Author Topic: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!  (Read 71194 times)

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Offline Carrington

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #75 on: October 12, 2018, 03:27:56 pm »
Probably you can do it via USB and SD card too, for IP cameras, LAN is the easy way.
IP cameras based on Hi3516A are easy to mod, and a lot more cheap.  ;)
The problem is the delay via LAN, and the zoom/auto focus, they require totally different lenses.

For example: https://hupuu.com/camera/ipcb-3516as291-d29-et9-1080p-50fps-1-2.8-2mp-sony-imx291-hi3516a-ip-starlight-security-cctv?sku=CBF-D29
Manufacturer: http://www.jvt.cc/S291H16A-L29.html

Note: Edited to clarify some things.
« Last Edit: October 12, 2018, 05:57:21 pm by Carrington »
My English can be pretty bad, so suggestions are welcome. ;)
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Offline Finbarry

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #76 on: October 12, 2018, 03:52:23 pm »
I am trying to figure out a way to get more out of the firmware. It must be linux based. The mainboard is based on the Hi3516A SoC made by
Just find a serial port, J50 maybe. I have the original Hisilicon SDK somewhere.

I'll check J50 after the weekend when I'm back in my workshop.
I will post an update about my findings then.
 

Offline smbaker

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #77 on: October 12, 2018, 05:41:04 pm »
Cheaper, 400$ with 120x lens: Cheaper 400$usd, 120x lens

This one is a steal which has the stand AND lamp and a 180x, or 300x lens for 429$ : With stand and circular LED lamp for 429$

Wow, the shipping sure goes through the roof if you switch from camera+lens to camera+lens+stand.

What other options are there for a stand for one of these things?
 

Online Mr.B

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #78 on: October 13, 2018, 04:44:13 am »
I have just set mine up.
I was going to do a teardown with photos, but I see @Finbarry has beaten me to it.
I am reasonably impressed with it.
My setup below.
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Offline voltsandjolts

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #79 on: October 13, 2018, 07:36:34 pm »
As an alternative, has anyone tried a microscope setup using a digital SLR with HDMI out?
e.g. Nikon D3400 (with 60fps HDMI) + C-mount adapter + lens
Costs look comparable on ebay, with the advantage that you also have a SLR.

Ahh, maybe you don't get auto focus when the SLR mirror is up for 'liveview video'.
 

Offline mikeselectricstuff

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #80 on: October 13, 2018, 07:53:23 pm »
Latency may be an issue with dslr, not so much of an issue for inspection but can be a big pain for working under
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Offline smbaker

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #81 on: October 14, 2018, 04:15:46 am »
As an alternative, has anyone tried a microscope setup using a digital SLR with HDMI out?
e.g. Nikon D3400 (with 60fps HDMI) + C-mount adapter + lens
Costs look comparable on ebay, with the advantage that you also have a SLR.

Ahh, maybe you don't get auto focus when the SLR mirror is up for 'liveview video'.

I've shot still images and video on a trinocular amscope with my Canon t6i (and t2i before that). I've not tried viewing the HDMI out while recording, but the recorded image when I play it back on my PC is great, though the field of view is significantly less than what I see through the eyepiece. What this doesn't achieve is any sort of autofocus. The focusing mechanism is inside the camera lens, and that lens is removed and replaced with the microscope adapter. You can set the trinocular microscope up so that the camera is in focus when the eyepieces are in focus, but still if you tilt the board or you zoom the microscope, you have to fuss with the focus. IMO autofocus is the biggest advantage to the Eakins setup in Dave's video.

I pulled the trigger Friday evening and ordered the Eakins setup. I picked the package that includes the stand and the small LCD monitor (another small LCD monitor will always come in handy). I also purchased an 0.35 barlow that I'm going to try with it to see how much it improves the field of view. I've also ordered a c-mount adapter so I can try mounting the Eakins directly to my amscope and compare that to the lens that ships with the Eakins. The Eakins hasn't shipped yet, but I'll respond with my impressions when it eventually arrives.

