GX Microscopes C2-D Long Working Distance Stereo Microscope, Binocular Head, High Power, Top Halogen Light, Boom Stand

Great does what it says on the tin. Great service arrived on time

As I get older my eyes are getting increasingly crappy for close up detail work. I've been doing a lot of electronics soldering recently, and I find that with my unaided eye, or even with reading glasses on, I can really no longer tell the difference between a good joint, or a bad one, or no joint at all!I've tried that magnifying headgear thing, and loupes, and I just can't get much joy out of them.The best tool I've found is a cheap low power (20x) microscope, unfortunately the working height and area with that is not great. I couldn't work on anything larger than a credit card there. So I've been eyeing larger inspection microscopes for a while. This one seems perfect because the magnification is not excessive - 10x (still at least twice the power of practical loupes and goggles etc), which means I have an excellent field of view and working height. Oh, and of course the price is good too (around £260 when I bought it).The focus is good, with a separate diopter adjustment for mismatched eyes. Nice bright image with no sign of chromatic aberration except perhaps around the extreme edge.I have only two reservations.One is that the focal distance is so great that the boom has to be clamped at the very top of the travel on the main vertical pillar (unlike the picture), if I want to focus on a flat object on the table in front of the scope. Let's hope I never have to work on something taller! Though in that case I suppose I could put a book or something beneath the 'scopes base.Second is that the lamp is a mains powered 10W incandescent bulb (like from an old bicycle lamp) and hence I need to be tethered to a nearby power socket, or have trailing cables. I would have thought in this day and age it should be possible to have a battery powered white LED lamp. However none are listed on the website. I'm going to see if I can cobble something together myself.

Ordered this on the Sunday,it was waiting when i got home Tuesday evening..never had anything delivered so quickly.It was easy to assemble and took me only ten minutes to set up and get working,which considering i've never used a microscope before let alone put one together speaks for itself.