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200X 8LED USB Digital Microscope — Parallax Forums

200X 8LED USB Digital Microscope

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
edited 2012-11-29 02:16 in General Discussion
http://www.ebay.com/itm/130725712479?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

I ordered one of these puppies for the SMD Challenge. at $22.00 it seems like a hard item to go wrong on.
Anyone else play with one of these yet?


h8660-2-7b41.jpg

Jeff
h8660-2-7b41.jpg
640 x 480 - 26K

Comments

  • SRLMSRLM Posts: 5,045
    edited 2012-10-07 23:43
    I've been looking at this: https://www.adafruit.com/products/636

    I wonder how it compares?
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2012-10-08 03:18
    Wow, that's really cheap. If it works out well for you
    I may order one. So, please keep us informed :-)
  • TorTor Posts: 2,010
    edited 2012-10-08 04:58
    I ordered one as well.. (it's always very tempting to buy when the price is below the magic VAT limit of Norway.. and free shipping too! :))-Tor
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-10-08 06:01
    This seller does not ship to Taiwan

    I have to wonder why this is just about the only place in the world that is denied product that is in red letters.

    And I wonder about the rather long list.
    Item location: Shen Zhen, China
    Shipping to: Worldwide

    Excludes: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa, Bermuda, Greenland, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Congo, Republic of the, C
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2012-10-08 08:43
    Loopy, The seller might not, but I do. If you would cover the cost+shipping on it, I'd be happy order and send you one. Let me get this one in and take a look at quality/weight/size to get a better idea if this is worth doing for you. Will report back.

    Jeff
  • tonyp12tonyp12 Posts: 1,951
    edited 2012-10-08 09:36
    Looks close to what I bought here, 1year ago.
    http://www.buy.com/prod/usb-digital-microscope-camera-endoscope-for-laptop-pc-200x-discover/220194565.html

    Cons: Dept of field, you will not get items of height (over 2mm) in focus at the same shoot, the top of part is out of fucus if you adjust to get pcb in focus.
    Cons: Windows7 drivers may not be avail.(but try this: http://www.agptek.com/software/iT27-Driver.rar)
  • Mark_TMark_T Posts: 1,981
    edited 2012-10-08 11:38
    tonyp12 wrote: »

    Cons: Dept of field, you will not get items of height (over 2mm) in focus at the same shoot, the top of part is out of fucus if you adjust to get pcb in focus
    Microscopes don't really do depth-of-field! Or rather if you reduce the aperture to increase depth of field you need to increase lighting a lot and you hit the diffusion limit and lose sharpness too. Expensive microscopes allow the aperture to adjusted.
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    edited 2012-10-08 18:00
    I bought one similar to this a couple years ago: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2MP-Mini-USB-Digital-Microscope-Endoscope-Otoscope-LED-/280619331079?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4156372e07

    Mine does not have the suction cup looking thing on it but for viewing part numbers on small parts in can't be beat. It has a light on the end and the end turns to focus in or out.Of course, I think it cost me about 4 times more then!!!!
  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    edited 2012-10-08 21:42
    Oldbitcollector (Jeff) wrote: »
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/130725712479?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

    I ordered one of these puppies for the SMD Challenge. at $22.00 it seems like a hard item to go wrong on.
    Anyone else play with one of these yet?


    h8660-2-7b41.jpg

    Jeff
    Cheaper than my us surgical inc loupes, but if you need the mag...... But I also seem to remember one of the videos mentioning lagtime so realtime use may not go so well. Great for inspection I guess.
  • Bob Lawrence (VE1RLL)Bob Lawrence (VE1RLL) Posts: 1,720
    edited 2012-10-09 19:49
    @ HollyMinkowski

    re:Wow, that's really cheap

    In my books cheap usually refers to     saving money and inferior quality . We don't want cheep stuff but we do want inexpensive stuff. That microscope. looks like it's great quality for what it is but it's also inexpensive (but not cheep) You may not understand the difference unless you get into sales. LOL

    I have been looking at this one:    http://www.saelig.com/product/VI025.htm

    I    t's higher magifacation (600X means that the viewing area and the depth of field are both very, very small) but the image resolution is (High resolution up to 2.0M Pixel:Excellent images)

    It's also inexpensive.     :cool:
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-10-10 08:53
    Oldbitcollector (Jeff) wrote: »
    Loopy, The seller might not, but I do. If you would cover the cost+shipping on it, I'd be happy order and send you one. Let me get this one in and take a look at quality/weight/size to get a better idea if this is worth doing for you. Will report back.

    Jeff

    I fear that this might hit a snag in Customs. We have something available locally if I really want to buy magnification.

    Since China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are all excluded, it might cause some trouble to try to import. With listing a majority of the 197 countries that belong in the U.N., why not offer a shorter list of who they will ship to?

    No shipping to Italy, but maybe to the Vatican.