Ali Express triggered fraud alerts on both the credit cards I tried to use, led to some grief trying to place the order. My order is currently in "being verified" state. I guess the lack of trust between Visa and AliExpress is mutual.

Scott
« Last Edit: October 14, 2018, 04:20:24 am by smbaker »
 

Offline Astrodev

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #82 on: October 15, 2018, 10:50:47 pm »
I was looking forward to trying one of these out today, but for some reason the package that was supposed to contain the bits I ordered got delivered to someone in France this morning and not the UK.

With a bit of luck it was only an error in the tracking number and it is still on route but I am not holding out much hope as the AliExpress tracking shows it as enroute to the UK.


I have sent them a message to ask what is going on so I will have to wait and suspect it will now be another week at least before I get one to play with.
 

Offline Hydron

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #83 on: October 16, 2018, 11:37:48 am »
Latency may be an issue with dslr, not so much of an issue for inspection but can be a big pain for working under
I've had a play using a bodged together dslr+HDMI macro rig as a possible soldering setup. Latency was OK with my cameras (EOS M and M5) but there were other problems:
- You have to muck about to try and get a reasonable aperture (wide open does not give enough depth of field). Aperture setting will not necessarily apply in live-view mode, only when you actually take a pic.
- video output was stuck at 720p/1080i depending on the camera (and that's after pissing about with the monitor's EDID EEPROM to add specific resolutions that the cameras liked, otherwise they spat out SD)
- the output is not native sensor resolution either (they do pixel skipping and stuff), so you're not getting the best out of the camera

I'm not completely giving up on doing things this way, but it's clearly easier going the aliexpress camera route!
 
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Offline orion242

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #84 on: October 19, 2018, 02:42:53 am »
Nice camera and setup. I'll wait until the "Dave effect" passes and get one once the temporary price increase fades away.
What are you talking about, if you have read the thread, you will see the price dropped around 10% from these 2 Aliexpress suppliers I found here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1125-amazing-$500-solderinginspection-microscope!/msg1852202/#msg1852202

Using the link in Daves's video...  Shipping was included, but it was well over $500 freedom bucks at the time I pulled the trigger shortly after the video.  I roll private mode on FF 100% with noscript and ad blockers, not sure if that gives me the special price.  If it does, would certainly like to know.

PLEASE READ EVERYTHING YOU ARE GETTING AND AT WHAT PRICE, INCLUDING SHIPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We are engineers here and this comparing products and all the features plus hidden loopholes, like forced to pay shipping for 1 part and not the others shouldn't be a problem for us.  If there is a different cost to you I don't know about, then, please let me know.

DAVES LINK, 455$, shipping included, 180x LENS, NO camera lamp, NO holder vertical table stand... Dave has a separate link for the table and for that table stand you need to pay shipping because of the stand's package size.

MY LINK #1, 400$ US, shipping included, 120x LENS instead of the closer 180x lens,  NO camera lamp, NO holder vertical table stand...

MY LINK #2, 429$ US + 59$ shipping for 488$ total, choice of 180x lens or 300x lens, INCLUDES Table Stand, INCLUDES lens mounted microscope lamp.

If you want that table with the vertical arm to hold the camera, you will always need to pay for shipping.  Dave's links do not contain a lamp for the microscope.  My 2 links are a legitimate deals.

We are engineers here, read and analyze the links I provide you with and you will get everything your want and need at the best price.  If you do not read, you will buy just the camera, then have to find a separate table holder, have the shipping for the table on 1 item, and once you buy everything a-la-carte separate, you still wont have the microscope lamp and everything will arrive at different times.

Well Mr. Engineer, long story short...

