AmScope 40X-1000X Student Biological Compound Microscope with Sturdy All-Metal Framework, Optical Glass Lenses, Mechanical Stage and Coarse & Fine Focusing

I ordered 17 of these microscopes for my 8th grade science class. The overall build is solid and comparable to most scopes I have had students use in the past. I really like the LED light and the ability to adjust the LED as well as the diaphragm. This gives you two options for adjusting the light. The objectives seem to be of good quality and the stage has a nice distinct end stop that makes it clear when you are at the end (no soft feeling).For the price the 5 MP camera is fantastic and takes great pictures. I agree with another reviewer that when in live mode at the 5 MP the view is a bit choppy so moving specimens under the best resolution doesn't work well but It far exceeds the quality of any microscope that I used in this price range! I like the battery mode that makes them mobile but you need an allen key to open the battery case.The only two small draw backs are the cord and the eyepiece. The cords are very thin and I worry about them long term being able to hold up to the wear and tear of 8th graders. The eyepiece is removable which is great but it would be nice to have a locking screw to hold it or the camera in place (kids like to play and touch everything).Never the less they are great beginner microscopes so you can't compare them to a microscope that is 4-5 times the cost and and the price is about 1/2 of what they were a few years ago!

We've used this microscope almost every single day for the past 7 months straight! We use it to test the Monarch butterflies we raise and make sure they are not infected with disease (OE - Ophryocystis elektroscirrha) before we release them into the wild.We have only used the digital camera a handful of times, since the microscope is easily strong enough to see the OE spores without the aide of the computer. That being said, I am including 2 pics taken with the USB camera attachment one showing a "clean" monarch, and one with clear OE spores.TIP to SAVE $$$: Since we raised over 500+ butterflies this season, slides for each one would be incredibly expensive, so we opted to use a piece of clear-view scotch tape to collect the scales/spore sample by rubbing it gently onto the imago's abdomen, and then affixing it to paper index cards (Mead Plain Index Cards, 4 X 6 Inches (63006)). < That particular "card" is ridiculously thin and cheap so it will only work for a one-sided use.Anyway, using this technique, we don't use the built-in light under the "slide" (or in our case index card), we just illuminate it from above with a handheld flashlight. Quaint, but it gets the job done quickly and inexpensively. I'm including pics of our set-up with the index cards & flashlight (Rockbirds Protable LED Flashlight, A100 Mini High Lumens Zoomable Super Bright 3 Mode Tactical Flashlight, Best Tools for Hiking, Hunting, Fishing and Camping (2 Pack)).Overall, I would certainly recommend this compound microscope and it's a great price, too! Hopefully pics will be helpful in explaining further. If so, please click "yes" to it being helpful!

It seems like a decent microscope. This model, M150C, was recommended in our homeschool curriculum, and as I also needed slides and methylene blue, it seemed like this kit would be the best value. The instructions say to check the tightness of the objective lenses which I did, everything was snug, but it said nothing about the eyepiece. There was a wire piece that sort of cut into the view, I wasn't sure if it was necessary or if it was something to hold the lenses more secure in shipping. But, that's not an issue for us now. When my daughter swapped the 10x eyepiece for the 25x eyepiece part of it fell back into the body tube and the wire and one of the lenses ended up on the floor. I finally figured out how to put it back together, (minus the wire as it wasn't found for a few days) but one or both of the lenses in the 10x eyepiece have scratches or small chips that show up when trying to look at slides. The 25x eyepiece works with the premade slides but, seems to be pointless for slides that we've made. You can probably tell from the photo that the cover slides are square. This seems strange to me, as when I was younger, we used another slide as a cover slide so we could seal together the two pieces. We'd label one of the sides where the slides were taped together. I had thought about possibly buying a case for the slides my daughter made, but this would be pointless as the cover would fall off when being put on their side so, for now, we just stack the slides. Not the greatest way to care for slides, but it seems to be our only option. The methylene blue is a little rock in a bottle that needs to have water added to it. There were no instructions on how much water to add, so I just added as much water as I could without squirting all the blue back out, (the bottle's top doesn't come off so you have to squeeze the bottle underwater.)

This microscope is nice and sturdy, and very intuitive to use for a beginner. I ordered this telescope for my seven year old daughter who is very interested in science. She enjoys preparing her own slides from things she finds around the yard, in our pantry, or in the pond. I simply had to sit down with her a few times, and she was good to go from then. The microscope has a jack that allows it to be plugged into a wall, which is a bonus for kids who forget to shut off the power switch. The microscope came with a set of pre-prepared slides in a nice variety, and a great book that helped give her context for things that she saw or was trying to find. My daughter loves the use them and draws pictures of the things she observes with the microscope. Great tool to spark imagination and an early love of science. I included a picture of a pond water sample that we gathered this week.