AmScope SM-3BZ-80S 3.5X-90X Stereo Zoom Microscope on Boom Stand with 80 LED Light

Perfect scope for the price. Good working distance speciali in combination with barlow lens, clear image . Come on time well packaged

Overall, I got a product well worth what I paid for it. The image quality is terrific, and overall construction is perfectly good.N.B.: The product description says: "3.5X-90X continuous zoom power with great flatness & contrast" -- but what they don't say is that the actual zoom range of the microscope head is 7x-45x, and that you have to attach the 0.5x objective lens to get 3.5x - 22.5x, or the 2.0x objective lens to get 14x-90x. You don't get one continuous 3.5x-90x range which, in retrospect, makes sense. I wish I had known that ahead of time, as I would have opted for a different configuration.Although I did want to have the 90x magnification, I primarily wanted the scope for doing electronic circuit board work. If I wanted a microscope strictly for doing board work, I think I would have been better off spending just a little bit more for the trinocular 3.5x-45x 3D-boom unit with the 144 LED zoned ring light. (The SM-4TX-144A)The product did not come with a manual. The single photocopied leaflet pointed to a URL that supposedly has the manual -- but at the time of this writing, AmScope had apparently redesigned their website, and I could not locate the manual anywhere on the site. I did, after some false starts, figure out how to put everything together and sorted out the purpose of the 0.5x and the 2.0x lenses. I wish they would have at least thrown in a 1.0x lens to act as a protection lens for the primary optics.Overall, this is a great product and it would have earned 5 stars. But I'm dinging them a half-star for the misleading product description and another half-star for the lack of a manual. I hope AmScope adequately addresses both of these issues.---UPDATE 2014-02-25:Amsco has provided a link to the user's manual (see the comment to this review).After having the scope for several months, I'm more satified with my purchase. I've made good use of the 1/2X and 2X lenses for various work, so I'm much more happy about having the add-on lenses than I was originally. (I still do think the description could have been more clear about the zoom range.)I'm undinging them, so it's 5 stars for the product.I do now wish I had spent a little more and gotten the trinocular with the double-arm boom stand, though. I've had a few times where I have wanted to take pictures of my workpiece. And, I've occasionally had the head flip down when the arm was not tightened down (the double-arm would have prevented that).http://www.amazon.com/AmScope-SM-4TX-144A-3-5X-45X-Circuit-Microscope/dp/B004UDFFSU

For the money, this scope works well enough. The instructions were not for this scope - would be nice to have the correct manual, but the picture of the series allowed me to get it assembled correctly.The horizontal arm is singular and the head is fairly heavy. This makes it difficult to get the arm to hold position with the head swung to the side. Not a killing flaw, but if you think you will use a scope in that position a lot, or you want to use in other than vertical alignment, consider the next model up with the dual arms.The optics are bright and clear _if_ you can find the proper adjustment and hold you head perfectly still. I have ordered the eye cups to help with this problem, but because of the very limited eye position, it can be a strain to use for very long at a time. I seem to remember having better positioning with the Bausch&Lomb scope I used in the company lab.The other thing is that the zoom and focus interact a lot. Zooming in and then refocusing, and it is not as zoomed as you think, so it is a bit fiddly to get the magnification and focus for a particular setting. But once you get it, there is plenty of working distance with the .5 objective, and a fairly wide working field, so SMT rework is possible - to the level of your soldering equipment and surgical skills.The LED light is fine for most purposes. It is variable brightness and plenty bright. A side light is useful for reading engraved part numbers.

I bought this microscope February 1, 2018. I bought the microscope for general use nothing in particular. I have entered a world that I have never been in before. I have looked at rocks plants splinters under fingernails that I removed from other people. I have looked at dandelions and have seen the pollen within the flower the beauty that I have never seen before, I have looked at the seeds of the dental line I only wish that I had a camera to take pictures of that to show with the world. Now about the scope itself I have used it all the minimum power to the maximum power of 90 X and it is as clear from minimum to maximum there is no difference. This is a very quality microscope. I see where people have bought microscopes and wanting to build up to a better one why not get better went to begin with. I would not take anything microscope the only regret that I have is I did not get one of these many years ago. I would highly recommend this to anyone. I absolutely have no regrets whatsoever in getting this I am 100% happy with.

One of these is NOT going to be enough in my household. I bought it to use it for fine tuning things I do with my hobbies. Light Benchtop machining, soldering. Small clamps and gizmos for bikes, cars, you name it. I ordered it Sunday, it arrived four days later on Thursday, it took about 10 minutes to set up. I left it on the kitchen table to put away tools I didn't need for it's setup (it is EASY!!!) and came back to find my daughter examining her fingernails under it -- "for just a minute dad." I went to bed hours later and she was still looking at things, making noises of interest. I came down this morning and it was gone. Checking up on my daughter I found the scope on her desk in her room with all of her cosmetics around it, and a notebook she's making sketches in. I gently removed the unit (the base IS heavy) and took it to the basement to look at a solder joint problem in an Arduino shield. It's exactly perfect for that purpose. It's got a BINOCULAR ZOOM LENS!! You can zoom OUT to find what you want, then zoom IN on the specific point (with slight adjustment needed for focus.. it is NOT follow focus, but wow -- for 400 bucks what do you expect???) This scope knocks the socks off the dissecting microscope I used in Grad school for similar purposes. It's WORTH the full $1600 "sticker" price. It's designed along professional guidelines -- so the oculars are interchangeable (you can change THE POWER of the scope!!! By changing the eyepieces!) I'm online looking for more eyepieces, and any OTHER accessories. I do recommend the dust cover. I recommend the SCOPE!!!

Quality was not as expected, clumsy not strong.