Thread: Magnification recommendations?

Wow. Lots of good stuff here.

This does everything that I need with regards to edges.

Yes indeed, that one does all you need! I have a couple of identical ones too.... and if you need a decent lens, and make a truly powerful smartphone microscope, as shown, simply unscrew the two tiny screws on the side, and retrieve the lens......as in the current state the plastic casing does not allow for perfect and close contact to the camera of the phone. You should be able to see completely different, and much better results if you use this lens with a smartphone, as the magnification is increased by at least 8 times. By the way, these are not 40x lenses, even though they say so..... more like 10x, but still, they are good enough for us.

I guess magnification is much like natural Ebay, grit ratings… whatever the seller wants it to be.

Yup, those are nice loupes, I found a few I had ordered and misplaced. They are cheap, quick and easy to use and the switch is larger than the 60X that I have, which is a pain to use for that reason.

I have a much simpler setup for something like the Carson. Use a mouse pad and put the base of the Carson on the edge of it. Open the razor to 90 degrees and put in around the mouse pad (close to it and not on it).

This raises the microscope above the blade but still within focusing range. You then just slide the microscope along the edge of the mouse pad parallel to the blade.

You can add a flashlight to change the lighting angles. You can have the blade facing away from the mouse pad rather than facing it and the lighting angle is better. You will actually see the edge rather than just seeing a bright white line.

When you think you have a mirror finish with no scratches...just change the lighting angle.

Originally Posted by fxt913

Yes indeed, that one does all you need! I have a couple of identical ones too.... and if you need a decent lens, and make a truly powerful smartphone microscope, as shown, simply unscrew the two tiny screws on the side, and retrieve the lens......as in the current state the plastic casing does not allow for perfect and close contact to the camera of the phone. You should be able to see completely different, and much better results if you use this lens with a smartphone, as the magnification is increased by at least 8 times. By the way, these are not 40x lenses, even though they say so..... more like 10x, but still, they are good enough for us.

Thanks. I believe that I bought three of these so I may dismantle one of them when the battery conks out.

In the first image, you see three cheapo magnifiers I happen to have. The one on the left is the same as kelbro's. As it is, it is somewhat useful for my naked eye checks. The lens can be retrieved with a bit of an effort. The one in the middle, is the Chinese knockoff of a Carson, and it is completely unusable. Waste of money! But, again, the lenses can be retrieved,and they are higher powered ones..... and this is indeed what I am going to do....my next project! Glad I did not trash it. The one on the right is the better one. It is the one I use the most, as it also uses conventional AAA batteries. Its lens too is one of the better ones, compared to others belonging to the "cheapo" category. It is quite inexpensive, $2-3...got it a couple of years ago. If anyone happens to have this one: the lens is EASILY retrievable, as all you have to do is unscrew the black plastic ring, as seen in the pictures. You can just as easily put it back together, if you choose to do so.

Well, I just cleaned the sensor and glass lenses with alcohol and this is the best I think I can get out of my Celestron 5mp USB Microscope camera.

Originally Posted by Aerdvaark

Well, I just cleaned the sensor and glass lenses with alcohol and this is the best I think I can get out of my Celestron 5mp USB Microscope camera.

Good picture, bad edge. What is the magnification?

I have it cranked up all the way to 400X. But I doubt that is accurate.

Edit: I don't know where I got 400X, The camera claims 200X.

That is an excellent image. I too don't think that it is near 400x, but it is a great sharp image.