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Stereo Microscope


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13 hours ago, JGrainger said:

I've seen these and have wondered if they'd make for a decent Youtube tool. The descriptions I've seen leave some uncertainty as to how exactly they work. Does anyone know whether the magnification is merely variable by altering the focus (changing the working distance and magnification as a consequence)?

 

Regards,

Changing the working distance will change the magnification.

116267560_Test1x45.thumb.jpg.9a08b724f5f1592e198f65f65415f61d.jpgThis first image has been taken by an Amscope 10 megapixel camera at 45 magnification, with a distance of 160 mm from the bottom of the x 0.5 Barlow lens.

1547791733_Test2.thumb.jpg.0e0157c352918144b40fe353a5f3ead0.jpgThis second image is at a distance of 180 mm. So I have only moved the microscope height 20 mm from full x 45 magnification to x 2 magnification. If I fitted the x 2 Barlow lens to the bottom of the microscope the magnification would go up to x 90, but the 'working distance' (from the bottom of the microscope to the work) would reduce down to about 20 - 30 mm, which is too little to actually work under with tweezers and screwdrivers. It is more for detailed work. I never use this more powerful Barlow lens (x 2) as the x 0.5 Barlow lens coupled with the x 10 eyepiece lens' gives me more than enough magnification I need for watchmaking, especially with hairspring manipulation. I now do all my oiling using this microscope from Amscope.

What I have found is that most microscopes around this price range are made in China and sold to various companies that just re-badge them as their own. You can but these microscopes for very little money from Aliexpress and other outlets, but you have to ask yourself, if something fails or breaks on the microscope, what is the warranty/guarantee? Also, you have to ship it back to China and the bases on them weigh about 20 kilos.

I bought mine from Amscope and probably paid a little more than I would have done from Aliexpress for basically the same 'scope, but I have the piece of mind that I have a 5 year warranty and it is easier to get it back to Amscope if something fails and they will honour that warranty. It's the after sales service that one pays a little more for, for what in effect is the same microscope.

If you need anymore information or pictures, just let me know and I'll be happy to help...

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These are zoom microscopes. The magnification is controlled by a separate knob from the focusing knob. The one I posted in the link has a trinocular attachment, so you can attach a still camera or video camera to it. It will make a very good teaching tool.

There is a very steep learning curve for working with a microscope. But persist at it, it can be done. In dentistry, an operating microscope is being used for even routine procedures. Not just complicated root canal work and micro surgery. When I attended my first dental microscopy course, I couldn't even get a clear image in both eyes at the same time. I ended up with a severe headache.

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59 minutes ago, Jon said:

If you need anymore information or pictures, just let me know and I'll be happy to help...

I just have a quick question out of quriosity, it appears the picture is mirror imaged is this how it appears in all these types?

I use a zwiss one and the  lens quality of course is better but even the picture shows up with the text as it should be..
(Magnification = X20)

Microscope.thumb.jpg.ac4f399cf2091dc9a23d2dd41d6973d9.jpg

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If you are in the US, buying Amscope is probably a good idea. At least they provide the first layer of QC. I also bought mine from a local microscope shop which charged me almost double of what was available from Aliexpress, but the local reseller could provide QC, one year warranty and advise you on what you'll need.

But my microscope was fine for the first year, then almost just after the warranty period, it suddenly stopped being able to focus. I took it apart and found that the mechanism is incredibly simple. The optics are modular and if you do not fiddle with the lens components, it shouldn't be too difficult for a watchmaker to fix.

My LED ringlight died last week, but it was only cold solder problem. 

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14 minutes ago, HSL said:

I just have a quick question out of quriosity, it appears the picture is mirror imaged is this how it appears in all these types?

I use a zwiss one and the  lens quality of course is better but even the picture shows up with the text as it should be..
(Magnification = X20)

Microscope.thumb.jpg.ac4f399cf2091dc9a23d2dd41d6973d9.jpg

That was my fault, as I has it flipped for some odd reason.

Here's a picture of the stamped in number on this Luch 2209

Which make of microscope do you use?

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Incidentally, my Amscope microscope is a trinocular type, so there is the ability to have the camera attached to the third hole.

I think I paid about £510 for a double boom arm type and later bought the 10 megapixel USB 3.0 camera as a teaching aide, so my students can see in practice what oiling cap jewels should look like, amongst other things

Edited by Jon
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10 minutes ago, Jon said:

Which make of microscope do you use?

