Digital Microscope

Reviews

I ordered this for a seven-year old boy who already owns a toy microscope and wants more slides "so that he can be a better scientist." He seemed entirely satisfied. I am hesitant to review in detail because I haven't viewed the slides personally. I don't believe that the quality of his microscope is very good (was purchased by someone else for less than $20) so it speaks well to the slides if he is able to use them at all! The slides arrived promptly in the busy holiday season. They were clearly marked and organized, and after a long evening of searching seemed like a very good choice.

Great beginning slide set. I bought it for my middle schooler. The storage case for the slides is just the box they come in but there are slits to hold the slides so they aren't stacked on top of each other. They are clearly labeled. We have had fun looking at them with my son's new microscope. Nice buy for the $$.

Is a good slice, but just for beginners, as soon you have you micro you will be start experimenting with another thing, so you will uses a short time. Maybe is a better idea buy a book for learn to prepare your own slice. This is just my opinion

I was pleasantly surprised with the specimen especially after reading some of the reviews. The specimen are made well, were not dusty, boxed well and labeled nicely. I found that some people did not care for some of the slides. I thought all of them were incredible!! All the hair slides do look different, not all the same as someone stated in their review. If you have a duo-scope microscope (I have a My First Lab Duo-Scope - Love it!) that allows you to view the slides with light from above and light from below you will see major differences in detail. If you look at the slides with the light from below, some look a bit boring. But, if you use the light from above the slides the detail is amazing. My husband and I checked out all the slides before the kids and we were amazed! Even the hair samples looked great. We especially loved the ant slide, what detail!!! I think that the differences in what other reviewers saw have to do with the microscope being used. The 48 specimens come in two boxes of 6 slides each which are 6 different categories. Each slide contains 4 specimens. The slides for the first box are as follows: 1)Pollen & Spore - Pollen of lily, Sunflower pollen, Bottle brush spore, Fern spore 2)Tiny Creature - Plant louse, Fruit fly, Shrimp Egg, Silk worm larva (moth) 3)Textile Fibers - Hemp fiber, Silk stuff, Cotton fiber, Bemberg 4)Insects - Leg of butterfly, Wing of butterfly, Wing of locust, Leg of honey bee 5)Plants - Pine Wood, Camellia leaf section, Bamboo shoot, Sponge gourd 6)Animals - Goldfish scale, Hare hair, Camel hair, Feather fowl point The slides for the second box are as follows: 1)Pollen & Spore - Tulip pollen, Leaf spore, Pine tree pollen, Orange pollen 2)Tiny Creature - Common red sponge, Angora rabbit hair, Ant, Mouse fur 3)Textile Fibers - Panya, Nylon, Wool, Handmade paper 4)Insects - Dragon-Fly wing, Worker Bee wing, Bee antenna, Bee abdomen 5)Plants - Stem of corn, Leaf of nerium, Onion rind, Silver berry scaly hair 6)Animals - Cat hair, Canary feather, Dog hair, Sheep hair All the specimens for each category is color coded. I am very happy with my purchase.

These slides are perfect for homeschooling younger children ages 5 - 11. I would guess that any older than that and the child would be bored. A lot of science books require that a child look at specific things under a microscope but one can't be located. These are perfect for that situation. Add on some blank slides and the experience is perfect. If you're looking for a great microscope, check out "My First Lab Duo-Scope."

Reviews

Got these prepared slides for my 9 year old when I bought her a microscope. These are great slides. Ordered 2 sets of them and happy with every one.

When I gave this to my grandson for Christmas along with a microscope. You should have seen his eyes. He's only 8 and you would have thought I had just given him the moon. He loves science, so this was a perfect gift for him.

Reviews

This is a good starter microscope for my 8 yr old. It is better than a basic microscope and not too complicated to use. The slides provided enable us to analyze everything from a drop of water to a piece of grass. Also the magnification options are outstanding for a home microscope.

We were very happy with the quality of this product. We pruchased it for a 10 year old boy, who was just delighted and has used it frequently since Christmas.

It is a cheap microscope so don't expect more than what you may have used in high school or something similar. Though cheap it does seem fairly durable and it is easy to use. I am happy with it. Only complaint I have has been repeated a hundred times already: when using at 400x the lens is right on the slide. I haven't broke one yet but it is only a matter of time. Otherwise, EXCELLENT product. Highly recommended. Just do research first to find out what magnification you are looking for.

I was looking around for a microscope for my daughter to use for her science project which involved investigating micro-organisms collected in various water habitats. I tried three different microscopes, and this one was by far the best. The other two microscopes she tried left much to be desired, especially in regard to the quality of the microscope itself. They were truly toys compared to this microscope. I highly recommend this microscope! The illumination of slides/samples is perfect, and reminded me of the microscopes I used in biology lab in college. It's a little pricey, but it's definitely worth the expense.

