madbadgalaxyman
28-07-2013, 04:59 PM
This buyer's guide is by MadBadGalaxyMan, sometimes known on Earth as Robert Lang (but wearing his "mad bio-man" outfit)
INTRODUCTION
Some of you have asked me to recommend brands of stereo microscope that are suitable for serious beginners, after hearing that I study "micro-critters" (arthropods, fungi, single-celled animals, mosses, hornworts, etc.) and hearing that I just spent two years looking at soil samples with a stereomicroscope.
Obviously we need reliable instruments with decent optics and reasonably robust mechanical function. But this level of quality is not cheap, even in these days of "made in China" optics;
good quality instruments usually start at around $600-800 US dollars...... so save up your pennies!
To assist you in selecting a good microscope, this document gives my recommendations for reasonable-quality microscopes.
It is important to note that here I am discussing only the low power ( 5x to 90x ) stereo microscopes (binocular microscopes), instruments which are suitable for the very-detailed viewing of insects, plant materials, fungi, single-celled animals (protists/protoctists/amoebae), and the viewing of ongoing dissections of animals. Stereo microscopes are also essential for materials inspection in industry.
At higher magnifications than this, specimens may require extensive preparation and they often have to be mounted on slides, because the depth-of-field (the thickness of the specimen which is in focus) is extremely shallow; you just can't see much of your insect or micro-critter at above 70-90 times magnification, because at higher magnifications only a very thin slice of it is in focus, which is an unnecessary complication for the beginner. In contrast, at low power, you just place the specimen on the stage and then "bingo!" you see it right away.
In this document, I do not discuss or make recommendations regarding high power (100 to 1000 times magnification) compound microscopes.
THE MICROSCOPE MARKET - LET THE BUYER BEWARE!
Unfortunately for the beginner, the microscope market is even more treacherous for the beginner than the telescope market, for the following reasons:
(1) The downward price pressure in the microscope market is even more extreme than for telescopes, yet microscopes are actually very complicated optical systems that need to be made with care. Low Price + Optical Complexity does not lead to the manufacture of consistently good instruments!
(2) Unlike the situation with telescopes, there does not seem to be a very large community of people who discuss microscope optics and who endlessly discuss "which instrument is good and which instrument is not."
(3) Because of this lack of oversight of the microscope market by informed people, buying a cheap microscope is absolutely a lucky dip - some of these instruments may be OK, but some of them are very bad.
For this reason, when I needed a good quality Stereo Microscope a few years ago, I went straight out and bought a Meiji, even though microscopes made by this Japanese company usually start at in excess of $1,000. These are very robust instruments that can put up with intensive use over many years, they have goodish optics, and the chance of getting a lemon is extremely small.
However, since I made my purchase, I have corresponded with several optically-savvy microscopists, I have looked through a good number of good and not-so-good instruments, and I have spent countless hours on the internet investigating the reputation of various brands of microscope. Therefore, I am now able to make some informed comments about which brand of microscope is good, which brand of microscope is fairly good, and which brands should be avoided.
BRANDS OF MICROSCOPE - THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Note carefully: all prices are quoted in US dollars, as given on various American websites.
(1) The Cheapies (typical prices: $150 to $450 US dollars)
If you can physically examine one of these cheap Stereo Microscopes and you find that it has decent optics and mechanics, there is nothing wrong with taking a chance and buying it (after all, you won't be spending much money on it!). But, with microscopes, the difficulty of "making a good optic for a low price" is even more severe than for telescopes; so the cheapies vary greatly in quality.
I would never buy a stereo microscope in this price bracket without first having looked through it and used it......there is just too great a risk of ending up with a substandard instrument.
Typical brands: Amscope, Omano
(2) "Upper end" of the cheapies (up to 500 or 600 US dollars)
Typical brands: Swift, National Optical, Accu-Scope, Celestron.
- Swift was once a high-quality brand, but these days they make cheap microscopes to a low price, so it is hard to say what you will get for your money.
- National Optical and Accu-Scope are similar brands to Swift; some of the National Optical and Accu-Scope microscopes are good, but it is very hard to say which ones. This stuff is made in China, and as we all know, the Chinese sometimes do a good job.
- Celestron make a stereo microscope model which is meant for relatively serious users, model 44206 ($550 at amazon.com). This model has had some good reviews, but most of the reviewers were obviously not very knowledgable about optics..... so these reviews have low weight. It is hard to say whether Celestron's reasonable reputation in telescopes carries over into their microscopes; because in this Celestron microscope, a lot of optical and mechanical elements had to be fabricated for a low price. (it is harder to fabricate a good cheap microscope than to fabricate a good cheap telescope)
(3) Mid-range brands which have a good reputation amongst qualified microscopists and which are often bought for serious use in laboratories and commercial enterprises (typical US prices: $600 to $2000 US Dollars)
Brands: Meiji, Motic, Unitron, Lomo
These four are the only "mid-range" brands which are commonly recommended by experienced people. These four are the only microscope brands that I can recommend as being suitable for the really serious enthusiast, given the incredible price competition amongst the the mass-produced made-in-China "cheapies".
