AmScope SM-3B Series Binocular Zoom Stereo Microscope - 3.5X-90X Magnification - Includes 80 LED Compact Ring Light & Single Arm Boom Stand

Overall, I got a product well worth what I paid for it. The image quality is terrific, and overall construction is perfectly good. N.B.: The product description says: "3.5X-90X continuous zoom power with great flatness & contrast" -- but what they don't say is that the actual zoom range of the microscope head is 7x-45x, and that you have to attach the 0.5x objective lens to get 3.5x - 22.5x, or the 2.0x objective lens to get 14x-90x. You don't get one continuous 3.5x-90x range which, in retrospect, makes sense. I wish I had known that ahead of time, as I would have opted for a different configuration. Although I did want to have the 90x magnification, I primarily wanted the scope for doing electronic circuit board work. If I wanted a microscope strictly for doing board work, I think I would have been better off spending just a little bit more for the trinocular 3.5x-45x 3D-boom unit with the 144 LED zoned ring light. (The SM-4TX-144A) The product did not come with a manual. The single photocopied leaflet pointed to a URL that supposedly has the manual -- but at the time of this writing, AmScope had apparently redesigned their website, and I could not locate the manual anywhere on the site. I did, after some false starts, figure out how to put everything together and sorted out the purpose of the 0.5x and the 2.0x lenses. I wish they would have at least thrown in a 1.0x lens to act as a protection lens for the primary optics. Overall, this is a great product and it would have earned 5 stars. But I'm dinging them a half-star for the misleading product description and another half-star for the lack of a manual. I hope AmScope adequately addresses both of these issues. --- UPDATE 2014-02-25: Amsco has provided a link to the user's manual (see the comment to this review). After having the scope for several months, I'm more satified with my purchase. I've made good use of the 1/2X and 2X lenses for various work, so I'm much more happy about having the add-on lenses than I was originally. (I still do think the description could have been more clear about the zoom range.) I'm undinging them, so it's 5 stars for the product. I do now wish I had spent a little more and gotten the trinocular with the double-arm boom stand, though. I've had a few times where I have wanted to take pictures of my workpiece. And, I've occasionally had the head flip down when the arm was not tightened down (the double-arm would have prevented that). http://www.amazon.com/AmScope-SM-4TX-144A-3-5X-45X-Circuit-Microscope/dp/B004UDFFSU

I've been in the electronic industry for quite some time now. I've worked for semi conductor companies, to top-level manufacturers of electronics, so I've used quite a bit of "name brand" scopes in my time. The AmScope is every bit as good, if not better, than some of the more expensive Olympias and Bausch & Lomb stuff. I am very please with this scope. Note: The base is VERY heavy (estimate 20lbs?), which is what you want, since the boom should be bottom heavy for stability and be able to hold the scope without tipping over when the boom is extended quite a bit. To my surprise, the included LED ring light does its job very well. I've used Fluorescent type of ring light, which are utter crap, and also halogen-type fiber lights (which are the best), however, price-wise, the LED ring light does its job quite nicely. I was avoiding halogen-type lights because first, they're crazy expensive, the unit and the bulb, second, the halogen-type lights are very poorly built, at my workplace, we have two out of four that are defunct. With the advent of LED type, the lifetime of the bulb should be much, much longer and it's not as hot (not a fire hazard). Plus, the LED ring light comes with a dimmer, so it's great to adjust the intensity of the light when working on shiny things such as metal.

I'm a hobbyist who occasionally needs to do detail work on printed circuit boards and miniature models, and for these tasks this scope is wonderful, magnificent overkill. The optics are clean, I've not had problems with focus drift, the included LED (dimmable) light source works great and the entire unit feels sturdy as a lead ingot. All that said, however, there are a few items keeping this scope from a 5-star rating. 1. The full zoom range is achieved by attaching an auxiliary 0.5x or 2.0x lens to the primary. This requirement is not surprising for a scope in this price range, but it would have been nice if it had been noted in the product description. More importantly, and a half-star nit for me, is the lack of a 1.0x pass-thru filter to protect the primary optics if the other lenses aren't being used. Sure, 0.5x + 2.0x = 1x, which is what I'm currently doing, but that solution is clunky and I'm not a fan. 2. The kit comes with eyepiece cups and a heavy, plastic dust cover. This is great, but again not mentioned in the product description and ironically, Amazon even suggests adding these two items to your purchase. 3. There is zero documentation. None. For me at least, there wasn't even the piece of paper some other reviewers mentioned that supposedly pointed to an online reference manual. Using the Amazon product picture as an assembly guide, I was able to get everything put together, but no manual nor registration card nor warranty information was worth another half star. 4. I think this is a great scope for $400. For AmScope to suggest the list price is actually $1900 and I'm getting a 77% discount through Amazon, however, is absurd. EDIT: Grammar

Perfect scope for the price. Good working distance speciali in combination with barlow lens, clear image . Come on time well packaged