The original order took more than 7 days to even ship.  I requested they cancel the order at that point.  Two days later the seller responded and in all fairness refunded claiming Chinese holiday.  After that refund went though, I hit your "With stand and circular LED lamp for 429$" link.  I didn't catch this is the same seller.  Felt a bit douchie re-ordering a better priced package after canceling.  I paid for DHL and sure enough it shipped withing 48hrs and came in short order.

Package as received, is missing the lens totally and I have 50% of the base.  I have the horizontal bar and hardware only.  Nothing to adapt the missing lens to it let alone the base and vertical support.  Looking at what I have, the base is prob worth the price but total crap to my amscope setup I have now.  Amscope vertical and horizontal supports are solid metal, this horizontal support is hollow and full of rust.  Aka, take off the end cap off to assemble and 1-2 grams of rust fall out.

At this point, I'll have to quote AvE.  Time to piss with the cock you got.

Not wasting my time with the seller anymore.  They refunded me in full (though by paypal so I incurred a fee from those parasites) once already.  Its aliexpress and just another layer of hell deeper than ebay.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't.

The camera alone is pretty awesome for the price.  I mainly though it would be a perfect replacement to my current amscope camera.  Using it as advertised would have been ok, but doesn't really fit my lab.  I have a 4' hood for soldering and there isn't room for a stereo microscope and this as a standalone setup.

I have it on my amscope with a 0.5x adapter.  Mag is still too high for what's ideal, but its usable and a 5x improvement from the cam I had.  Find the right optics and adapters this thing is still gold for the price.

If anyone wants a Amscope MC300 camera, its yours if you cover shipping.  PM me.  This cam needs lots of light but takes pretty good images.  I use it with amscope's brightest led ring and its fine until I'm working a the max mag level.  Biggest complaint...its never in focus with the eye piece so I have to piss around before taking pics.  Not the end of the world but annoying.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2018, 03:40:20 am by orion242 »
 

Offline smbaker

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #85 on: October 19, 2018, 06:01:49 am »
Received mine today, ordered boom stand + camera + base + LCD monitor + ring light. Also ordered an 0.35 barlow that screws onto the bottom. Everything was there, though I was worried for a bit things were missing -- some parts to the base were packaged inside the box the held the LCD monitor.

The 12V 1A wall-wart included for the LCD monitor is insufficient to power the monitor. It just sort of blinks on and off when in HDMI mode. Tried my own 12V 1.5A wall wart and the monitor worked fine. What the hell? Whoever put these packages together didn't check to see if the wall-wart can power the LCD? It's not like I don't have plenty of wall-warts, but still....

The boom stand is capable but greatly inferior to the boom stand on my amscope trinocular microscope. The tube diameters are smaller. The metal feels thinner. The base seems to weight less. Took me a little while to figure out how to put it together.

The mouse locked up once and the pointer wouldn't move. Not sure if this was a mouse problem or a camera problem.

The autofocus tends to hunt back and forth a lot more than I'd like. To make this usable, I'm definitely going to need to find a way to easily toggle autofocus on and off. I've been thinking a "Pi Zero W" in USB gadget mode emulating a mouse might do it. It looks like one could reliably home the mouse cursor, then move a preprogrammed distance to hit the autofocus and manual focus buttons.

Tried the camera mounted directly to a C-Mount adapter and placed on the photoport of my Amscope trinocular microscope. Working distance in this configuration was crazy small and unusable, like an inch or two. Maybe I need to include some additional optical element between the photoport and camera? I'm not an optics guy, I just stick things together and assume they'll work.

The 0.35 Barlow on the supplied lens (not on my Amscope) makes the working distance crazy big. Seems approximately 8" on zoom-out, and 14" (hard to say, I had to pick the thing up off the stand, and hold it in my hand) on zoom-in. This would probably be useful soldering at the lowest magnification, but neuters most of the zoom capability. Maybe I need to play with it a bit more, and get the distance set to the sweet spot to maximize the zoom capability with the barlow attached.

