* TinkerDifferent *
Retro Computing Community
Home | Forums | What's New | Search | Settings
Microscope recommendations

Forums > The Lab > Soldering and Repair

3lectr1c
Active Tinkerer
the United States
--------
Joined: May 15, 2022
Posts: 668
Likes: 336
Nov 28, 2024 - #1
I'm at the point now where I need to get a microscope to be able to continue improving at my soldering repairs - I need some recommendations. What do y'all use? I'm looking for one that has a built-in camera so I can record my repairs.

My budget would be around $200-300.

ifrit05
New Tinkerer
--------
Joined: Apr 19, 2024
Posts: 12
Likes: 9
Nov 28, 2024 - #2
Heard good things about this digital microscope in the past.

3lectr1c
Active Tinkerer
the United States
--------
Joined: May 15, 2022
Posts: 668
Likes: 336
Nov 28, 2024 - #3
That one could be pretty good, but I do think I want to go with something higher-tier, just because I want to be sure it's gonna last.

Liked by ifrit05

This Does Not Compute
Administrator
--------
Joined: Oct 27, 2021
Posts: 345
Likes: 503
Nov 28, 2024 - #4
I use one of these and while it's not perfect, it works great.

Liked by JDW

3lectr1c
Active Tinkerer
the United States
--------
Joined: May 15, 2022
Posts: 668
Likes: 336
Nov 28, 2024 - #5
That one looks pretty great - what are those imperfections you mentioned?

This Does Not Compute
Administrator
--------
Joined: Oct 27, 2021
Posts: 345
Likes: 503
Nov 29, 2024 - #6
>> 3lectr1c said:
That one looks pretty great - what are those imperfections you mentioned? Click to expand...
The biggest one is that the ring light that ships with it, at least for my unit, has its own (somewhat short) mains AC cable. I ended up finding an otherwise identical ring light on AliExpress that's powered by USB and can plug into the USB-A port on the back of the microscope. The other, lesser complaint is that while it advertises 52MP images, it's really just a 12MP (or so) sensor. So if you want it for taking photos, don't expect amazing results. But for soldering work in general, it's really nice having an all-in-one unit and I really feel it's upped my game in terms of what kinds of projects I can take on.

Liked by JDWand3lectr1c

3lectr1c
Active Tinkerer
the United States
--------
Joined: May 15, 2022
Posts: 668
Likes: 336
Nov 29, 2024 - #7
Thanks! None of those problems seem that bad - that might be the one I go with.

JDW
Administrator
Japan
--------
Joined: Sep 2, 2021
Posts: 2,534
Likes: 1,981
Nov 29, 2024 - #8
>> This Does Not Compute said:
I use one of these and while it's not perfect, it works great. Click to expand...
Quite a bit better than the cheap one I have, which I got on AliExpress a few years ago for only $50. 4K would be nice to have.

Page 1 of 1

Home | Forums | What's New | Search | Bookmarks | RSS | Original | Settings
XenForo Retro Proxy by TinkerDifferent.com