I still have my good old Carl Zeiss Stemi DV4 (and a couple of more), perfect for the use I do with it, inspection,  otherwise I just use lupes when working with the movement.
Right now it just have a 12Mp camera but it is next in line is a long wanted upgrade to 38Mp. I don't use the camera so much since it takes both of the occulars in use.  Find it faster and easier to use it like a ordinary stereo microscope.971882955_CarlZeissStemiDV4.thumb.jpg.5fb2187e701dbea108138c8669c5f99a.jpg
Once I tested making an adapter for these but like the original camera better, except the price.

 

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Once I bought a microscope, it made me realise just how invaluable they are.

Having my face an inch away from a hairspring whilst manipulating it is a real pain and such a strain with a loupe. I will never go back to doing it that way :D

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Great looking 'scope, by the way. Thanks for showing it to us!

Incidentally, what make of 12 MP camera are you using? I went through a couple before getting the Amscope, but they all appear to be very much the same. I specifically wanted USB 3.0 so I could stream the video live, especially now I teach via Zoom at the moment because of the Covid -19 thing

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4 minutes ago, Jon said:

Once I bought a microscope, it made me realise just how invaluable they are.

Having my face an inch away from a hairspring whilst manipulating it is a real pain and such a strain with a loupe. I will never go back to doing it that way :D

:Dnow when you mentioned it, I too cheat with this one with the same task.. but Officially I work with the lupe..

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The camera is an ordinary Carl Zeiss AxioCam 412.
But if one wants something were you can choose and swap cameras too I recommend something like the Nikon SMZ800N, It's the one to the right.
To that one I sometimes connect the Sony a7 iii 42Mp camera. One can swap out the fasteners to a multitude of brands.
Some_more_toys.thumb.jpg.8e9b798b08178410fc0aa8ee0296361d.jpg

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My own situation is that my good microscope is an aged Zeiss Opmi. It is possible to just fit a beamsplitter to use a camera while retaining the stereo eyepieces, however that's also not so cheap compared to the USB cameras.

If the USB cameras have sufficient working distance they might do nicely for videoing servicing. I wasn't sure how they work - so didn't know whether they would be suitable.

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On 5/9/2020 at 12:49 AM, spectre6000 said:

Based on the images, it looks like the working area is on the order of a shade over 10cm. How much working area is actually needed?

that's quite subjective. It depends on how much you need. I have a working distance of about 160 mm, which is more than enough. The working distance is only as good as how much room you have to use your tweezers and screwdrivers between the bottom of the lens and the work piece. screwdrivers and tweezers measure about 100 mm or so in length, so a working distance of 160 mm will fit them underneath.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi there

this is my first post here other than on the introductory board.

I have a Swift 10" working distance binocular microscope. I don't know how I managed without it previously. A while back I bought a camera module which fits in place of one eyepiece. Utterly useless. It gave enormous magnification, quite inappropriate for the tasks in hand, combined with appalling resolution (only using a small part of the sensor I assume) and jittery refresh. It would be very useful to have a camera module that replicates the FOV of the microscope itself. I would have thought that someone would have produced one of these given the widespread use of these Swift devices - even if it required the inclusion of some relay optics in the camera module.

Anyone found such a device?

Roy

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/27/2014 at 10:36 AM, Odyseus said:

If you look on my blog, you see some photo's taken with USB microscope eyepiece CAM !!

I have a Brunel MX3 20x stereo microscope which I used to use, but since then the USB microscopes have appeared which I think I bought for about £17 and which I find far easier to use and with better magnification and so small it is much easier to position,, so the Brunel is now pretty much redundant. :(

Edited by Vacheron7
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  • 1 month later...

I purchased a used Leica GZ4 that arrived with the zoom shaft bent. I was refunded by the seller for the purchase paid less shipping which was fine with me as my cost now became $19. I took it apart and straightened the shaft. The 'scope does not parfocal but that is ok for my needs. For that matter I don't know if that model is supposed to parfocal.

It came with a Leica .5X barlow lens which increases the working height to around 25 to 30 cm.

I also bought a like new Leica 10450174 focus mount for $50 shipped and a used, like new, Old School Industries model OS1010H-16BB for $198 http://www.osi-incorp.com/product/os1010h-16bb/

The scopes power initially was  7 to 30X but the .5X barlow brings the range down to a more resonable 3.5 to15X with the ability to remove it for additional magnification if needed.

