Cheap Microscope

[Ditiola]

Hi
I notice Lidl are selling a Bresser microscope for £49.99 from this Thursday. There is a video about it on their web page: I do not know anything about it, so cannot recommend it, but I do not expect it will be brilliant for only £49.99. I usually say you get what you pay for and for a microscope you need to pay at least £800. Although I must say with the Lidle one you do seem to get quite a lot for the relatively small amount of money.

A simple extension tube for my Olympus camera cost’s £200 but for £49.99 you get a microscope with:
Metal body
4x, 19x and 40x objectives
5x & 16x eyepieces (and 2x Barlow zoom) whatever that is?
Top light & Bottom light
Mechanical stage
6 colour filters
USB – PC camera (with software)
Dissecting instruments
Pre mounted specimens
Kit for growing fresh water shrimp
Carrying Case

It is only a monocular so not so comfortable to use as a binocular and it only has LED lighting and so may not be all that bright, if this is the case it may be OK with pre mounted specimens and thin mounts, but it may struggle with thicker sections. What I like about a microscope very bright light is if I cut a section two thick I can turn the light up bright to help it penetrate the section.

But for £49.99 it must be better than no microscope and if it is not really suitable you can always give it away to a charity shop or friends with children.

Peter

[Lancashire Lad]

There has been quite a bit of discussion regarding this particular microscope here:-
How to get closer than 1:1 as microscope alternative?

Not to repeat all of that again, but the microscope's specification is:-
Bresser Biolux NV Microscope Kit [Bresser-BioluxNV]

Some sample microphotographs taken with the supplied Minicam:-
Photomicrographs Photo Gallery by Jon Grove at pbase.com
(He refers to smaller image size (352x288), but the minicams now being supplied are 640x480).

I have previously mentioned that several members of my local Fungus Group do actually use this particular scope. Some have even calibrated the minicam with a stage graticule, and are able to measure spores reasonably accurately.

As you say, for ~£50.00, it won't have earth shattering resolution and build quality, but for those just wanting to test the waters of microscopy, they could do a lot worse than getting one of these. (The exact same thing is sold at around twice the price elsewhere).

Regards,
Mike.

Footnote - It might be advantageous to have this thread moved to the Microscopy sub-forum.

[Ditiola]

If anyone who knows how to move this thread to the microscope sub forum it is OK with me

Peter

[Johnny81]

I'm tempted to get it as my first microscope, but is it going to be like buying camera lenses i.e. in 2 months time am I gonna want to get a better one, and spend more cash!?

[Ditiola]

Hi John

My first microscope was a cheap one made in Russia, I think it was about £80 I used it for a couple of years, it got me started, but was frustrating at times when I struggled to see some of the features I was supposed to be seeing (although this sometimes still happens now) but as soon as I looked through a better one I new that I had to start saving my cash. The better the microscope the better the image and the easier it is to see what you are trying to see. A few years ago I did have the opportunity to look through an exceptionally good microscope and it was absolutely amazing. I said I want one of these, then I asked how much it cost, £8,000 was the reply. Oh I said: so I have still got my mid priced instrument and I manage to see what I need to see most of the time.

For mycology measuring is quite important and although apparently possible (see above) it is probably not easy with this microscope but you may need to ask on the microscope sub forum where this thread should be:

Peter

[Chris Yeates]

see also: LIDL

and a previous discussion at: Lidl Bresser NG

my comments would be it's a good step up from being a toy, but a much further step below being a 'scope for serious mycology; however it could prove a good stage on the way for someone with no experience of using a microscope, and should give quite a lot of fun / learning

Chris

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Johnny81

I'm tempted to get it as my first microscope, but is it going to be like buying camera lenses i.e. in 2 months time am I gonna want to get a better one, and spend more cash!?

Very probably.

For a basic microscope for mycology you want one that is basic but adequate, rather than basic and not quite up to the job. The tighter your budget the more important it is to get the former rather than the latter, as you could be stuck with it for a long time.

If, however, you are one of those people who find they always hanker for the spec higher than the one they've got (and then stretch their budget to get it) then maybe go for the Lidl one to see whether you want a microscope at all, and if you decide you do then go for a 'nice' much more expensive one. That way you waste less money on your first cheap one! But be aware that an unsatisfactory or scarcely satisfactory microscope may put you off the whole experience.

The microscope I use certainly costs more than the Lidl one, but very much less than the £800 that Peter mentioned. I would describe it as a basic one though (but for me adequate and it has been very reliable). It doesn't have oil immersion capacity and it would have been better if I'd gone for the next model up, which was only £30 more, to get that. For a price comparison my microscope currently costs £139 new, the one with oil immersion costs £169, but you do really need a mechanical stage which adds on another £35 to the cost. And if you think you'll be wanting to measure things, rather than get a measuring eyepiece costing £35, I'd suggest getting a minicam which for a 1.3mp one (which is what I use, and quite adequate) is about £80. That has measuring software with it, and you measure off the screen by click of the mouse on a captured picture. So for £200-£300 you can get something that certainly does the job - I think there are one or two other microscope manufacturers around that do something similar at a similar sort of price.

I went on a microscope workshop a fortnight ago and I took my microscope along (without the minicam though) so that others could see what a basic but satisfactory model could do. They were able to compare it against a very expensive Olympus professional microscope with phase contrast and differential interference contrast, costing many £1000s, (I think a figure of £25,000 new was mentioned ) and against a rather nice Brunel one costing approx £800.
Some of the novices liked mine best , ... they found it easier to use as there were fewer knobs, and they found it less intimidating! If I'd brought the minicam and my computer along, where you look at the image realtime on the screen rather than down the eyepiece, they'd have really loved it .... The more expensive ones were better, no doubt about that, and I'd do a straight swop for either of them, but if I had to fork out £600 or £8,600 or £24,800 then I'm happy sticking with mine as it is. It does me pretty well.

If you did buy yourself a good one and then found you didn't use it and it just gathered dust, well, there seems to be a few budding mycologists around these days who might be interested in a fair priced second hand one.

Melanie

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

Footnote - It might be advantageous to have this thread moved to the Microscopy sub-forum.

Originally Posted by Ditiola

If anyone who knows how to move this thread to the microscope sub forum it is OK with me

Originally Posted by Ditiola

For mycology measuring is quite important and although apparently possible (see above) it is probably not easy with this microscope but you may need to ask on the microscope sub forum where this thread should be:

I've moved this thread to the microscopy sub-forum as I think it might be better in there. Hope no one minds!

Dave P.

[lettuce]

hello,
I use a BIM105 and it's quite a bargain for the price. Serves me well, although I plan on buying a high quality immersion lens (ebay has great offers), but that's it. I dont know if it's available in Britain, but I recommend it.

Here's a couple of pics taken with an average compact digital camera in hand. With a better camera, noise would be less pronounced and a crisper photo. Both are immersion pics.

[waxcap]

I'm close to splashing out on a microscope. So the above info has been very helpful.
I've been looking for one on EBay recently and saw this on Ebay . It looks very good value - is there anyone who can help me set it up.

Dave