AmScope 10x-20x-30x-60x Advanced All Metal Full Glass Optics Student Binocular Stereo Microscope with Incident (Top) and Transmitted (Bottom) Lights

I needed a microscope for insect identification for my business. This one seemed to fit my needs and the price was right. Keep in mind that this is NOT a microscope for viewing microscopic specimens like hairs, plant cells, single celled organisms etc. You need a compound microscope for viewing specimens that are microscopic. This scope is for magnifying jewelry, coins, electronics, insects, etc.Having used very expensive (over $1000) microscopes at the university level in the past, my expectations for this microscope weren't very high. I'm also an avid amateur astronomer, so I am picky about the quality of my optics.I was pleasantly surprised with this microscope. Starting with the low power (10x) eyepieces first, I found images to be sharp over much of he field of view. Eye relief was comfortable. The high power (20X) eyepiece was not as comfortable to use--eye relief was tight. Luckily, for my uses, I will mainly be using the lowest power. The focus was nice and smooth. The lights were both very bright.Two minor quibbles...This scope is advertised as having "wide field" eyepieces. These are not wide field eyepieces by any measure of the word. By comparing the eyepieces with my astronomical eyepieces, I found the apparent field of view to be a very modest 45 degrees. I've never heard of any eyepiece of less than 60 degree apparent field of view as being "wide field." They are still good eyepieces for the price--just not "wide field." Also, the screw that you have to remove to change out the eyepieces is EXTREMELY tiny! It requires a tiny screwdriver and these screws could get lost easily. This was a totally unnecessary feature. A large screw that can be twisted by hand would have been much more convenient and would have cost next to nothing to include.Is this scope as good as scopes costing over $1000? No. Of course not. You get what you pay for. The more expensive scopes are sturdier and have better quality optics. If you are going to be spending every day, all day, looking through your scope, you should spend more. However, for occasional professional use or for the average home user, this scope would suit most people's needs.I am happy I purchased this scope over the similar AmScope with the 20x-40x-80x eyepieces. I really feel that the 10x eyepiece provides the most useful magnification. 20x is simply too much magnification to have as the lowest power for looking at insects. At 10x, I can usually see the entire insect. When I zoom in to 20x or 30x, I might only be seeing the head or the eye of the insect. In this case, less is more.My two quibbles aside, overall, a good value for the money.UPDATE 4/11/15 After having this scope for over a year now, I have found it to be more useful than I had originally anticipated. My mother wanted to sell some coins and we used this microscope to help ID some of her coins. My wife wanted to alter some of her jewelry and we used the scope to get a closer look at her rings.And then there is the use for this scope that I had never originally thought of--sticker removal! You know how you get a sticker or thorn in your finger and you have a hard time seeing it to remove it because it is so tiny, but it still hurts just the same? The other day I had my wife's finger under the scope (still attached to her body :)) and I was using a needle and tweezers to get a sticker out that she couldn't even see with the unaided eye. Using this scope to do the sticker removal made the job so much easier.So, overall, I'd say we've used this scope more than I expected. It seems like there's always a reason that you want to zoom in on something tiny. Again, 10x is usually the most useful magnification for most uses.So we are still pleased with our purchase over a year later.

On a tight budget and having to buy things out of pocket for work at a startup. They went to 0402 (sized components) without any prototyping. I looked for about a month for something I could afford. Almost bought used scopes more than once for more $ than this one cost new.When the shipping rang-up at about $3 I was worried that the unit was actual size in the photo. But when I opened this puppy up... wow! It's a real microscope! Absolutely full size, heavy, and solid. More than that, it is absolutely perfect for what I am doing. One of the options for changing magnification is a quick turn of the large circular, bottom lens carrier to select "1X" or "3X". When you turn it, it clicks in and out of place very smoothly, locks into new position very firmly and has the perfect resistance during the turn. You just know that the people that designed it, and the people that built it nailed this one. I am so impressed, and so happy to be able to write a positive review. If you check back through my reviews of a wide variety of products, they are all negative because I am too lazy to write positive reviews. But this microscope is so well built that ... I have to write about it.The unit comes assembled. There is a second pair of higher power top lenses supplied, but I found that the lower power ones that come pre-installed are perfect. As mentioned, the bottom lens changes between 1 and 3 power. That turns out to be perfect. You will usually use it at the lower power. It is powerful enough to see and solder 0402 sized components, but weak enough that you can see a little bit of the surroundings to orient yourself on the board. To more closely examine a solder joint, you can swivel that bottom piece to the 3X position. In doing that, you don't lose optical position. This thing is very precise. Very very good deal.Note that there are two halogen lights provided, one above, and one below the specimen platform. If you are using it as I was, for electronics, perhaps you should remove the bottom light. Use a rag or paper or something since you are not supposed to get skin oil on those halogen bulbs. Of course do it cold. There is a power switch for selecting the high light, the low light, or no light. There is also a cover for if you are not using the bottom light. It makes sense to remove the bulb if you are not using it so that you don't overheat that bottom area if you accidentally turn that light on with the metal cover in place. They probably designed it to handle the heat, but just in case, I would remove it.The halogen lights provided are generally better than LED lights. The color is better. Everything is great on this microscope as far as I can tell. I love it! The people I work with are also quite pleased with my purchase.

This scope is a bargain for its quality and ease of use. I already feel I made the perfect choice for a first scope for our children (ages 10, 9, 7,3). It was very easy to set up. Within minutes we were viewing slides (bought the set of 25 from Amscope). Then we grabbed a Japanese lady beetle off the floor and put it under 30x. Creepy! Amazing! Crisp images of its still twitching legs and mouthparts. Great view of its compound eyes. Wife practically jumped off the chair when she saw it! We have also looked at: moss, fungus, lake water/gravel (complete with tiny live clams), coins, toothpick, a band aid, rock salt. Can't wait to find some spiders!Things I like about this scope: inexpensive, metal construction, crisp optics, bright light, easy to adjust inter pupillary distance, ability to throw just about anything you find under it, kids' delightful responses to seeing things, stereo optics.Things I don't like: nothing yet.If you are looking for a great easy to use, quality scope this seems like a perfect choice. This is a high value item to bring into your home.Will update review in a the future. Happy shopping!Update 1: (one hour later) Couldn't resist going back to 'the scope' tonight. Found what appears to be live midge larvae and an aquatic worm in the lake sand sample. Sucked them out with a pipette. They are now waiting in small bowl for my kids to check out when they wake in the morning. This thing is so darned cool! Also I dialed in the diopter on the left eyepiece and the image clarity went from crisp to ultra HD.Update 2: (about three months later) It is great to own this scope. We throw anything under it and are amazed by what we see: feathers, bugs, coins, etc. I just brought it to work to check out some high tech sandpaper we just bought. It was incredible to see it at 30X. My colleagues couldn't stop looking for things to put under the scope, and one even said "I have to get one of these!" So, I recommend this for anybody for a home scope of low/med power that is great for kids and adults alike. Very easy to set up an use.BONUS: You can use an iPhone (I have an iPhone 6) to take pictures through the eyepiece! See attached photos.

I am happily surprised with the quality of this! While it gets warm like other people describe... just don't touch where the light is... thats the only place that gets hot... its not hard *eyeroll*, also everyones problems with the screws on the ocular pieces... i just took mine out and swap them freely just as my compound light microscope works... so in conclusion, this literally has none of the problems that people bitch about... my only area of complaint is that at the 60x zoom you sometimes need to put your phone flashlight on to create more light!For context I am a biology major studying different organic matter!

Great price very happy