Scott
« Last Edit: October 19, 2018, 06:16:53 am by smbaker »
 

Offline smbaker

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #86 on: October 19, 2018, 03:16:33 pm »
I have it on my amscope with a 0.5x adapter.  Mag is still too high for what's ideal, but its usable and a 5x improvement from the cam I had.

Could you post a picture and/or part numbers of what you've used to mount this to your Amscope? I'd really like to get this working on mine, and toss the stand that came with the Eakins.

Scott
 

Offline thm_w

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #87 on: October 19, 2018, 07:54:45 pm »
Not wasting my time with the seller anymore.  They refunded me in full (though by paypal so I incurred a fee from those parasites) once already.  Its aliexpress and just another layer of hell deeper than ebay.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't.

You use the "dispute" function or "cancel order" on aliexpress, and the refund will be to your original form of payment with no fees.
Not sure how you managed to get a refund directly from the seller like that..
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Offline orion242

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #88 on: October 20, 2018, 02:14:31 am »
Not wasting my time with the seller anymore.  They refunded me in full (though by paypal so I incurred a fee from those parasites) once already.  Its aliexpress and just another layer of hell deeper than ebay.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't.

You use the "dispute" function or "cancel order" on aliexpress, and the refund will be to your original form of payment with no fees.
Not sure how you managed to get a refund directly from the seller like that..

Seller refunded in paypal, I purchased with CC.  To purchase in paypal on alihell I got dinged a ~$20 fee for the new order.

So I paid extra for DHL and hit with the paypal adder, the total came out to a few bucks more than my initial order. 

I wanted the camera and got it.  Its great, the rest of the addons are trash IMO.  Bare in mind I don't have the lens.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2018, 02:19:55 am by orion242 »
 

Offline orion242

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #89 on: October 20, 2018, 02:47:48 am »
I have it on my amscope with a 0.5x adapter.  Mag is still too high for what's ideal, but its usable and a 5x improvement from the cam I had.

Could you post a picture and/or part numbers of what you've used to mount this to your Amscope? I'd really like to get this working on mine, and toss the stand that came with the Eakins.

Scott

Love to give all the part #s, but I assume you know as well amscope and the little misc pieces are a $hit show.  I have the original packing list on my setup, will dig up.  From what I can gather I have the camera port and its all working down to that.  That said, I doubt there is part #s on any of the adapters.  I sure can't find replacements on their site.  Would love to switch out my .5x for .25x or lower.

The cam as is, does auto focus on my setup.  Its far better than what I had, but certainly not perfect.  Mag is to high on the low end, but very usable above my min needs.  Can't complain with the quality of the cam @ whatever I paid, its awesome.


« Last Edit: October 20, 2018, 03:56:46 am by orion242 »
 

Offline orion242

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #90 on: October 20, 2018, 02:58:27 am »
Offer still stands. Amscope MC300 camera for the cost of shipping.  I paid over $100 and its a fair camera for entry level amscope setups.

Gone
« Last Edit: October 23, 2018, 01:09:39 am by orion242 »
 

Offline orion242

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #91 on: October 20, 2018, 03:27:50 am »
Min mag with my setup as captured via SD with the cam direct.

Putting a tape measure in the field of view its roughly 3/4" x 3/8"  These images are far better than I get with the amscope cam I had and still a fraction of what I get in the eyepiece.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2018, 03:35:35 am by orion242 »
 

Offline orion242

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #92 on: October 20, 2018, 03:43:58 am »
Not wasting my time with the seller anymore.  They refunded me in full (though by paypal so I incurred a fee from those parasites) once already.  Its aliexpress and just another layer of hell deeper than ebay.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't.

You use the "dispute" function or "cancel order" on aliexpress, and the refund will be to your original form of payment with no fees.
Not sure how you managed to get a refund directly from the seller like that..

