Stereo microscope options

[u/RainbowManatee69]

Hello everyone, I’m starting a lab and would ideally like to purchase 3-4 stereo microscopes for identifying aquatic macroinvertebrates and then 1 or 2 compound microscopes. I'd love at least one mid-tier stereo microscope with a camera and a screen and one compound microscope with the same features (budget ~$6k for each). I've only ever used older microscopes (e.g., Leica S6E). The Leica works great, and I got it used off eBay several years ago (I think for $1500), but I’d like something with more zoom for the hard-to-see characteristics as the Leica zoom tops out at 40X.

Does anyone have recommendations on the mid-tier stereo (max total zoom >40X) and compound microscopes with a camera and possibly a screen? Would it be cheaper to just connect the camera to a computer screen?

Are there any new (to avoid hunting) or used stereo microscopes you would recommend in the $500 – 2000 range that would be suitable for invertebrates and have a zoom range of ~5 – 40X?

I've used Dolan Jenner goose-neck light sources in the past for the stereo microscopes, but if there's something better I'd definitely like to know.

Thanks!

[u/Confused_yurt_lover]

For the stereomicroscope with a camera, the Leica Ivesta 3 and Zeiss Stemi 508 are the best options you can buy new for around your budget. If you're willing to buy used (e.g., refurbished from a dealer), that will open up a much wider range of options, and your ~$6k can potentially go much farther; in that case, I'd look into older models by Leica (e.g., S9, S8 APO, MZ7.5, and MZ9.5...with luck, you might even be able to get an MZ12.5 or MZ APO), Bausch & Lomb (StereoZoom 7), and Wild (M8, M10).

I would be more inclined to connect the camera to a monitor or TV screen than to try to buy a 'scope with a built-in monitor, as that will give you more flexibility (you could even hook the 'scope up to a projector in that case, for example, to do demonstrations for a whole room of people).

For the lower-tier stereos, just about anything should work OK. On the used market, you'd probably like the Wild M3, M3B, M3Z, M5, and/or M5A. If you want to buy new, the Motic K series (available, e.g., from Martin Microscope) are clones of these Wild models and are supposed to be pretty decent (albeit not quite as good as the originals). Used Greenough-type Nikon (SMZ series), Olympus (SZ series), or Meiji (EMZ series) 'scopes would also get the job done, as would cheap new white label 'scopes (e.g., Amscope SM series). The white label stuff has poor quality control and poor longevity, but the optics are surprisingly nice.

I would definitely go for gooseneck light sources for benthic macroinvertebrates since they'll be preserved in alcohol. The most obvious alternative would be ring lights, and these are nice with pinned/pointed insect specimens, but they'll produce awful reflections off the surface of the liquid in your petri dish. I like the old halogen cold light sources like Dolan-Jenner makes, and these can be found used for cheap pretty easily on eBay, but gooseneck LED desk lamps are even cheaper and also work perfectly well (we use Sunbeam desk lamps like these in the lab where I work: https://www.ebay.com/itm/178260353128 ).

HTH

[u/RainbowManatee69 → u/Confused_yurt_lover]

This is very helpful. Thanks for your detailed response!

[u/Confused_yurt_lover → u/RainbowManatee69]

Glad to hear it, and happy to help!

[u/Lubricus2]

Why not an 2x objective to the leica scope you have?

[u/Exact-Cardiologist-3]

You may consider these stereo zoom microscopes from Parco Scientific. A Chinese microscope but they claim to have domestic quality control.

Parco Stereo Microscope with screen