AmScope - 8X Magnification Binocular Stereo Microscope w/ 360 Revolve - Dental, Lab, Electronic Repair, Soldering, Shop Gooseneck Illuminator - SE508

Very impressed with the optical and build quality of this microscope for the price. It is a near “lab grade” instrument. Excellent value for surface mount electronic and other small hobbyist type work. Get this microscope you will not be disappointed.

To start off with if your looking to work on things that are laying flat on the bench I would get something else like an SE400 amscope model.For me I absolutely love inspecting things with this. I do not bend the gooseneck so it is straight up so I can sit up at my bench without have to be hunch over for long hours. I can put some pillows down for my elbows and bring whatever I need up to the focus point and have all the space to rotate the object to see what I need to see.Because it is so small I don't need dedicated bench space as I can move it with one hand back under the desk. I bought one for work because just for inspections and not having to rely on inspecting with a loupe for 8 hours a day. but messing with my watches and stones at home I found I really wanted a second one for home use.

This product was purchased for a Cellular Phone Repair Shop and the pricing was excellent. It's a great option if you happen to have an extra LED ring around.

The general quality is very good, the optics are also good, but is not very comfortable for sustained use, however for short inspections is great.

After my recent cataract surgeries I needed a magnification to improve my closeup vision for soldering small SMT components on circuit boards This suited my needs.

While this produces a razor sharp image (you'll need the optional LED light), I found the process of focussing by bending the gooseneck very difficult. Depth of field is very narrow, so it's hard to get everything in focus and also to make sure the lens is parallel to the object you are viewing. So gooseneck focussing is NOT the way to make something like this useful for me. My use case: electronics repair. The instructions consisted of a poorly zeroxed single sheet of paper, so you're pretty much on your own with this device. I returned it for a different solution, an LED microscope at about the same cost, all things considered. YMMV.

Splinters, thorns, cactus spines, meal shards, all those little things that get into your skin but are so small that you can't see them well enough to extract them with tweezers. They now look like sticks pocking out of rhinoceros hide. What I need now is a finer set of tweezers.

It's just like what it says it is. It is a tad on the expensive side but microscopes are usually expensive. It doesn't change magnification power and you do need to spend some time adjusting the arm so that you get the correct height to see certain things. But, these are things that are easily learned and are not a hardship in any way. Overall, it is a great microscope for anyone doing motherboard repair, dealing with electronics, or want to view anything on a microscopic level.