This microscope has all the features found on far more expensive ones. Optics are good, focusing is easy, and the lighting fully adjustable. Highly recommend for college level microscopy but affordable enough for use in your at home lab. It's been great in my apiary operation to evaluate Nosema.
09/05/2023
I really like the microscope. It's an art to use one. You have to really take your time. Or get some more light. It's like photography. It is a wonderfully made. Microscope. I've been able to see all kinds of new things. It is well made. It works fantastic. I can't wait to test more of their products. Thank you. It's been a joy.
08/05/2023
This microscope is solidly built and has a lot of great features, including a movable stage with calipers to hold slides. However it also has complicating feature. One important note: There is a black pin on the right side of the scope, which is not mentioned in the manual. DO NOT unscrew it, or the whole top of the scope will fall off!
The main problem I'm having is that the instruction manual is a shambles of poorly-written and worse-translated verbiage that references certain parts of the scope, but not others, and doesn't clearly explain the parts it references. Add to that the fact that it references things that aren't shown in the illustrations, and the confusion increases. It appears that the manual was written for a different microscope and not edited to describe the use of this one. The translation into English is worse than sloppy, barely intelligible in places.
The scope comes with a small CD that will install the "Strangeview" program on a PC to allow you to see images on the computer screen and save photos and videos. I only installed it on an old disused laptop because somewhere in the installation process I was instructed that if my virus software objected I had to turn that off to install the program. Being as this software comes from an unknown source, I'm not willing to install it on a newer computer.
If you want to install the software on a Mac, you'll need to send an email to an address given in the manual and ask to be sent a link to download the software. I emailed that address about another issue 3 days ago and have not yet received any acknowledgment or response.
The software does work fairly well and has nice features such as letting you input information onto the screen when taking photos and videos. But it crashes frequently and can't be shut down without resorting to Alt-Ctrl-Del and End Process. If you click on the Help icon in the software it opens a blank document with nothing but a title and a date.
When using the electronic eyepiece to output images to the computer, I find it very difficult to achieve focus on the higher magnifications. A quality eyepiece ought to screw into the receptacle, but this one just sits loosely in and is easy to jostle out of position.
Some of the mp4 files saved by Strangeview will not play on my computer while others will, and it appears that ones that I've added identifying visual data to are the ones that won't play. They are apparently written with a different codec that Windows Media Player does not recognize.
The best way I'm finding to use the scope is by attaching a smart phone to one of the eyepieces with the supplied Mobile Phone Support.
Overall the scope's performance is good. The different objective lenses click in solidly with reasonable precision. You'll need to refocus with each lens change though. The coarse and fine focus knobs work well.
There is no company name on the scope or in the manual, so there is no way to contact the manufacturer for further information, and the email address supplied in the manual has not brought any response within 3 days.
I seriously considered giving only 3 stars because of the shabby instruction manual and nonresponsive email address, but the microscope is solid and functional, so if it came with an adequate manual and a better computer program I might even give it 5 stars.
The main problem I'm having is that the instruction manual is a shambles of poorly-written and worse-translated verbiage that references certain parts of the scope, but not others, and doesn't clearly explain the parts it references. Add to that the fact that it references things that aren't shown in the illustrations, and the confusion increases. It appears that the manual was written for a different microscope and not edited to describe the use of this one. The translation into English is worse than sloppy, barely intelligible in places.
The scope comes with a small CD that will install the "Strangeview" program on a PC to allow you to see images on the computer screen and save photos and videos. I only installed it on an old disused laptop because somewhere in the installation process I was instructed that if my virus software objected I had to turn that off to install the program. Being as this software comes from an unknown source, I'm not willing to install it on a newer computer.
If you want to install the software on a Mac, you'll need to send an email to an address given in the manual and ask to be sent a link to download the software. I emailed that address about another issue 3 days ago and have not yet received any acknowledgment or response.
The software does work fairly well and has nice features such as letting you input information onto the screen when taking photos and videos. But it crashes frequently and can't be shut down without resorting to Alt-Ctrl-Del and End Process. If you click on the Help icon in the software it opens a blank document with nothing but a title and a date.
When using the electronic eyepiece to output images to the computer, I find it very difficult to achieve focus on the higher magnifications. A quality eyepiece ought to screw into the receptacle, but this one just sits loosely in and is easy to jostle out of position.
Some of the mp4 files saved by Strangeview will not play on my computer while others will, and it appears that ones that I've added identifying visual data to are the ones that won't play. They are apparently written with a different codec that Windows Media Player does not recognize.
The best way I'm finding to use the scope is by attaching a smart phone to one of the eyepieces with the supplied Mobile Phone Support.
Overall the scope's performance is good. The different objective lenses click in solidly with reasonable precision. You'll need to refocus with each lens change though. The coarse and fine focus knobs work well.
There is no company name on the scope or in the manual, so there is no way to contact the manufacturer for further information, and the email address supplied in the manual has not brought any response within 3 days.
I seriously considered giving only 3 stars because of the shabby instruction manual and nonresponsive email address, but the microscope is solid and functional, so if it came with an adequate manual and a better computer program I might even give it 5 stars.
07/05/2023
My item just arrived yesterday and I've been trying to get it working. So far I've managed to get the article to work. The manual is less important and makes setting up the phone connection more difficult. I wish there was an effective manual. If anyone has a solution how to get the phone connection installed and working please let me know. I noticed that the eyepiece head only rotates (but is unstable) when the retaining screw is loosened, making it very unstable and difficult. The picture quality is good, the third eye and the PC connection are also good. Now we'll see how it fares on a spot check over the next few weeks.
10/04/2023