MelanieM Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 I would love to get a digital microscope. I'm looking at the Celestron 44340. Does anyone here have experience with this one? Or something around this price point that you think would be better? Thanks in advance for your input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 I have no experience with anything other then the ones my mom got us at the thrift store for ten dollars. Does a higher quality microscope really work well? How much do you have to pay for a good one? MelanieM, how much is the one you are planning on buying cost? The one I have is not really usual in any way. I can't get it to focus. I'm thinking of one day throwing it out. Should I bother even trying to do something with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 Julie, we have a cheaper one and it's 'meh'. But I tried out two microscopes belonging to a friend of mine yesterday and they were both awesome! Her more basic model cost about $100, and her digital was $250. I'd like to stay at around $150 (or less), and I'd prefer a digital with an LCD screen. That's why I'm looking at the model I linked to above. I'm hoping it is a good quality for the price? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 My dad bought me that one. It is pretty excellent. I wanted a totally different one, standard, "normal" and he sends me that one. I was irritated, but it is pretty great. It doesn't seem to focus as sharply as a regular microscope, but the fact that everyone is able to look at it at the same time, and you can take photos if you want...that makes up for it. If I were gong to buy a microscope, I would want to shuck out the big bucks... like $200+, under that they all seem to be less than you want. So, for the lower price range, this is not bad at all. If I remember correctly, I think it had a green spot on the screen, but it went away. Weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted March 18, 2012 Author Share Posted March 18, 2012 Thanks so much for the feedback! So if you were to spend a little more for one, would you still go with the Celestron brand? Is there something else around $200 that would be a big jump in quality? Because even though I'd like to spend around $150, I could probably talk myself into $200 if it's that much of a difference. Thanks again for the feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iucounu Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 :bigear: Another option would be to get a digital camera eyepiece for on-screen display. You can then use the microscope with any computer. Even better would be to get a stereo microscope and hook the digital camera up to one of the eyepieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iucounu Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 (edited) Here's what I was looking at earlier. Thoughts? These seem to offer five times the optical resolution of the Celestron 44340. 1. OMAX 40x-2000x Lab Binocular Compound Microscope $189 2. AmScope 40X-2000X Biological Compound Microscope with Mechanical Stage $195 (not sure if this one will let you adjust the interpupillary distance, and I don't understand what the "mechanical stage" is at the moment) 3. AmScope 40X-2000X Cordless LED Compound Biological Microscope $170 (I like the LED on this one, since it should run cooler and last longer. It doesn't have stereo eyepieces, but we can look at the image on the screen together with a camera attached. I will probably buy this one if someone doesn't talk me down.) Then you can get something like this: Celestron Digital Microscope Imager $42 Edited March 18, 2012 by Iucounu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iucounu Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Here's an even cheaper one, $90 for an LED-lit microscope with 1000X magnification, over twice that of the Celestron. Add the eyepiece camera and you're still coming out ahead: AmScope 40x-1000x All-metal Student Cordless LED Field Biological Microscope with Optical Glass Lenses Again, a single-eyepiece model, but I can deal with it. Anyone have experience with these? Everything I've seen from this maker seems to be highly rated on Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iucounu Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I may wind up getting this one instead: 500X magnification, but Celestron (means it will come with better documentation etc.). On the AmScope microscopes, it seems that to change eyepieces you have to unscrew and rescrew tiny screws with a jeweler's screwdriver, which sounds prone to thread-stripping over time to me. It also seems like oil is necessary for viewing at high magnifications with some of the other scopes in general (1000X plus), which I don't know if we will really need to get into anyway. Celestron 44104 500x Power Advanced Biological Microscope $119 I'm going to sleep on it, but now I'm probably going to get this cheapo Celestron microscope and the $42 Celestron digital 'scope camera. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iucounu Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Apparently a "mechanical stage" is the part that holds the slide; when it's "mechanical" you can slide the whole assembly back and forth to move the specimen, instead of having to fiddle with the slide. It seems like a good feature to have. Many of them have this, for example the Celestron 44104. I think the 44104 fits the bill for you nicely, OP-- it's in your price range, has the ability to output to a quite large screen with the digital camera attachment (any modern computer with a screen should do nicely), and still can be used as a normal microscope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 (edited) Just an fyi, you'll never need above 1000x all the way through high school. You'll rarely, if ever, even use that. So don't pay more for magnification beyond 400x. Go for other features instead like the mechanical stage and if the budget allows, get a binocular one. Edited March 21, 2012 by darlasowders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 It also seems like oil is necessary for viewing at high magnifications with some of the other scopes in general (1000X plus), which I don't know if we will really need to get into anyway. Oil is necessary with any scope at that magnification as far as I know. This explains it (with way more info than most of us need...) http://www.cargille.com/immersionoilmicroscope.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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