it, presumably to point at things with (?). Even without documentation, though, it was pretty easy to get started using the microscope and most of the knobs and features can be quickly identified with a little trial and error. I'm not sure what to do with the unlabeled jar of fluid (oil) that it came with, though the highest objective lens mentions 'oil' on the side so I assume it has something to do with that, but I assume google will inform me when I want to put in the time to figure that out.A professional might have a different opinion of this microscope but if you are looking for a microscope that will be better than anything you probably had as a kid, that will make looking at the microscopic world more fun than frustrating, you couldn't go wrong with this microscope.

I bought this microscope for my kids who learn science in primary school. I would like to introduce them how they can really see what bare eyes can not. This microscope, I hope, will bring a "new world" to them. When this microscope arrived I did not open it immediately and my kids were waiting enthusiastically until I returned back home from an overseas trip and opened the package and started trying the new microscope together. I was quite disappointed when we realized that the 100x objective lens did not work to produce any picture. I tried many times using the slides samples from AMscope and finally I gave up and only use the objective 4x, 10x, and 40x. The picture I can see om my laptop screen with the 1.3 MP USB imager is quite good for 4x, 10x and 40x. The 100x did not work out. I am not sure either to complain or return as I live in Singapore and how AMscope will handle this case.The small screw in the viewer lens tube that hold the viewfinder lens is so tiny and easily dropped when we changed from 10x to 25x view finder. Few times i had to struggle searching for missing 2 mm length of screw on floor and on table as exchanging the viewfinder must unscrew it. It seemed that this microscope had been kept in storage room for quite some time as fine dust can be seen just all over the surface of the microscope. I had to manually spray lens cleaner liquid to the objective lens and viewfinder lens to remove the dust and dirts as they appeared on the screen even when we did not put any object on the microscope table pad after we connected the microscope to the USB to a laptop). With US$199 I thought the price was quite "appealing" but with the facts I just mention I am thinking again that my decision might not be the right one. As with other AMscope products that have got many good reviews I had the benefits of the doubt that even there is no buyer review yet in this product before, I had a belief to try and expected a "good or at least decent" quality product. Packing and delivery wise they do it quite good in terms of delivering to customer safely. I was a microscope user back then 30 years ago when I was in my secondary school so that I could try and manually understand how to use the microscope. AMscope should have been able to provide just few pages of how-to-operate manual and give "cautious" warning on how to treat the lens and when user adjusting the position of the lens. I hope that AMscope will be able to improve the product quality and take this feedback as a good kickstart. Few hours after writing the comment just now II cleaned the objectives lenses (100x) again and it works alright. The dirts/dusts affected the lens performance but now it works well. I change my review from 2 stars to four stars for the fact that the four objectives lens all can work now to see the object (I use 100 specimen A from AMScope which are wonderful selections). I suggest AMscope to really inspect their product storage before shipping so that the lenses can all be functioning and not blurred by dust or dirts. For the price of almost U$200 I would say this product deserves 4 stars.

The media could not be loaded. What a great starter microscope. It does a great job and image clarity is great. We’ve been discovering all kinds of microscopic life in the first weekend of having it. Pics attached weren’t using the supplied camera. Those would have have been quality. It’s simply a phone held to eyepiece just to see if it worked. This was a little more of some sort on some moss.

Disappointed with this purchase.Strike #1: Did not include any documentation.Strike #2: Digital aspect of the microscope didn't work.Strike #3: No tool included to remove the lens to attach the digital lens. I purchased the smallest allen and smallest eyeglass kit screwdriver I could find in my city and neither worked. You essentially strip the screw trying to get it out. Either include a tool or use a more popular screw, I didn't seem to think the screw was even needed to be honest. Not to mention after paying for 2 day shipping having to run to Lowes didn't make me excited.Strike #4: This item seems used - paint chips along the frame, dust everywhere, skuff marks on lens adapter?Strike #5: No microscope slidesOverall disappointed and returned. Maybe I just got a bad egg but I rather just find something else that someone put more effort into.