AmScopeB490B Compound Binocular Microscope, WF10x and WF20x Eyepieces, 40X-2000X Magnification, Brightfield, Halogen Illumination, Abbe Condenser, Double-Layer Mechanical Stage, Sliding Head, High-Resolution Optics, Anti-Mold , White

I'm in a medical lab tech program and routinely work with $2000+ microscopes - this unit performs comparably well for a tenth of the price. As the top review notes, the field of view is a bit smaller than what you'd get with a clinical grade scope, but the resolution within the field of view is impressive. A few reviewers have said that the focus knobs are loose/imprecise but I've had no issues with them. The microscope seems very sturdy and well built.A few minor annoyances: there are no assembly instructions (although it's easy to put together) and it makes a buzzing noise when it's on. It comes with immersion oil, but no lens paper or cleaner for some reason.I've attached a photo of cheek cells and bacteria at 1000x, but it doesn't really do the scope justice because it was taken by holding my crappy phone camera up to the eyepieces. The image is much sharper in in real life.Overall an amazing microscope for the price.

I have used various light microscopes in academic and research settings for 45 years. Now that I am retired, I needed a low cost microscope to quantitate parasite eggs in goat feces at about 100x magnification. A $55 toy microscope might work well enough for this but I did not think that I would be satisfied with that and I might want to examine animalcules at higher magnification for entertainment. The Amscope B490B microscope appears to be a good compromise for the factors of cost, optical quality, and mechanical stability for a microscope.Specifically, the packaging was secure, the components were clean, and microscope assembly was easy. There were no missing parts. It had a plastic dust cover, an extra illuminator bulb, a spare fuse, and some immersion oil.All components (coarse focus, fine focus, stage transit, objective turret rotation, etc., worked smoothly. The microscope body appears to be well built with fairly close tolerances (except, perhaps, for the slightly loose oculars).The microscope illuminator was centered and the illumination was intense (and adjustable). The objectives are reasonably parfocal. Image quality is good, especially for the price (compared to a $10 research grade light microscope system.The manual was written with some strange phrases and terms but the content was adequate for me.The attached image was recorded with an hand held iPhone from the B490B LM eyepiece.

I had bought my 6 year old daughter a toy microscope last Christmas. It was difficult to work with and not very satisfying. But, it did spark my daughter's interest. So, I determined that I would get her a "real" microscope for her 7th birthday. I looked around on Amazon.com until I found this one. The other reviews indicated that not only was it a good product, but a good product for a child (some of the reviewers were home schoolers). We set it up on my daughter's birthday, and it was clear as we unboxed it that this was a solid, quality, professional microscope. I had also bought a box of 100 prepared slides from Amazon so that there would be something to look at after we got the microscope set up. It really is a good microscope and I'm sure that it will follow my daughter through life as she grows up. Since then, I have also bought a slide making kit from Amazon so that my daughter can prepare her own slides. A side benefit is that my daughter's uncle is a scientist, so he can show her the joys of microscopy even more than I can! I was also going to get a stereo microscope to serve as a bridge between the "real" world and the microscopic one, but my brother beat me to it!. I don't have much experience with microscopes, but I did know as I was putting the microscope together out of the box that this was a solid, quality instrument.

I was a biology major in college, and I've been wanting a microscope just for entertainment. This scope is comparable to many I've used in a university setting, and better than some. It's absolutely the best scope at this price point. If you don't want to spend $1000+, this is you.AmScope also sells accessories and parts on their website, so you can add to it— personally, I'm planning on buying a few more objectives in varying magnification levels, to expand the capabilities of my scope. They also sell phase contrast and darkfield apparatuses.Lost one star because the manual that came with the scope was very sparse. I could see someone with little or no microscope experience being stumped on how to set it up, but it's still an amazing scope. Excellent products, excellent company. Thanks, AmScope. I love my microscope!

I am a medical technician and use a microscope daily to analyse many samples. I purchased this microscope for my children for Christmas. I am amazed at the quality and the resolution of this scope. There is a small imperfection in the high powered lense but I did not notice it until my 16 year old pointed it out. We have used it to analyse blood smears, bacterial smears, pond water and tons of other items. It is an Amazing teaching tool as I also homeschool and for the money is a great microscope. I use a Nikon scope at work and I would say it is almost as good as that.

I don't know what got into two of the lenses but they are filthy.

I'm a new microscope hobbyist. This is my first scope. Am very glad I chose this one. It's very well made, very sturdy. I've used every objective and I was surprised at how adept and easy it is to use. I love this scope, pro grade. Worth every dime and then some. I feel like I stole it.

A good basic microscope, and a good value for the price. And I've used this brand before. However this is the second microscope purchased from Amazon that had debris on the internal optics column and/or inside head and prism assembly. Not user serviceable, and it's not just a matter of cleaning the optics - they are unreachable. It appears to be either glue residue or grease, and the box appeared to have been opened and re-taped. Returned and purchasing from the manufacturer.