Meiji, Motic and Unitron are very popular choices for laboratories, while Lomo are very popular amongst very serious hobbyists.
- Meiji microscopes are made in Japan, and this company is noted for its stringent quality control. You usually can't buy Meiji instruments for less than US $900-$1000, and many of them are in the $1000-2000 range. Meiji do produce a "student model" (the SKT series) for half the price of their other instruments, but I don't know if it is as good as their other instruments.
- Lomo is a Russian brand, and its microscopes [[e.g. Model SF-100 (MBS-10)(MBC-10) costing from about $600 to $700 and up, in the USA ]] are very popular amongst serious hobbyists because of their good optical quality for a very reasonable price.
- Motic is regarded as the best of the Chinese brands, and they are very popular in labs. Motic even do high-end optical fabrication for Zeiss. Motic also make an 'educational' cut-price stereo microscope (the SFC-11 series) but I am not sure if these are as good as their other microscopes. Personally, I wouldn't buy these introductory models, because the zoom models of Motic stereo microscopes (e.g. the SMZ-140 series and the SMZ-168 series) start at a very reasonable $600 to $900 US dollars. Better still, if you have enough cash, my personal choice would be to get their K-400 or K-500 or K-700 series microscopes (these cost $1000 and more).
- Unitron stereo microscopes can be bought for about $550 to $1500 US dollars, dependent on model. Unitron's Stereo Microscopes have had an absolutely first-rate reputation over several decades, but I have not been able to find a good number of expert opinions about the quality of their current (most recent) range of microscopes.
Mad bio-man's commentary about quality brands: (added in an edit)
Competition from "half-price, no-name, re-branded, Chinese" cheapies that at least look identical to the famous Name-Brand microscopes.....has meant that the reputable manufacturers like Unitron have been forced to greatly cut their prices, especially at the bottom end of their microscope range; but has quality suffered?? (I hope not)
Even Meiji and Leica, which were thought of as "rock-solid high-quality mid-to-top-end" Brands have had to release cheaper models or reduce prices on existing models.
(4) "Top of the line" instruments, with very high optical quality (Very expensive!!)
Brands: Olympus, Nikon, Zeiss, and Leica .
I note that Leica now has some microscopes for US$ 500......hmmmmm.....I don't know if I trust these Leicas. This is a brand that used to sell instruments for many thousands of dollars!
INTRODUCTION
Some of you have asked me to recommend brands of stereo microscope that are suitable for serious beginners, after hearing that I study "micro-critters" (arthropods, fungi, single-celled animals, mosses, hornworts, etc.) and hearing that I just spent two years looking at soil samples with a stereomicroscope.
Obviously we need reliable instruments with decent optics and reasonably robust mechanical function. But this level of quality is not cheap, even in these days of "made in China" optics;
good quality instruments usually start at around $600-800 US dollars...... so save up your pennies!
To assist you in selecting a good microscope, this document gives my recommendations for reasonable-quality microscopes.
It is important to note that here I am discussing only the low power ( 5x to 90x ) stereo microscopes (binocular microscopes), instruments which are suitable for the very-detailed viewing of insects, plant materials, fungi, single-celled animals (protists/protoctists/amoebae), and the viewing of ongoing dissections of animals. Stereo microscopes are also essential for materials inspection in industry.
At higher magnifications than this, specimens may require extensive preparation and they often have to be mounted on slides, because the depth-of-field (the thickness of the specimen which is in focus) is extremely shallow; you just can't see much of your insect or micro-critter at above 70-90 times magnification, because at higher magnifications only a very thin slice of it is in focus, which is an unnecessary complication for the beginner. In contrast, at low power, you just place the specimen on the stage and then "bingo!" you see it right away.
In this document, I do not discuss or make recommendations regarding high power (100 to 1000 times magnification) compound microscopes.
THE MICROSCOPE MARKET - LET THE BUYER BEWARE!
Unfortunately for the beginner, the microscope market is even more treacherous for the beginner than the telescope market, for the following reasons:
(1) The downward price pressure in the microscope market is even more extreme than for telescopes, yet microscopes are actually very complicated optical systems that need to be made with care. Low Price + Optical Complexity does not lead to the manufacture of consistently good instruments!
(2) Unlike the situation with telescopes, there does not seem to be a very large community of people who discuss microscope optics and who endlessly discuss "which instrument is good and which instrument is not."
(3) Because of this lack of oversight of the microscope market by informed people, buying a cheap microscope is absolutely a lucky dip - some of these instruments may be OK, but some of them are very bad.
For this reason, when I needed a good quality Stereo Microscope a few years ago, I went straight out and bought a Meiji, even though microscopes made by this Japanese company usually start at in excess of $1,000. These are very robust instruments that can put up with intensive use over many years, they have goodish optics, and the chance of getting a lemon is extremely small.
