M620B Compound Monocular Microscope, 40x-2000x

Great scope for the price. With a 5M pixels camera makes a great all around scope.

Sure would like a copy of the instructions

Works perfectly fine, LED is adequate to provide lighting even on thicker specimens ... Oil immersion lens works like a charm ... I scraped a few brown stuff from my aquarium's glass tank, examined it under the microscope and identified it as diatom. Of course, I used a Smithsonian DK book for reference but yeah, it looks like exactly as what is in the book!! My 5 yo is happy!!

After several weeks of debating type and style of scope I decided to buy the amscope m620b. It is going to be primarily used for analysing algae in my reef aquarium as well as other organisms. The intent was to identify potential algae species in the event of an outbreak of unwanted species as well as to monitor zooplankton in the water column and overall health of the tank. I was initially worried that this scope would be able to see organisms in the water clearly as your frequently told you need phase contrast and or darkfield ect. Im not very experienced with microscopes but for my needs I was a little confused reading online. I've had it for 4 days now and every day I've had everything from reef refugium water, algae smears, and salt crystals on slides and I am completely blown away at how good the scope is. on the highest magnification settings its overkill to see microscopic plankton. The 10x and 40x settings bring algae cells into full view with fantastic clarity and detail. Now I am an experienced photographer and used to teach classes, but microscopy was something exotic and foreign to me. I read forums of people suggesting Amscop has poor optics ect and overall clarity. I beg to disagree. The only optic that was not perfectly clear was the 40x Oil. But I've only done an oil slide once and the magnification is SO powerful that your subjects are almost too big. So I rarely use the most powerful setting. Yes for looking at water its perfectly clear, such as pond water and so forth for seeing all the disgusting things that live in it. I purchased it along with the MU300 3MB camera which is FANTASTIC! Some reviews say it has a crayon effect on everything they see. This is not a cause of the camera but the settings. But thats another review. The MU300 works great. I got the darkfield DK-DRY100 condenser for it as well and YES it does mount and work on this scope. Although mounting it is a bit of a pain using a 2.5mm allen to get the existing condenser off. The light on the unit is LED. Now - the paperwork that comes with the scope says its a regular incandescent lamp - this is untrue. I inspected the light to verify it truly was an LED. The intensity will blind you so dont worry about brightness - theres a knob on the side of the scope that allows you to adjust this down. As well as a 14 blade (I believe) aperture under the condenser that can bring the depth of field together very nicely. Fit and finish its fairly decent, everythings metal and feels sturdy. My only complaints are when I first unpacked the scope it appears that whoever assembled it in China I guess put way too much grease on parts. I had to wipe the scope down and so forth before using it. This was not a big deal. Other than that as another reviewer also stated that the focus can be somewhat finicky at times staying just perfectly in place. This is only an issue when your making that ultra fine focus and you let your hand off it that it just barely leaves the view you just had. Its so sensitive that you can just about barely tap the fine focus knob to make it do something. The 3D stage is very nice. But the knobs that move the slide around are a bit trickier here. The knob that makes the slide go UP & DOWN is much to firm to adjust. You have to really pinch and turn it carefully because it requires a lot of force. I think moving it around about 500 times for no reason will loosen it up though (small stuff). All the lenses are made from brass and are nickel coated. No plastic garbage here. Other than that I give it a 4/5 overall. I really like it and am enjoying using it. I know deciding on a scope can be somewhat nerve racking when your unfamiliar with then but I am very pleased with it. Below is a link to a video I recorded using the MU300 with the scope on 40x magnification. http://youtu.be/ohr7W9v4jU4

Excellent scope

Could be better but I'm no scientist just have a natural curiosity and this works well enough for than. I am a little worried about what to do when the led bulb burns out eventually. It doesn't look like you can change it.

excelente producto

This is a decent scope for $160. My only real complaint is the fine focus knob is temperamental. You have to focus a little past nominal and then it 'relaxes' into focus. Other than the fine focus, the scope works as one would expect. FYI: a very small flat edge jewelers screwdriver is required to remove the screw holding the 10x eye-piece if you want to use the 20x.