Help me narrow down a new microscope choice

[wilbern]

Hello I'm in the market for a new microscope for prototyping and inspection with some soldering and rework. I narrowed down the choices to Mantis Elite and Leica S9i the difference in price is minimal and unimportant. My questions are

- Working in the x10 - x20 range will the Mantis struggle at the top range?
- If you had a chance to use/try the Leica, what is your opinion?
- Which one of the two would you get or suggest me to get?
- For the same price range do you have another option (no old equipment)?

 I'm based in Europe, first time I post here but regularly around. Thank you!

[sn4k3]

Go Mantis Elite if you have the money and dont ever want to use camera, record video or never need more than 10x, otherwise Leica
Up to 10x is ok but depending on what you need it might not be enough, i often need 20x or more to repair broken wires from flex cables and some 01005, but for common stuff i use the least zoom (3.5x). Mantis Elite will go with 20x the problem is the working distance, i'm not sure if you will do anything with 2.9cm of working height plus the big head on the way... I guess 20x is only for inspection, not soldering.
About the fatique under a common microscope is more about how it is setup, heights and angles, i made my own bench and i choose it height based on microscope working distance and my height, resulting in a correct working position, i'm almost all straight while working under my microscope (SM-4TP) without the need of looking down, so never had a neck pain or discomfort, i can work during hours without fell bad. But now if you have wrong heights and you have to adjust your head to the microscope it will be a pain for long periods.
My rule is: Adapt things to you, not otherwise.
PS: My microscope have a 22x zoom at 12.5cm working distance, and 15cm if i remove led ring. And that precious height is what make Mantis Elite not the best for me.
The Lynx EVO otherwise seens perfect but you will need sell your house 
They also have the SX45-TR Elite which is a very good unit in the eyepiece stereo microscopes style

Better if you can try both and decide.

[lazarusr]

@wilbern: what did you go for in the end and how happy are you with your choice?

[theatrus]

I personally just moved from an Amscope setup to the Leica S9i after trying the Mantis. Mantis is nice for wide field, but the optics are so incredibly flat on the Leica and the depth of field is amazing. You train yourself pretty fast to look down into the microscope that the Mantis advantage evaporates.

The Leica software is fairly heavy - my little lab NUC struggles. However, the camera is networkable and shows up as a standard camera device in Windows so you're not stuck with LASx. The Amscope in comparison has coke bottles as optical elements

[jfiresto]

I personally just moved from an Amscope setup to the Leica S9i after trying the Mantis. Mantis is nice for wide field, but the optics are so incredibly flat on the Leica and the depth of field is amazing....

The Mantis must have quite a bit of optical distortion to make the non-plan, Greenough-design S9i look flat. I would love to check out its FusionOptics™.

[theatrus]

The S9 is a pretty basic design (and plastic body and all that), but its a very well executed one.

I think the Mantis excels where its a very occasional use instrument or where you might have people not used to looking down a microscope. However, for the inspection bench with occasional magnification, the monocular camera + small TV setup would likely be better and more ergonomic, and cheaper than a Mantis. Even the latency can be not terrible in a pure camera setup.