Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Recommendation on cheapist benchtop microscope for PCB inspection?
Fusion916:
Similar to what we see Dave use. Is there anything decent for a few hundred bucks? Or is the sub $1000 market nothing but junk?
DaJMasta:
There are certainly options under $1000, but what kind of thing are you looking for?
A binocular scope on an arm can be as little as $300 or so for a decent one, and there a lot of variants available, and USB/HDMI/VGA scopes can be had even a little cheaper and then on up, but depending on the usage can have limitations (especially USB scopes tend to have much lower framerate, so it's not great for soldering under even though it's fine for inspection). The Mantis scopes like the one Dave has start higher than that, probably $500-600 for a used older model, but for a live inspection/soldering scope are tough to beat in terms of usability.
I ended up getting an HDMI scope (Aven Cyclops) for inspection and soldering and am reasonably happy with it, but Dave's more recent videos on the autofocus scopes would be were I'd look now in the price class, they seem to perform similarly or a bit better in terms of image quality, but the good autofocus is a big boon.
alan.green@gmail.com:
There's many hours of good reading here on the forums about microscopes and other magnifying devices. Try searching for "binocular".
I have an Amscope 10x arm microscope. It's great for detailed assembly work, but only has ~20mm field of view, so isn't as good for inspection. If your budget is $1000, I would second DaJMasta's recommendation on autofocusing scopes.
You might also check out Scotty Allen's recommendation for a scope that he uses. It has both binocular optical and HDMI paths:
Not what you asked for, but a good magnifying headband can get you a long way, cheaply.
Pack34:
You can't go wrong with amscope. I bought the one below and could not be happier. I've been using it daily for about five years.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006QN5T5G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Aztlanpz:
--- Quote from: Pack34 on February 25, 2019, 01:33:40 am ---You can't go wrong with amscope. I bought the one below and could not be happier. I've been using it daily for about five years.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006QN5T5G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
--- End quote ---
I have the same microscope and I love it.
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