However, since I made my purchase, I have corresponded with several optically-savvy microscopists, I have looked through a good number of good and not-so-good instruments, and I have spent countless hours on the internet investigating the reputation of various brands of microscope. Therefore, I am now able to make some informed comments about which brand of microscope is good, which brand of microscope is fairly good, and which brands should be avoided.
BRANDS OF MICROSCOPE - THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Note carefully: all prices are quoted in US dollars, as given on various American websites.
(1) The Cheapies (typical prices: $150 to $450 US dollars)
If you can physically examine one of these cheap Stereo Microscopes and you find that it has decent optics and mechanics, there is nothing wrong with taking a chance and buying it (after all, you won't be spending much money on it!). But, with microscopes, the difficulty of "making a good optic for a low price" is even more severe than for telescopes; so the cheapies vary greatly in quality.
I would never buy a stereo microscope in this price bracket without first having looked through it and used it......there is just too great a risk of ending up with a substandard instrument.
Typical brands: Amscope, Omano
(2) "Upper end" of the cheapies (up to 500 or 600 US dollars)
Typical brands: Swift, National Optical, Accu-Scope, Celestron.
- Swift was once a high-quality brand, but these days they make cheap microscopes to a low price, so it is hard to say what you will get for your money.
- National Optical and Accu-Scope are similar brands to Swift; some of the National Optical and Accu-Scope microscopes are good, but it is very hard to say which ones. This stuff is made in China, and as we all know, the Chinese sometimes do a good job.
- Celestron make a stereo microscope model which is meant for relatively serious users, model 44206 ($550 at amazon.com). This model has had some good reviews, but most of the reviewers were obviously not very knowledgable about optics..... so these reviews have low weight. It is hard to say whether Celestron's reasonable reputation in telescopes carries over into their microscopes; because in this Celestron microscope, a lot of optical and mechanical elements had to be fabricated for a low price. (it is harder to fabricate a good cheap microscope than to fabricate a good cheap telescope)
(3) Mid-range brands which have a good reputation amongst qualified microscopists and which are often bought for serious use in laboratories and commercial enterprises (typical US prices: $600 to $2000 US Dollars)
Brands: Meiji, Motic, Unitron, Lomo
These four are the only "mid-range" brands which are commonly recommended by experienced people. These four are the only microscope brands that I can recommend as being suitable for the really serious enthusiast, given the incredible price competition amongst the the mass-produced made-in-China "cheapies".
Meiji, Motic and Unitron are very popular choices for laboratories, while Lomo are very popular amongst very serious hobbyists.
- Meiji microscopes are made in Japan, and this company is noted for its stringent quality control. You usually can't buy Meiji instruments for less than US $900-$1000, and many of them are in the $1000-2000 range. Meiji do produce a "student model" (the SKT series) for half the price of their other instruments, but I don't know if it is as good as their other instruments.
- Lomo is a Russian brand, and its microscopes [[e.g. Model SF-100 (MBS-10)(MBC-10) costing from about $600 to $700 and up, in the USA ]] are very popular amongst serious hobbyists because of their good optical quality for a very reasonable price.
- Motic is regarded as the best of the Chinese brands, and they are very popular in labs. Motic even do high-end optical fabrication for Zeiss. Motic also make an 'educational' cut-price stereo microscope (the SFC-11 series) but I am not sure if these are as good as their other microscopes. Personally, I wouldn't buy these introductory models, because the zoom models of Motic stereo microscopes (e.g. the SMZ-140 series and the SMZ-168 series) start at a very reasonable $600 to $900 US dollars. Better still, if you have enough cash, my personal choice would be to get their K-400 or K-500 or K-700 series microscopes (these cost $1000 and more).
- Unitron stereo microscopes can be bought for about $550 to $1500 US dollars, dependent on model. Unitron's Stereo Microscopes have had an absolutely first-rate reputation over several decades, but I have not been able to find a good number of expert opinions about the quality of their current (most recent) range of microscopes.
Mad bio-man's commentary about quality brands: (added in an edit)
Competition from "half-price, no-name, re-branded, Chinese" cheapies that at least look identical to the famous Name-Brand microscopes.....has meant that the reputable manufacturers like Unitron have been forced to greatly cut their prices, especially at the bottom end of their microscope range; but has quality suffered?? (I hope not)
Even Meiji and Leica, which were thought of as "rock-solid high-quality mid-to-top-end" Brands have had to release cheaper models or reduce prices on existing models.
(4) "Top of the line" instruments, with very high optical quality (Very expensive!!)
Brands: Olympus, Nikon, Zeiss, and Leica .
I note that Leica now has some microscopes for US$ 500......hmmmmm.....I don't know if I trust these Leicas. This is a brand that used to sell instruments for many thousands of dollars!