 

 

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

I've come across these stereo microscopes on Aliexpress : https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/32752270442.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.117a69066Oumsg&algo_pvid=a247116e-6dee-45e2-b33f-670f899494bf&algo_expid=a247116e-6dee-45e2-b33f-670f899494bf-0&btsid=0b0a187b15991436420684975e4323&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

Allows a big working surface area. Won't rival AMScope I'm sure but looks like a decent budget option. What do you all think ?

 

Thanks.

 

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15 minutes ago, Lacazema said:

I've come across these stereo microscopes on Aliexpress

Allows a big working surface area. Won't rival AMScope I'm sure but looks like a decent budget option. What do you all think ?

There's at least one review of an AliX scope in the preceeding pages. 

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17 hours ago, jdm said:

There's at least one review of an AliX scope in the preceeding pages. 

Thanks JDM, ideed I've found 2 reviews on some aliexpress stereo microscopes in the preceeding pages. Seemed to be good quality and bang for buck. If I decide on one I'll make sure to review here for future reference.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello Everyone,

I am going to share the details of my adventure with a trinocular stereo microscope and a digital camera attached to it. I bought a second hand AmScope SM-1T (1st purchase) and I had no experience with stereo microscopes before.

What I am going to write might be evident for some, but probably will help someone out with limited experience with trinocular stereo microscopes, I might be even wrong with some of the things I am writing/thinking, please feel free to correct me as the last thing what I would like to do is to mislead somebody else. You might have a different type of stereo microscope and you might have a different type of digital camera so you might be in a different situation I have been.

A stereo microscope is incredibly useful and is a completely new world for the watchmaker in my opinion. You can see things you were not able to see before, worn pivot holes, pivots, cracks in jewels, bent hairsprings, and dirt everywhere, etc. :) I wanted higher working distance though and I also wanted to take pictures and record videos about watch movements and one of my initial goal was also to be able to take a picture about the whole movement. To achieve this I bought a number of things one buy one waiting weeks between the different items as I was not sure what to buy exactly.

The AmScope SM-1T I own:

IMG_20200918_151442.thumb.jpg.2ff08b6c99c18fd154b3ec8edca63c5e.jpg

The only thing I was sure about was the illumination so I bought a led light ring (2nd purchase): "220V 60000LM Adjustable Microscope LED Ring Light Illuminator Lamp For STEREO Microscope Excellent Circle Light EU plug" The first one did not work for long, its circuit board died after a week or so. I got a replacement however I am still using the original led light ring without its original circuit feeded directly by my bench power supply with 12V. I did not know that time that there are adapter rings for ring lights so I drilled 3 little holes into the head of the microscope. Now this sounds silly and indeed it is, but it became handy later as I can use these three little holes to attach my ring light to the microscope head without loosing much of the working distance if I want to. I bought an adapter anyway (3rd purchase): "M48X0.75 48 mm Thread Aluminum Objective Adapter Ring Stereo Microscope to Attached LED or Fluorescence Ring Light"

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The adapter ring:

IMG_20200918_151140.thumb.jpg.a7a35987afd2ef77e66f4ba5d1170674.jpg

The next thing what I bought was a 0.5x barlow lens (4th purchase) for the AmScope as I knew it would increase the working distance and the field of view and additionally would decrease the magnification. I went again for aliexpress and my number one priority was to get one as cheap as possible. Now this might be one of my biggest mistake here. I cannot compare the one I bought to any other 0.5x barlow lens, but I am not happy with this one: "0.5x WD160 Working Distance 160 mm Barlow Auxiliary Reduction Objective Lens with Mounting Thread 48 mm for Stereo Microscope" I cannot get a sharp image with this one so ended up not using it at all. You can attach your ring light directly to this one. This article talks about the barlow lens and suggests to buy a quality product from a trustworthy manufacturer: https://www.microscopemaster.com/barlow-lens.html

0.5x barlow lens for the AmScope:

IMG_20200918_151338.thumb.jpg.d04fbcf1f30801adac22c6bef714b1f0.jpg

Blurry images when fully zoomed in:

