Review on 🔬 Carson MicroFlip MP-250 or MP-250MU Pocket Microscope: 100x-250x LED and UV Lighted, Flip Down Slide Base, Smartphone Digiscoping Clip by Sri Mims

It works well, is easy to use (both my 8 year old son and my mother figured it out fairly easily) and powerful enough to see things like Spirogyra cells and larger Seeing dinoflagellates and other marine plankton, and oh my god, this is what the fibers in my jeans look like?!?!: This is one of my new favorite toys that I wish I had while I was in biology school. In the 80's it would have cost a few hundred dollars if not more. Optical technology has improved by leaps and bounds since then, and for the price, the MicroFlip is pretty damn impressive. The phone option is good too, but we don't use it often. It's just a clip that centers your phone's camera over the lens. You can use the zoom options on your phone to make it visible. I appreciate this feature, it's worthwhile and almost handy, but the most fun is when looking straight into the lens (it's great for watching at home with a bunch of people, hopefully nerd friends. But it's a "field microscope" you'd want to use in the field, right? With a bit of rotation and care, it works great for activities and camping if you want to use the phone option.) The slide doesn't match the clip very well. In fact, there are no slides. That's a bit annoying for a field instrument. But overall the optical quality is great and the price is right and it's been dented a bit, survived and still works 100%. Even if I drop it and somehow lose it forever, I can still replace it with coffee, lunch, and gas. Highly recommended.