AmScope B100B-MS Compound Binocular Microscope, 40X-2000X Magnification, Brightfield, Tungsten Illumination, Abbe Condenser, Mechanical Stage

Me:I have taken undergrad microbiology and the prerequisite courses for my nursing degree. I purchased this microscope as a long term family item, as we are homeschooling. It arrived on time and I have spent about six hours with the scope.Appropriate use looks to include good coursework in high school. It fell short of a few things I saw at my university, but not by much.Physically solid, there's no concern you might accidentally knock it over and break it unless you are surprisingly clumsy. Short of an overly forceful young child, there seems to be only one part that is clearly breakable, and that is improper use of the limit stop screw and then raising the stage too high(into the objective).It arrived in good default settings with approximately ten minutes of careful assembly required, this with some familiarity, and as others have mentioned take careful note of the code in your box for the manual. The specific manual for your model may not be easy to find without that code. One problem with packing/shipping was that the oil for 100x objective was half gone and into the dust cover for the microscope. Easy enough to clean. Another possible material problem was a very slight bend in the slide holder that made it not flush with the stage, and slides would shoot out. I bent it into the correct shape with minor pressure and it has worked well.I've been able to see algae I made with my own slide from the bird feeder outside, and easily focused on the pre-made slides I purchased separately. It's been fun and educational, we're planning on getting an Amscope camera, or an adapter for one of our other cameras (haven't decided).

My choice was in part driven by the massive good reviews for this scope. However, I think this scope is over-rated. These are the main things i found in the very first couple hours I unwrapped the scope box:1- No manual was included in the package. No problem, putting the parts together is pretty much straight forward and you can't really get wrong with it.2- The scope body is really heavy and sturdy. However, there is grease all over the moving stage column (the vertical one) , really?? So if you are putting gloves and touching the grease by mistake then it will be all over the scope! Moreover I noticed many scratches in the part where the binocular part plugs to the main body. I assume it was tested? or used before!3- At least one of the objective lenses is not clean. The lenses themselves seem high quality, however, their containers seem cheap. My guess there is some debris from the container black cover.4- The added 2D Mechanical stage is really flimsy. The slide keep moving under the hook-shaped arm.5- You can't operate the illumining light for long time (it gets really hot since it is a tungsten bulb). Be careful while you are moving your hand beneath the stage the light housing is very hot.6- I tried few slides, the focus is very good and pretty much simple up to the 800X. Although in some slides the 800X seems darker than the 200X. I didn't go up and try the oil with the 1000/2000X though.I am returning this scope and giving AmScope a second chance by ordering another scope model which has a slight difference in the design (and costs extra $$). I really hope I will get a better piece this time.

I got this scope because I've always wanted one. My school never had this kind of equipment.(They didn't have computers til long after I'd left either!) Anyway, this is an awesome toy and tool of discovery. It's amazing how things look even at the lower magnifications. House dust, sugar, salt, a drop of water from the pond, this scope handles all of that like a champ. In fact, images up to 400x are generally striking, and vivid.With this scope, I have resolved things down to less than a micron, seen all kinds of pond life, including diatoms and other algae, tardigrades, worms, tiny crustaceans, book lice, ants and even cyanobacteria.The 100x objective, the oil objective, delivers light and magnification nicely even through the 20x eyepieces. beware though, spiders are tiny horror movies up close. Don't look at bugs unless you REALLY like to be grossed out!There was a youtube video for this line of scopes, so I watched it. Very succinct. See the video. It teaches you the basics of setting up and using the scope. The components generally look and feel like decent quality items. It feels sturdy and it looks good. I also recommend picking up a pair of 5x WideField eyepieces. Often, using a lower magnification can get you what you're looking for so much faster than a higher one. 5x eyepieces get you down to a 20x minimum magnification, which has turned out to be very useful.Now, for a couple of negatives:- The mechanical stage quickly (within a week) started to get sloppy and show a lot of play in it. Also, it does not sit flat on the stage. Because it does not stay perfectly flat against the stage, it does not hold slides well and once the slide actually got stuck under the mechanical stage, which probably just makes it worse. I discovered that the washer used under the hold-down screw for the mechanical stage could not possibly be to spec, because it simply did not fit flush in the hole, which allowed the mechanical stage to wobble sightly. I put in an appropriately sized washer which seems to have improved things to a tolerable level. I just keep aware of how delicate the rig really is.- The 40x objective does not seem to gather quite enough light, and it seems a little blurry when used with the 20x eyepieces, but, I understand that at higher resolutions, optics start to show their flaws. It's probably unreasonable to expect much more than what Amscope delivers at this price point. The 100x, when used with oil, delivers light and magnification pretty nicely even through the 20x eyepieces. Totally impressive, but, see this next thing first...- The immersion oil they send with, is tree oil. Cedar or pine or one of those. If you are new to microscopy, throw that stuff away. It's not worth the potential damage an untrained hobbyist is likely to do if s/he forgets to clean it off the lens! Get some synthetic oil. The good stuff smells like good engineering :) Cedar oil smells nicely, sure, but trust me, spend the extra $5 or $10 and get some good synthetic immersion oil even (or especially), if you will only occasionally use the 1000x and 2000x settings. If the cedar oil crusts up on your lens, you'll need a powerful solvent to clean it off.There you go. Nice scope. Happy with it. It's not a high end scope so treat it gently.