5x_barlow_blurry_7xbarlow.thumb.JPG.78aeaff1c59ad75161b8c7b072446590.JPG

5x_barlow_blurry_7xbarlow_2.thumb.JPG.4accd4ba00aa77f666bb22c550b04e24.JPG

Fully zoomed out, too much light and not very sharp:5xbarlow_5xbarlow_full_out.thumb.JPG.a782911d0c9461376d07521e155cce80.JPG

Then I bought a digital camera (5th purchase) for the trinocular port namely: "2020 Full HD 1080P 60FPS 2K 3800W 38MP HDMI USB Industrial Electronic Digital Video Microscope Camera For Phone CPU PCB Repair"  but it was not compatible with the adapter the AmScope came with as it was designed for AmScope own digital camera, i did not know that at this stage though so I bought (6th purchase) a "CMOS CCD USB HDMI Industrial Video Camera Adapter Electronic Eyepiece Microscope 23.2mm to C Mount For Biological Microscope" because i hoped that it would help me to attach the digital camera to the AmScope adapter and I would be able to focus it. It turned out that this was not the case. I could not get any useful image, not even close.

The digital microscope camera:

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AmScope adapter for their own digital camera what I could not use:

IMG_20200918_151235.thumb.jpg.904eb808fd04c7543068c63084ca2a43.jpg

And the adapter which fits into the AmScope adapter above but it did not help:

IMG_20200920_100854.thumb.jpg.178e67d0965550bececa10a572921da8.jpg

Meanwhile I bought (7th purchase) a "0.7X WD120 Trinocular Microscope Stereo Microscope Auxiliary Objective Lens Barlow Lens" barlow lens for the AmScope. The other issue with the 0.5x barlow lens for AmScope was that the working distance went to the sky and I could not comfortably sit in my chair as I could not reach the eyepieces easily. I was hoping that the 0.7x barlow lens would sort that out, but it did not turn out the way I hoped for, I am going to write about the working distances later. However I am satisfied with the 0.7x barlow lens, I can get sharp images. You have to use a ring light adapter with this one as you cannot directly attach your ring light to it.

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I am happy with this/ fully zoomed in:

5xbarlow_7xbarlow_full_in.thumb.JPG.fa508975ebe4fa5e6b512a840d49f5af.JPG

Still happy, fully zoomed out:

5xbarlow_7xbarlow_full_put.thumb.JPG.f5e7fbfdec76421ee80c7ee7db72dedb.JPG

Then I was advised to buy a 0.5x or 0.35x c mount adapter for the digital camera so I bought (8th purchase) "0.5X C mount Lens Adapter Focus Adjustable Camera Installation C mount Adapter" first, and yes it worked finally! The digital camera came with a ring and that ring must be used otherwise you cannot sync the focus between the digital camera and the microscope.

0.5x adapter for the digital camera:

IMG_20200918_150801.thumb.jpg.e4ffa412a40565dccef6ccb6c59269f9.jpg

And the ring what must be used:

IMG_20200918_150844.thumb.jpg.e4ed85d60c3cb813fe340c2b5e6ab915.jpg

As I was not happy with the 0.5x barlow lens for the AmScope but I still wanted to take pictures about the whole movement I thought i would buy (9th and final purchase) a 0.35x c mount adapter for the digital camera what would bring me a wider field of view so I bought a "0.35X C mount Lens Adapter Focus Adjustable Camera Installation C mount Adapter" too. And indeed it was the case, but it seems that the body of the microscope comes into the picture, what you can see in the upper right corner of the following picture so I ended up not using it.

0.35x:

IMG_20200918_150858.thumb.jpg.1c8ca6c50cffaa69f560698fc97e8e87.jpg

Check the upper right corner:

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When you use the microscope your field of view is a circle, but when you use your digital camera your field of view is a rectangle.

So i give you and idea about the dimensions and the working distances now.

Digital Camera with 0.5x adapter for all cases.

Field of view with 0.5x barlow lens for the stereo microscope:
Zoom full in 7.5 mm x 4 mm
Zoom full out 5.3 cm x 2.9 cm

Field of view with 0.7x barlow lens for the stereo microscope:
Zoom full in 4.5 mm x 2.5 mm
Zoom full out 2.9 cm x 1.6 cm

Field of view without barlow lens for the stereo microscope:
Zoom full in 4.5 mm x 2.5 mm
Zoom full out 2.9 cm x 1.6 cm


Stereo microscope field of view and working distance.
 
