That was perfect, thanks! I've had experience buying high end astronomical gear and that's a little bit different in that the more expensive you go the less it seems any one seller provides. Lower end scopes come as a total package from one company like Celestron, Meade, etc. but then as you move up into more exotic or specific desires it's the scope tube and optics from one company, the eyepieces from another, the mount from yet another, the tripod or pier from still another. The microscope gear is all primarily from one manufacturer, but still modular enough to be customized. I was looking at hopefully saving up for an Olympus CX33 at some point. I might get impatient and settle for a refurbished CX31 if you keep posting the fun vids!
When comparing the professional market to the amateur market, it appears to me that for microscopes there is a huge professional market combined with a tiny amateur market. This is opposite (I believe) for astronomical optics and esp. bird watching optics. Every self-respecting birdwatcher has at least a 1000+ euro pair of binoculars combined with a 1000 to 3000+ Euro spotting scope. And its hard to even think of a professional use for these things.
@@GeertBleys That's very true, I hadn't even thought about that. There is a lot you can do research-wise with a 30-40cm scope and a very good astro camera these days, but professionally there aren't a lot of astronomers out there. Certainly not the diverse fields available to professional microscopists.
@@GeertBleys Most amateur birdwatchers I have seen have quite "budget" optics, there are some pretty nice 90mm refractor spotters under $1000, their star test isn't that far behind top end ones like the Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss etc. The only bad experience Ive had with cheap optics is binoculars with roof prisms, most does not have polarizing coatings and give some pretty ugly diffraction spikes. Im getting into bird watching and i can't afford $1000+ 30mm binoculars, I guess im not self respecting. I only have some bushnell 12x50 binos and for extreme distances I use a 150mm f12 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, I flocked the primary and secondary baffle with smoked black velvet and offers pretty good contrast and far more resolution than most top bird watching optics though I have to admit isn't easy to transport and quickly point and focus, it is also my "supertele" objective for photography. With it I could barely distinguish the barbules of the feathers of a great tailed grackle at 200m away, it was around twilight and very little air Schlieren. Soon i hope to get into a bird photography contest and see how much really helps to spend %1000 to get a 10% of improvement on image quality and versatility.
i found an old olympus and was blown away by the clarity! and now, i am suffering from accute olympumania ... becoming chronic. oooh microbehunter, what have you done 😂
I've collected microscope parts from eBay for years. Most sellers delivered exactly what they described. I've only had a few disappointments. I have had a few outstanding bargans. I think it's important to know exactly what you are looking for to be happy with your purchase.
Thank's for all the great videos. you have been a great inspiration. i really have fun watching. I just got a swift stellar 1 pro this week right to my front door haha. I switched out the 100x oil objective with a 60x dry as you showed us on your video. It works great. A 20 mega pixel swift video camera is on top. Also I purchased a 16 mega pixel hayear camera that plugs right into a monitor. Now I have to work some OT to pay for all this stuff. Thanks again.
I found a Nikon Eclipse 50i clinical microscope with 4 plan objectives including a 100x oil. I also got an E400 with 4 objectives everything was 300 bucks. My son is now in college and is using the 50I for his biology classes. Look on Facebook or GSA, and you can find some ridiculous deals.
@Microbehunter Could you please choose some microscopes to add to your virtual shop that feature higher end contrast features? For example, I have been trying to sort out, what is the cheapest good DIC microscope? What is the cheapest good phase contrast microscope? What is the cheapest best one with both of those plus florescence? These are very interesting questions for microscope enthusiasts... and not so simple to answer.... But it would be really great if you keep the full range, in terms of microscopy, for starters, kids, and then incremental features up through DIC/PC/Florescence and of course polarisation. Sure there a lot of DIY alternatives, I am not negating that, rather, for a shop (buy versus build) why not offer a full range? If nothing else it serves as a great template.... ....as one works through their own life of microscopy....
Optical microscopes can't be used to study viruses*, because they are too small. The most popular microscope up for that task is electron microscopes but they are very very expensive and the sample need special preparation. It is possible however to build an atomic force microscope capable of "seeing" viruses but even still is quite difficult the commercial ones are about as expensive as a small electron microscope. *There are special techniques but still far outside the reach of most amateurs.
Would you buy a refurbished in great shape Nikon alphaphot 2-ys2 with trinocular with seidentopf binocular head. and a amscope 3.0mp digital camera. The objectives on the nikon are infinity. The guy said he will sell it to me for $400. I was getting ready to purchase the amscope T490b-dk and then I seen this used Nikon package deal. . If your were a beginner (me) knowing what you know and was offered this Nikon what would you do. Used refurbished Nikon no warranty or new amscope T490b-dk and it's new with warranty. Both the same price. Thanks for your time. I guess what I am asking is do you think the 400.00 is worth it for an older but refurbished Nikon. .
Of course it depends if the microscope is intact, not damaged, complete etc. But I would go for the Nikon without hesitation. Compare the prices that you find online. Some are cheaper others more expensive. I consider $ 400 for the Amscope actually quite expensive. Nikon is a brand microscope and chances are good that you will even get support and maintenance from a Nikon dealer. If the Microscope was taken care of, then you need no warranty. Spare parts should be available on the second hand market. Disadvantage: binocular and not trinocular. You have to connect the camera to an eyepiece. Not as convenient. The only thing that does not make sense to me is infinity. To my knowledge it is a 160mm microscope, not infinity.
Thanks for the reply. I pulled the trigger and purchased the Nikon today. The guy I purchased it from owns his own business and he sells microscopes. He totally went thru and overhauled the entire microscope , of course where needed but it’s in perfect working order so he says and he seems very trustworthy. The camera is actually a 5.0mp OMAX. I had been waiting three long years for this and I am so glad I waiting for this moment. That Nikon was looking for ME lol. Can’t wait to get it in my hands and start doing some microscopy!, thanks again for all your very informative videos. I watched them all and will continue to watch all your vids. Take care!
Vijay Gangurde if you live in india you have a very good microscope manafacturer in india!!Selling under the name of RADICAL MICROSCOPES!!and there very nice ones too!!!
Yes, but they pay no national or state equivalent income tax or local sales tax. Think about it, with a VAT you have more in your pocket to spend, plus they get more for their taxes.
@@MicrobehunterMicroscopy I get your point, but "Cable Holder"? Why not have it as standard instead of paying extra for it? BTW: I love your channel and your videos inspired me to get myself a decent microscope and start my micro observation journey.
@@DaruoshAghajaney I guess the reason is because the target group of a microscope like this is in the research/medical sector. Folks there will tell the company how to put the microscope together and what parts they want to have. I guess even if they would have included it (and not listed it separately) they would have charged for it anyway. They did not have a final price for the microscope out of the box. When I bought it, I had to tell the company all of the things that I wanted to have for them to put together, and then they listed these items on the bill. I agree that it appears petty to separately list a cheap plastic part, and charge for this (and I would not do that when selling microscopes to end users), but the target group is simply different. I remember that I later bought a simple filter from the company and I got a bill that looked similar. The value was ridiculous low (and the price comparatively high) and I remember that I hoped that they would simply send it to me free as a service because I just bought a very expensive scope from then - but no. I got a huge cardboard box with a tiny filter and a separate bill.....
