Review on 🔬 AmScope SM-4TZ-144A Professional Trinocular Stereo Zoom Microscope: 3.5X-90X Magnification, LED Ring Light, Double-Arm Boom Stand by Joe Nieves

Let me start by saying that this is an excellent microscope for the money. This unit is as good or even better than the Wild Instruments replacement unit at a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately, it's difficult to compare Revain's different models. As far as I can tell they are different. 1) The type of base and mount 2) The presence of an additional connector for the camera 3) The supplied lenses and eyepieces 4) The type of lighting. You should go to the AmScope website and browse the Build Your Own Microscope section to decide what features you want, then return to Revain and select the package that suits you. Please note that you may also receive some custom parts to add after selecting a device. Which base you need depends on how you are going to use it. I have a dual extendable stand which is very handy for desk work as you can easily put the microscope away when not in use. The one I have also lets you adjust the viewing angle, which is probably killing me too much - I could live with just being able to look straight down. I also opted for the built-in camera mount, but it's not as useful as I was hoping. I figured I could just quickly click on the photo of what I'm looking at, but in practice that doesn't work because the camera sees a different view than the eyepieces, the camera needs refocusing, and you move the metal bar on the left to lock the camera optics into place, which disables the left eyepiece. Note that it took me a long time to figure this out and it doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere in the manual. For 0.5x lenses, ideal for working with SMD boards. This gives you about 8 inches of working space between the end of the microscope and the board, and you can still easily see and work with 0402 and MSOP size parts. The tirade about downloading the manual: The manual is not included. It must be downloaded from the website. You need a password to download it. To find the password, you need to open the non-manual insert that comes with the box, which says to use the password printed below. If the bottom box is blank (like mine) then the password is printed on the outside of the box (which I already threw away). I ended up sending the box back and found the password *under* another sticker. Bow. After all this I downloaded the manual and found it almost completely useless. Note on AmScope: They make a great microscope, now they make a great manual and make it easy to download from the website without a password. one for your needs, then you will be very satisfied with it.