I canceled order in ali, then the seller had to approve.  They finally did two days later and refunded via paypal.  Which surprise, ali passes paypal fees to the buyer.  So on the reorder using my refund, ~$20 got sucked into the ether.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2018, 04:02:38 am by orion242 »
 
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Offline smbaker

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #93 on: October 20, 2018, 04:00:03 am »
Love to give all the part #s, but I assume you know as well as amscope and the little misc pieces are a $hit show.  I have the original packing list on my setup, will dig up.  From what I can gather I have the camera port and its all working down to that.  That said, I doubt there is part #s on any of the adapters.  I sure can't find replacements on their site.  Would love to switch out my .5x for .25x or lower.

Yeah, I even went so far as to email them, but received an unhelpful response. Just trying to figure out what I own now, and the dimensions and such of the photo port threads is hard enough. They seem to have sold several different microscopes with several different types of photo ports. I've owned the thing for 8 years and it's been a great tool at an incredibly good price, so I suppose I can't complain too much.

Thanks for the pictures.

Scott
 

Offline orion242

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #94 on: October 20, 2018, 04:17:49 am »
Looking back at my original invoice from 2015, this is what I have.  I did get a better ring light and cam from the initial order.  With this I got a bunch of misc adapters.  Sadly, there are no part#s and they don't seem to be available on their site.



« Last Edit: October 20, 2018, 04:30:51 am by orion242 »
 

Offline Astrodev

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #95 on: October 20, 2018, 02:32:15 pm »
Hopefully I will get my setup on Monday, 2nd attempt to ship to me at least it is in the right country this time. apparently DHL had a problem with the post code if you believe that.
 

Offline orion242

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #96 on: October 20, 2018, 03:34:59 pm »
Pretty sure this is the lens I have between the camera and the adapter on my scope.

https://www.amscope.com/accessories/adapter/0-5x-reduction-lens-for-ma-series-cameras.html
 

Offline smbaker

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #97 on: October 20, 2018, 06:52:45 pm »
Pretty sure this is the lens I have between the camera and the adapter on my scope.

https://www.amscope.com/accessories/adapter/0-5x-reduction-lens-for-ma-series-cameras.html

Thanks. I may have to get my hands on one of those if nothing else works out. I ended up ordering the 0.5x and 0.3x adapters at this page: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Low-Price-0-5X-C-mount-Lens-Adapter-1-2-CTV-Adapter-For-SZMTV1-2-Trinocular/32814332968.html. Whether or not they'll thread onto my amscope, I have less than no idea. If they do thread on (or if I bodge it together), then I have no idea whether it will yield a usable picture.

I should know in about a month... (Kinda wish I'd have chosen DHL, but I was in a cheap mood last night)

Scott
« Last Edit: October 20, 2018, 06:55:23 pm by smbaker »
 

Offline orion242

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #98 on: October 21, 2018, 12:36:48 am »
Working distance in this configuration was crazy small and unusable, like an inch or two.

Measured what I have in my setup.  So bench to scope is 5".  I can turn a ~5" board near vertical and the AF with the mag @ min, it will focus on anything from the bench to about ~3.5" above without ever changing the microscope focus.  That alone is a hell of an upgrade from what I had.  It goes to hell when your working on the edges of what the AF can deal with.  If I have the eye pieces in focus, the cam seems in its happy spot.  At least if I move the scope within ~50% of its mag range.  Moving from min to max, I need to adjust the cam height in the adapters so its happy again or deal with endless hunting.  I never really use my setup at the max.

Pi to fake the mouse should certainly work I would think.  Find if I'm mindful of the AF, just keep the window in areas of the same height its not too annoying.  A foot pedal would be ideal.
« Last Edit: October 21, 2018, 01:37:33 am by orion242 »
 

Offline orion242

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Re: EEVblog #1125 - Amazing $500 Soldering/Inspection Microscope!
« Reply #99 on: October 21, 2018, 12:37:31 am »
Cam pics with board ~vertical.  This board with tons of crap on the ends, isn't the best case by any means.
« Last Edit: October 21, 2018, 02:18:53 am by orion242 »
 


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