HeatherL Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 My son is a STEM kids and beginning logic stage biology. Both curriculum I am looking at require a microscope. He also hopes to major in Biology in college, so I know there will be many more biology classes between now and then (high school level, AP...) So I am looking for some good recommendations for a microscope that he will be able to use now and for the next several years. I know we will need to invest a chunk of money into it, but I'm hoping for under $400. Is that reasonable? If you have a link to one you use and love, that would also be greatly appreciated! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 (edited) Take a look at home science tools. They have a very nice selection. Eta: We have their home advanced led microscope. I can't link right now but we are very happy with it. The mechanical stage is one of our favorite features. Edited June 25, 2016 by amsunshinetemp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomeontheprairie Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Look at amscope.com everything is always on "sale". We've been very happy with ours. I really liked the filter tool. It was easy to find a scope with the gators I wanted in my price range-and we've been very happy with the quality Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 I got this one, because it was highly recommended here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0094JTZOU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (It's for next year, so I haven't used it yet.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland_Mom Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 I ordered Sonlight's Ultra Microscope for our biology class this past year. It was terrific! It was very easy to use. The mechanical stage and fine focusing tools made it easy to operate during our labs. I highly recommend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Check out Great Scopes. I agree with PP about getting a mechanical stage. You'll need to decide if you require the oil immersion 1000X which you can use to visualize bacteria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 We spent almost as much on a good digital microscope camera as we did on the microscope itself. It was important to me that we were all able to see the same in-focus image on the computer screen so we could collaboratively point at and discuss features. We bought the camera separately (though from the same company) because the combo sets in our price range had perfectly adequate microscopes, but cheap, low-res cameras that would not do justice at high magnification. My goal was 1000x magnification, but most microscopes do that via 3 objective lenses (4x, 10x, 40x) and two interchangeable eye pieces (10x and 25x). The problem with that, is the camera, which offers ~10x magnification, takes the place of the eye piece, so the highest possible magnification with the camera is 400x. Good, but not what I was hoping for. Therefore, I chose a microscope that has 4 objective lenses (4x, 10x, 40x, 100x) and only one eye piece (10x) so we can achieve 1000x with the eye piece or the camera. These are the ones we bought several years ago, and we have been very pleased. AmScope M500 Monocular Compound Microscope $125 AmScope MU300 3.0MP Microscope Digital Camera $115 Total $240 Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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