If you've decided to forgo the loupe or mondo lighted magnifier glass consider:

Amscope 7X-45X Stereo Binocular Microscope with 14" Pillar Stand & 64-LED Ring Light - $196.19 with 10% off coupon atm
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X4LJD4Q

Basically, it’s the same optics mounted onto a pillar stand with no trinocular camera port vs mounted on a boom swing arm like:



Vision Scientific VAF05 0.5X Barlow Lens for Stereo/Industrial Microscopes (48mm) - $22.00 You really want this I'm told...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HJF7GFB

...really great price for who knows how long for anyone like me that was on the fence... fwiw

Can vouch for Amscope, I picked up a SE410 series that came with various lenses from 5x to 20x. Honestly can't imagine needing more than 5x for soldering or even board repair and on that model anything over 5x had a really small field of view but I don't think they have a barlow to help with that. Do check their site on any given item you're looking at, when they have a sale it will be a lot cheaper than Amazon's pricing. Even better if they have an open box deal which is what I got and it couldn't have looked more new, none of the lenses were ever opened.

(19-Oct-2023, 10:40 PM)sevro Wrote: Can vouch for Amscope, I picked up a SE410 series that came with various lenses from 5x to 20x. Honestly can't imagine needing more than 5x for soldering or even board repair and on that model anything over 5x had a really small field of view but I don't think they have a barlow to help with that. Do check their site on any given item you're looking at, when they have a sale it will be a lot cheaper than Amazon's pricing. Even better if they have an open box deal which is what I got and it couldn't have looked more new, none of the lenses were ever opened.

Nice! I alllllmost got one of those last summer but missed out on the timing from a SearchTempest search. I like using that search engine for combined ebay/craigslist searches... good idea on shopping around.

fwiw, I bookmarked this one (with the boom arm) before pulling the trigger on the first one I linked to, it's still available:

AmScope 7X-45X Simul-Focal Stereo Lockable Zoom Microscope w Dual Arm Boom Stand - $399.00
https://www.ebay.com/itm/175922213958



...is currently ~$100 less than the one Louis Rossman made famous at his linky: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H4F...396fb&th=1



Can't wait for it to arrive...

Short update... whatever is better than "dreamy" would be more accurate. Scope came in today, barlow lens will hopefully be here Monday.

Gonna give that big ole 7" lighted lens away!

I have been debating between a scope or digital microscope. Thanks for the information.

You're welcome, hope you post back with what you end up doing...

More homework; A couple useful videos describing the use of auxiliary lighting and light filters, still applies to digital hdmi or stereo microscopes:





...not so tough to cobble the auxillary side lighting, prolly worth getting the variable nd filter or at least uv filter to protect from splatter/smoke.

It seems 49mm filters are more prevalent so:
Fotodiox Metal Step Up Ring, Anodized Black Metal 48mm-49mm, 48-49 mm - $10.95
https://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Adapter-...B001G45FIQ

49mm filters @ Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/49mm-filter/s?k=49mm+filter

gleaned from an Amazon reviewer called attaboy:

Quote:Installing the Barlow lens was kinda tedious .. the threads are very fine .. I pulled the head out of the mount and finally got it threaded in. The tolerances are very tight, which is fine .. just take extra care. The working distance is barely adequate, with both the rack and boom all the way up. I did loose maybe a quarter inch by adding a UV protection lens, to keep smoke and splatter out of the scope itself. On Amazon .. Fotodiox Metal Step Up Ring, Anodized Black Metal 48mm-49mm, 48-49 mm, and, Tiffen 49mm UV Protection Filter. For $15 bucks .. cheap insurance to keep "stuff" out of the scope lenses proper. I'll probably make a "riser" to raise the vertical column bar a couple of inches. Cheers!

Ignore what's not useful, mainly recording steps learned for the next guy...

Plan on doing a DIY boom arm upgrade with whatever aluminum/steel I have handy with the metal lathe. Wish I had a milling machine but ya...