Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Budget Microscope - Is this a good option?

Budget Microscope - Is this a good option?

Yttrium2 - 1-9-2019 at 11:04

Looking for CHEAP,

As in inexpensive

Iirc in school the highest our scope went in biology was 400X

Would this be a good scope? Does it have good magnification AND, what would be a good budget stain kit to go along with it?

teodor - 2-9-2019 at 01:28

Yttrium2, please throw some light upon the purpose for a CHEAP microscope. It really depends, but generally speaking, any CHEAP microscope can meet only 3 goals - spending money, occupying space and frustrating everybody who try to use it for something.

Also try to search information about AmScope brand which, according to what users write in the Internet, is cheapest among usable ones.

[Edited on 2-9-2019 by teodor]

j_sum1 - 2-9-2019 at 04:07

To further this...
400x is plenty for a lot of things. Unfortunately, maximum magnification is not a good measure of the quality of a microscope. With a couple of cheap magnifying glasses from the dollar store, I could easily make myself something that could magnify 400x. Image quality would be like granny looking through a snot-covered coke bottle. But it could be done.

The thing with microscopes is that you get what you pay for. And to get something truly good, you have to pay a lot.

But consider your need. If you change your paradigm you might get away with something quite economical.

Phone lenses are actually extremely good. So you have half of a very good quality scope right there.
You can buy scope lenses that attach to your phone to convert it to a kind of microscope. Quality is likely to be the same as a really good scope magnifying 150x. You also get the advantage of being able to take photos and record video without having to buy a separate camera mounting kit.
I have seen these devices for as cheap as $15 but I would not be tempted by that end of the price range. I have heard good reports from someone who spent around a hundred on one of these. That might not be a bad compromise depending on your need.

One thing to watch for is that there is a huge range of mechanisms for mounting the scope to your phone. I am sure that some are better than others. And product choice might be very dependent on your phone model.

Yttrium2 - 6-9-2019 at 18:14

This is the microscope that I got,. Well-- it's very similar actually , if not identical
https://www.ebay.com/itm/AmScope-10pc-Starter-Educational-Sc...

Mine doesn't say kids on the side but other than that it looks identical. I wonder how things like hotplates get labeled. (I like the one from unitednuclear)!

Anyways

I hear some saying it won't have good magnification, I heard one say that it'd be blurry. I'm not so sure? I think it'll work. I got it for less than $10 USD!

Umm... What kinds of things will I be able to see/what stains so what again? Cough...

j_sum1 - 6-9-2019 at 23:32

Has this actually arrived?
A couple of months ago a whole lot of us here shelled out for an AM scope (different model) for a similar bargain price. As far as I know everyone got a refund from ebay. It was a scam.

Deathunter88 - 7-9-2019 at 18:59

Quote: Originally posted by Yttrium2

This is the microscope that I got,. Well-- it's very similar actually , if not identical
https://www.ebay.com/itm/AmScope-10pc-Starter-Educational-Sc...

Mine doesn't say kids on the side but other than that it looks identical. I wonder how things like hotplates get labeled. (I like the one from unitednuclear)!

Anyways

I hear some saying it won't have good magnification, I heard one say that it'd be blurry. I'm not so sure? I think it'll work. I got it for less than $10 USD!

Umm... What kinds of things will I be able to see/what stains so what again? Cough...

I'll be damned if that piece of plastic can see anything of value (besides being a mild curiosity), save up and buy a microscope thats not a toy.

Yttrium2 - 16-9-2019 at 16:49

Well it turns out my microscope may not be the best.

I was able to see the fibers provided, I'm not sure if it really magnifies by 400x and 1000x or whatever, the seemed about the same.

Here is blood, is this a white blood cell, or just an uncovered area if blood?

What would be a good quality microscope for the beginner?

I forget if ours in biology had two eye pieces
It had a pointer
And
You could more easily through it --- what leads to this attribute?

IMG_20190916_173705077_BURST001.jpg - 3.2MB

j_sum1 - 16-9-2019 at 18:55

Red blood cells are really small. This is not what you are seeing.

RedDwarf - 17-9-2019 at 05:08

It's just a bubble or uncovered area.