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3 comments of this product found across Reddit:
paulmarchant /r/soldering
1 point
1970-01-20 04:59:14.267 +0000 UTC

They're comically cheap, and you have little to lose.

The one in the first link - I suspect it's a 40mm diameter body on it, which will drop straight into the Amazon stand we previously spoke about:

https://www.amazon.com/TOMLOV-Universal-Extension-Microscope-Gooseneck/dp/B094J5SPDZ

I say this because I've got a lens that's identical in appearance (and was similarly cheap) and that's a 40mm body. That's not to say 100% that the Ebay one is identical, but I reckon the chances are quite high.

You may find that its maximum working distance is a bit close (and the magnification's a bit high) if it's the same as mine. I took my lens apart and machined a few mm of the body back to change the field of view and max focus distance, and it's the one on my main bench.

The second has a very good (by which I mean works from 'stupidly close' to 'stupidly far') range. It also has the advantage of that mounting ring, described as 35mm in diameter. I t-h-i-n-k that the stand we talked about in previous emails will work with it. It's listed as a 1.57" ring, which is 39.8mm. As long as the two locking screws are long enough (which they probably are), it'll work straight in. If not, they're probably just common M3 metric screws (having just looked at my stand) which are readily available for little money. Alternatively you might make up a 'collar' to go around the lens to bulk it out so it matches up better with the ring on the stand. This could be easily done with a strip of aluminium or flexible plastic that's about 2mm thick. It'd be easy to do.

I think that lens would likely give you a better experience in terms of field of view, depth of field and working distance. I'm pretty sure it's the same as the one on the setup I bought off Amazon.jp when I was out in Tokyo.

I think the last lens you linked isn't quite the right thing - it's intended to go in the camera port of a trinocular microscope, and although I'm a bit hazy about lens angles and image distance, I t-h-i-n-k it wouldn't work to just go straight on the front of a camera.

If you only had to buy one, I'd go for the middle link (link ends 813). If you wanted to play around and buy a couple, it's the first two (link ending 283 and 813 again). I'd avoid the bottom one (link ends 766).

paulmarchant /r/soldering
2 points
1970-01-20 04:55:48.835 +0000 UTC

There's a big difference in the price, depending on where you get them from.

Ebay, and far-off lands buys you the camera and lens assembly like the one in my Amazon.co.jp link for $69 plus shipping.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185414788304?hash=item2b2b9524d0:g:pXMAAOSwRTxh4AgU

It's twice that, for just the camera, on Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/HAYEAR-Industrial-Electronic-Digital-Microscope/dp/B07NSNQSGK

With the Ebay link, you'd need to buy a cheap 12v power supply for it, but the cost saving is huge.

A stand, like the one on my Japanese purchased microscope is $30 on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/TOMLOV-Universal-Extension-Microscope-Gooseneck/dp/B094J5SPDZ

You'd probably want to double check the diameter of the lens with the Ebay vendor to ensure it'll physically fit the stand, but I think they're all about the same size, so you're likely fine with that.

Thereafter, it's a case of scrounging a computer monitor or TV from somewhere (which is 1080 and has HDMI), but that's trivial.

You'd end up with functionally the same setup I use to rework £££££ PCBs on a daily basis at work.

It's always difficult, trying to price and recommend stuff for home-use for people. The problem is that, in terms of functionality, the requirements are the same for someone who's fixing a Gameboy cartridge once every six months as they are for me, working on £5000 PCBs daily.

With tools, limitations which may not seem significant initially (latency, working distance) are the difference between a tool that's super useful, bordering on essential, and one that doesn't really work for the purpose for which it was purchased.

Assuming you can beg, borrow or steal a screen, and went for the Ebay-from-far-off-lands route, you're at about $100. The end result would be about the same as what I have, which compares very favorably in use to my big microscope which cost as much as a car.

Other than that, it's hard to recommend something lesser, because the usability just won't be there.

Good luck with your purchasing.