Simple microscopes

Factual Questions
1

Hello-
I saw a few microscopes at a local store ranging in prices from fairly cheap to a few hundred dollars. I was thinking of getting one for shits and giggles- new toys! What is the minimum power I should get? Or, at what power can you really see lots of neat stuff, below which you are stuck to looking at onion skin cells? What power do you need to see things like blood cells and sperm and other bodily secretions? :smiley: What other things look cool under a microscope?

Thanks-
-T

2

Good microscopes are expensive. These more to them than magnification power. A cheap microscope will go out of focus everytime you change the field of view. Try buying a good old used scope from a local colledge or hospital. The scopes we use at work are 1000x. This is good enough to see bacteria and blood cells, but you could probably do a lot with a 500x.

3

Look at the Intel USB controlled microscope. IIRC goes up to 200x and shows picture on your monitor in real time and lots more. Around $ 70- $80. Amazing technology for the price. Helped I think Intel’s website has a nice section on it.

Helped the kids get two blue ribbons on their science projects.

FWIW I think you will need a fairly expensive microscope (more than a toy) if you want to see things as small as sperm and blood cells with any detail.

4

Thanks! I’m looking into buying one that has 1000x. It’s over $100, but from next door to me in Germany- so maybe good German engineering will prove true- I hope.

Take care-
-T
ps- I’ll look into that monitor one. Thanks.

5

May I hijack / extend this question to ask about stereo microscopes? Same purpose as the OP - just looking around. There are those on Ebay that run from twenty bucks up to several hundred. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Rhythmdvl

6

A caveat: Never buy a microscope (or worse, telescope) based soley on its magnification power. Much more important is the quality of the optics, which is harder to quantify. At the very least, make sure that they’re specifying the resolving power, not just the magnification… A high-magnification but low-quality scope will turn a tiny, barely-identifiable smudge into a large, barely-identifiable smudge… You need quality to see turn that smudge into a detailed image.

Slight hijack, but with telescopes, magnification is even less important. Most magnification is actually due to the eyepiece; what’s important with the scope is it’s light-gathering ability, measured by its aperature (the diameter of the main lens or mirror). If you’re among amature astronomers with a 5000 power scope, nobody will care, but if you’ve got a 20-inch mirror, you’ll be the envy of all.