# Microscope for amateur use? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 9, 2020, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscope-for-amateur-use/851424 "2020-04-09T13:31:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscope-for-amateur-use/851424/1 "2020-04-09T13:31:38Z")
Is anyone here into amateur microscopy and can give me some recommendations and advice? One of my facebook friends recommended the amateur microscopy group (probably because I love working with telescopes and cameras), and I’m fascinated. I’m especially fascinated by pond life. My eyes are aging though, and I have lots of floaters in my eyes, so high-power telescopes are becoming harder to use. I imagine the same would be true for high-power microscopes, and I’d be better off focusing (heh) on digital imagery than direct viewing? So I should be looking at… trinocular compound microscopes with digital cameras, I guess? Are $300~$500 models from Amscope or Omax a decent way to get into this hobby? Any specific recommendations? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscope-for-amateur-use/851424/2 "2020-04-09T14:44:10Z")
[This](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=887630) recent thread may be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscope-for-amateur-use/851424/3 "2020-04-10T14:41:38Z")
Thanks, I missed that thread when I searched.