Microscope recommendations

[3lectr1c]

I’m at the point now where I need to get a microscope to be able to continue improving at my soldering repairs - I need some recommendations. What do y'all use? I’m looking for one that has a built-in camera so I can record my repairs.

My budget would be around $200-300.

 

[ifrit05]

Heard good things about this digital microscope in the past.

 

[3lectr1c]

That one could be pretty good, but I do think I want to go with something higher-tier, just because I want to be sure it’s gonna last.

 

[This Does Not Compute]

I use one of these and while it's not perfect, it works great.

 

[3lectr1c]

That one looks pretty great - what are those imperfections you mentioned?

 

[This Does Not Compute]

That one looks pretty great - what are those imperfections you mentioned?

The biggest one is that the ring light that ships with it, at least for my unit, has its own (somewhat short) mains AC cable. I ended up finding an otherwise identical ring light on AliExpress that's powered by USB and can plug into the USB-A port on the back of the microscope. The other, lesser complaint is that while it advertises 52MP images, it's really just a 12MP (or so) sensor. So if you want it for taking photos, don't expect amazing results. But for soldering work in general, it's really nice having an all-in-one unit and I really feel it's upped my game in terms of what kinds of projects I can take on.

 

[3lectr1c]

Thanks! None of those problems seem that bad - that might be the one I go with.

 

[JDW]

I use one of these and while it's not perfect, it works great.

Quite a bit better than the cheap one I have, which I got on AliExpress a few years ago for only $50. 4K would be nice to have.