    I see no shipping to Germany or Italy, maybe all of Africa, most of S.E. Asia. But why can the Japanese and the French get it?

    Odd, very odd. It could all be about special Fed Ex promotional rates or it could be something more significant.
  • TorTor Posts: 2,010
    edited 2012-10-10 09:06
    Italy is commonly left out (as has been mentioned by Italian forum members) because packages sent to Italy tend to get "lost" in the system and never arrive, so some sellers don't want to ship to Italy for that reason. No doubt there are some other countries left out for the same reason. Strange to find Germany in there though, that must be for some other reason - I don't think I've heard about problems shipping to Germany.

    -Tor
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-10-10 11:36
    If it is about packages getting lost, the Red Lettered Taiwan likely means UPS is the shipper. Fed Ex and DHL deliver to a designated 7-11 near your home and you just go in an pick it up. Any Customs Duty is collected by the clerk at the counter.

    So are we to assume that all the listed destination are unreliable for delivery?
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2012-10-12 07:05
    Loopy Byteloose wrote: »
    This seller does not ship to Taiwan I have to wonder why this is just about the only place in the world that is denied product that is in red letters.
    On Thursday I walked into numerous parts stores in Taipei and saw many of these USB microscopes setting on the shelves. Just pick and choose, pay a little, and walk out with one. The cost is a little higher than online though but a discount card will bring that down and there's no postage to pay. There are many more options to choose from and no delivery time.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2012-10-12 07:11
    I'm using free 640 x 480 USB color CCD web cam from Logitech and a free program (macam) to make an experimental stage microscope. Just add a lens to increase mag. The software will capture single images or create video.
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2012-10-12 08:41
    Just curious, but for smd and general electronics use isn't 25x-200x too much magnification? I would think something with a 4x-40x range or thereabouts would be more appropriate.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2012-10-12 09:31
    RDL2004 wrote: »
    Just curious, but for smd and general electronics use isn't 25x-200x too much magnification? I would think something with a 4x-40x range or thereabouts would be more appropriate.
    I think the higher mag is for inspections of microfine cracks and looking down inside the walls of plated through holes etc. The lower ranges are good for placing and soldering components.
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2012-10-12 10:18
    Humanoido wrote: »
    I'm using free 640 x 480 USB color CCD web cam from Logitech and a free program (macam) to make an experimental stage microscope. Just add a lens to increase mag. The software will capture single images or create video.

    That's a great idea! I have a CCD for my telescope. Thanks!
  • TonyDTonyD Posts: 210
    edited 2012-10-15 04:15
    I bought a similar one a few years back, it worked sorta fine but I found it wouldn't work with certain USB ports on my PC and the software was a bit flaky. So eventually got put to one side.

    If anyone knows where to download the latest microscopes software for Win7 I would be grateful as I would like to dig i out and try again.
  • JLockeJLocke Posts: 354
    edited 2012-10-15 07:16
    RDL2004 wrote: »
    Just curious, but for smd and general electronics use isn't 25x-200x too much magnification? I would think something with a 4x-40x range or thereabouts would be more appropriate.

    I recently (for the first time) used the convection toaster-oven method to solder some SMD parts, and thought to drag out my Intel QX-3 USB microscope to check out the results. The lowest magnification available is 10X, and that worked OK, but I think just a little bit more magnification would have worked better. Unfortunately, the next selectable magnification was 60X. This was too much magnification to be of much use. I found the hardest part was getting the lighting set properly. The microscope uses LED's for lighting, and even the lowest setting in the software left the solder joints shining too brightly to see the detail. The other option was to turn off the light entirely, which was then too dark. I guess I could always rig up an LED flashlight or something. Anyway, an interesting exercise.
    The photo was at 10X (the capacitor is an 0612 package.
    SHT11.jpg
    512 x 384 - 74K
  • SRLMSRLM Posts: 5,045
    edited 2012-10-31 20:47
    @OBC

    How did the $22 Ebay microscope work?
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2012-10-31 20:55
    I've got it, but haven't had a chance to do an "opening" yet. It was sllllloooww in getting here..

    Perhaps I do a video "unboxing" with some captures from it.

    Jeff
  • TorTor Posts: 2,010
    edited 2012-11-29 02:16
    I've received mine, it literally just came in the door. It works out of the box on Linux, I just unpacked it and plugged it straight into my USB hub and fired up some random webcam application. It all looks good (hey it works as a Skype webcam too.. remote PCB inspections anyone?)

    It was extremely long in transit! I count 50 days at least. In fact I had already contacted the seller because more than 35 days is very unusual. The seller refunded me right away even though I just asked about the exact date it was shipped - he said in a message that he was told a large shipment got stuck in (outgoing, presumably) customs, and thought lost.
    Obviously I'll now re-refund the seller with the payment.

    -Tor
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