Digital microscope ? Anyone have one ?

[BillK]

Do any of you guys have a digital microscope that you can use with a laptop or tablet etc ? I do electronics as a hobby and have been getting more and more stuff that has the really small surface mounted devices. Using a magnifying glass to solder them is getting old quick There are a lot of choices on Amazon etc but would like to hear some first hand experiences. A lot of them have their own display but that isnt a must. I have no problem using a laptop or tablet for the display.

Thanks !!!

 

[slowtwitch73]

Yeah bought one for my kid... nothing fancy, works slick.

I find it esp interesting looking at knife edges, etc.

 

[BillK]

Yeah bought one for my kid... nothing fancy, works slick.

I find it esp interesting looking at knife edges, etc.

Which one did you get ?

 

[slowtwitch73]

It's pushing 5 years old... it a funky made in China unit... doubt its available now... not sure I could even find a name on it!

I'm sure there are better offerings now..

It's similar to those by Bysameyee... sold under many names for many prices.

 

[qdvuu]

I use a Celestron 44308 for electronics and other hobbies. It works great with my Win10 computers and the price is right. Celestron's big in the world of telescope so it's a good quality unit by a reputable mfg.

 

[htmdude57]

There are also "clip on" magnifying lenses you can buy cheaply to out on your cellphones camera lens.

 

[RPH]

I’ve had a few over the years. I agree surface mount gets hard and tiny. I had components that were (.) big. Try your phone focused into with zoom. Be surprised at the detail. Watching on the screen makes life easier. iPhone was with me everywhere.

 

[PelicanPines]

I have a Celestron as well. It's 12 years old. Model 44302. I hooked it up to my desktop and laptop. My use was more medical tho but did use it a few times to read the tops of chips. I paid $47 for it.

 

[Mike S.]

I have a Samsung SDP-850DX that I purchased for my electronics hobby. It's old tech, but the picture quality is still quite good. It has 12" of working distance and there's very little screen lag, so it could be used for soldering small components. Optical zoom is 0 - 14x magnification, then it switches to digital zoom up to 20x.

Most often however, I find it much easier and more precise to use my Amscope SE400. If I'm hand soldering something extremely small like an 0402 component or an IC with a 0.5mm lead pitch, I use the good old fashioned fixed lens stereo microscope.

 

[no704]

Not much help here, but get the stand with it!

 

[BillK]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Both the Celestron and the Samsung look like they would do the trick. The stand for the Samsung would work a lot better with the circuit board holder I have. I would probably have to make a different stand for the Celestron. Only issue with the Samsung is that it looks like it is only available used ?

The camera in my Motorola phone ***** so that is really not a great option