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Review on Carson MicroMini 20x LED Pocket Microscope with UV and Flashlight by Deb Wach

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Works well and very easy to use.

This small 20x magnifier is unlike other, more powerful, Carson mini-microscopes. Other, more powerful ones use a very small objective lens along with a bright LED to provide the light needed to compensate for the small objective lens. With other pocket microscopes, small lenses make focusing much easier. This small 20x keychain magnifier uses a more traditional lens arrangement, most likely two lenses, one is the objective and the other is the eyepiece. The lens is believed to be around 13mm in diameter, which together with the 20x magnification means you can go without an LED in daylight. But with LED you get a nice bright picture anyway. Focusing is not very difficult as the magnification is not particularly strong. Overall, this is a good solution for a 20x magnifier that's easy to carry around on a keychain if desired. The main downside is that the slide switch on the side is very cheap and difficult to use. He doesn't want to move, and when he does, he wants to go all the way from one end to the other. The off position is in the middle; The two end positions are for the LED, which you use when you use the magnifying glass, and the auxiliary LED, which doubles as a flashlight and gives you a reason to carry it on your keychain. It also has some UV light, which I think is needed when you're looking at rocks that glow under UV light. Or maybe to see scorpions up close. For the switch to work, you must press it firmly and move it in a controlled manner. I just don't know how long it will last with this type of use. But it's not cheap, so it doesn't matter if it eventually stops working, and even without a light it's a useful magnifying glass. Recommended with only the faintest reservations.

Pros
  • Quality construction
Cons
  • Almost everything included