Review on 🔬 AmScope USB Digital Handheld Microscope: 50X to 500X with Adjustable Stand and 8-LED Light for Windows, Mac, and Android (OTG Adapter Included) by Brian Messerly

In the preface I say I also have a semi-pro Amscope microscope that costs about 25 times more than this $20 microscope. I use this for PCB testing and real work. With that in mind, I needed an inexpensive, almost disposable device that would work with my Linux laptop, be portable, and have decent controls. It's a good machine for this use case. I immediately didn't bother with the stand. In my experience so far, it was too difficult to adjust focus and zoom with the included stand. Instead, I bought another aluminum stand for about $18 that had a separate wheel to raise/lower the camera. On Linux I installed the Cheese webcam app via Flatpak to work with the camera. When the USB cable is connected, the camera lights up immediately. included. At least on Linux, there is no obvious way to disable this display. This can be problematic if your subject is overexposed and overexposed. You also need to remove the plastic cap from the lens. The results were fine. You zoom in by moving the camera up and down and then adjusting the focus wheel. Images are clear enough for what I need, but as mentioned, the brightness of the lamp means some features can be dimmed. The field of view is not very wide, but it is enough for my needs. There are snap and zoom buttons on the side of the camera. Presumably, with the software installed, this would activate these buttons. However, they don't work with the app I used. I am happy with the purchase as it does exactly what I need for less than $20.