No barlow lens.
Zoom full in diameter: 4.5 mm
Zoom full out diameter: 30 mm
Working distance: 8 cm (from the workpiece and the bottom of the ring light which is attached to the 3 drilled holes)

0.7x barlow lens.
Zoom full in diameter: 5.5 mm
Zoom full out diameter: 40 mm
Working distance: 11.6 cm (from the workpiece and the bottom of the ring light which is attached to the 3 drilled holes, ring light adapter is not attached to the barlow lens as it would further reduce the working distance.)

0.5x barlow lens.
Zoom full in diameter: 10.5 mm
Zoom full out diameter: 70 mm
Working distance: 20.5 cm (from the workpiece and the bottom of the ring light which is attached to the 3 drilled holes)

Conclusion: I ended up using the 0.7x barlow lens for the microscope, and the 0.5x adapter for the digital camera which is a must have. The ring came with the camera is also a must so you would be able to sync the digital camera with the microscope so they would be both in focus at the same time. I had to ditch the 0.35x mount adapter for the digital camera because the body of the microscope came into the picture and I had to ditch the 0.5x barlow lens for the stereo microscope as it did not give me sharp images. Even if I would have a good quality 0.5x barlow lens which would give me sharp images I still would need to sort out the seating position by purchasing an adjustable chair (mine is adjustable too but it did not go high enough to reach the eyepieces) however it would give you an amazing working distance of about 20 cm bearing in mind that it halves the original magnification. My original wish to be able to take a picture about the whole movement probably was not something reasonable. First of all a microscope as its name suggests is about to focus on tiny things not on things like a whole movement, my phone takes better quality pictures than this microscope if we talk about the whole movement. Additionally I could not take a good quality picture (apart from the blurriness) about the whole movement when the 0.5x barlow lens were on the stereo microscope (and they had to be on to be able to get the whole movement in the field of view), because there was too much light and regardless of the settings of the digital microscope i could not sort it out. An additional thought, as I mentioned earlier I hoped that the 0.7x barlow lens would sort out the "too high" working distance and instead of 20cm it would be around 15 cm, but it came to 11.6 cm which is doing the match is about right as the original working distance without any barlow lens is 8 cm, the 0.5x gives me 20.5 cm, but if it doubles the working distance it should really be about 16 cm. The 10.5 cm what I have with the 0.7x barlow lens is just about enough, it would be better if it would be a bit bigger.

Probably a new chair and quality 0.5x barlow lens for the stereo microscope would be ideal for repairing, but none of the setup would be ideal for taking pictures about whole movements.

AmScope video about the Barlow lens: https://youtu.be/ozPae_nnbH4

My setup:

IMG_20200918_152015.thumb.jpg.a2459de82130dd9d79f8932cd5909159.jpg

This video is captured by the digital camera itself, its size was just too big ~ 160M so I could not upload to wrt, however I wanted to show you its original quality so decided to upload it to my google drive, to my surprise when you click on the link the video quality is much worse than the original I uploaded, i dont know why is that happening, probably google tries to save the bits going trough the network: digital camera recording

This is what I see from my chair: 

One more thing to add, the digital camera started to play up after a while, its main menu came up and it switched itself off. Contacted the seller and they gave me a new firmware. I flashed the camera and there is no issue since.

This is my longest post so far, I am happy I am at it's end. :Laugh:

Edited by luiazazrambo
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  • 2 months later...

I am new to the hobby of watch investigation, I say that because I spend most of the time looking at the movements rather than actually managing to repair any just yet ?

Anyway I would like to buy a binocular microscope, but don’t know what one would be best for my level. I need one that will give plenty of access for my clumsy fingers and tools needed and give adequate magnification.  I don’t really want to invest too much money, so am looking for recommendations for a reasonably priced entry  piece of kit.

All advice greatly appreciated please.

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Hi there are electronic microscopes on ebay for example which are adequate for inspection purposes, The binocular type come a little more expensive. The problem is if you intend to use one to work under is getting one of the correct focal length to give you the room to work such as the electronic repair type which have a distance of up to a foot but they don't  come cheap as they specialist tools. So its a case of doing a little research into the availability of what you require and the relative cost.  I don't think there is an exact answer. I dare say that some of the forum members will have their own opinions but that's what this forum is all about

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