This is my first time purchasing a microscope. I would put this in a catergory between toy and student microscope, which was perfect for my situation (nine year old). The bright colors seem to make it more toy like, but the quality is top notch and viewing slides is incredible. It is well made and seems to be durable. The two different led lights are much better than the mirror illumination. Super that you can choose which one to turn on- some models I looked at did not have this feature for some reason. The book that comes with it is a little lacking (especially when you don't know exactly how the eye piece and lenses go together- which I did not...and this was after my son removed it of course) but I am really happy with this purchase. Also, you may want to purchase additional prepared slides if you are just starting out, only comes with five. Great educational 'toy' for those parents who are sick of video games and the like. We have had lots of fun already! Reccomended.

Reviews

I use the Nikon Mini microscope to identify sedges and grasses in the field. It is indeed small - it fits in its case under my car seat. And its plastic body makes it very light; it's no problem to put it into a little backback. However, there are two issues that make it less than perfect to use. First, the field of view is very narrow - only 11 mm. Second, it is difficult to get your eye close to the lenses because your nose runs into the bulky ocular carriage (I'm not especially large-beaked, either). This means you have to really arch your neck to get a good look at the specimen - pretty uncomfortable after a few minutes' examination. I'm not sure how durable the body of the microscope will be; although the optics are good so far as they go, I can't imagine the body adding much cost to the microscope, so $250 is a pretty stiff price to pay for it. It is interesting that one of the suggested tags is "educational toy"; this is pretty pricey for a toy. It would be better to get something a little bigger and bulkier if it had better viewing features.

I bought this item because it had the Nikon name and was small and I thought of it as a gift to a graduating student. I am satisfied after a couple weeks of using it. I have so far been dismally unsuccessful in locating accessory "stage clips." anywhere... (the holes are already pre=molded into the plastic stage in case you wondered) online dealers seem to be unaware about those Nikon parts... calls to Nikon USA telephone numbers has me concluding this is a very small seller item, too bad, it is a good gift for smart kids to get them off the tube. I earnestly believe Nikon could have and should have included the stage clips (they would be smaller than standard lab sizein the package. FYI, I added two AAA cell 10 hour LED book lights for 20.00 each for illumination which is really necessary IMO ( called called "Mighty Bright" book lights from Amazon, for twenty dollars apiece) Necessary. Also consider,for home use, getting a round table cast iron microphone stand and adapting it to a 1/4" bushing in the bottom of the stage if you get more serious. Still won't add much in cost and increases stability on a table. It is plastic,ALL plastic (except the optics) including the focus rack and pinion. It is not lab quality. I mean. But it is more than a toy...optics are not bad if narrow in field. It is a lot of fun to see objects of about 11mm blown up 20 times. Postscript:My gift person may have to wait a while while I look at aphids on little buds for a while.... I think it is fun to have a 20 power stereo microscope. I can't tell you it whether it is worth the cost,up to you to judge.

As a medical doctor somewhat unwillingly dragged in IT by the accidents of life, I suffer from frequent bouts of nostalgia, remembering fondly the time where I was studying life sciences. That's during one of those episode that I bought this gadget, thinking it would probably end up gathering dust on a shelve. Boy, I was wrong! The microscope is so light and well designed that it can be taken anywhere. It is up and running in a few seconds, it's waterproof and it is sturdy. Its optical quality is beyond reproach. But what really stunned me is the sheer amount of interesting things the 20x magnification is putting within my reach: seemingly uninteresting insects such as aphids offer are seen tantalizing amount of detail; closely watching a dining spider is something you will not forget soon. In the vegetal world, patterns seem to pop out of nowhere. This is also an incredible educational toy for children since it turns the most basic garden into a giant natural history museum. One caveat, but not an unexpected one: since it is designed to be extremely light, no light source is provided. A white led connected to a cheap 5V supply can be helpful in low light conditions.

Reviews

I bought this book for my 10 year old granddaughter. She asked for a microscope and I bought her one. since we have been to the pond together to get water for my microscope, I wanted to get her a book about pond water. This is not a how-to book as the first reviewer states, so I also bought a how-to book to go along with this book.

A WORLD IN A DROP OF WATER was an excellent book with great information to help my daughter with her science project. The book arrived in less than 4 days from the day it was ordered.

This is an excellent book describing the various life forms in a drop of pond water. It may well serve to make your child interested in using microscopes. In addition, there are a couple of pages about Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, who first made and described a microscope and what he could see with it. But if your child is the owner of a new microscope, I recommend the Usborne book "The World of the Microscope" which will give you ideas for making your own slides and give tips for using the microscope. For early-mid elementary aged kids, I also recommend "Greg's Microscope", which is a level 3 early reader that follows a young boy who yearns for a microscope, finally gets one, and learns to use it. THAT was the book that got my daughter to decide she wanted a microscope for Christmas!

I spent about half of my childhood staring down the end of a microscope. This book is by far the best introduction to microsopy for children. The instructions are clear and easy to follow and the projects are such that almost anyone with a mud puddle or pond nearby can do them. It's hard to compete with video games but if your child has any interest in sciecne then this book, along with the tools that come with any microscope set, will open up an entire world of fun and learning.

Reviews

I'm reading this book and an older edition of the Reimer text for in independent study course in SEM. While I'm only three chapters into both texts, the Goldstein text seems more readable. I like the writing style, and it doesn't seem to sacrifice in any technical aspect. It is also very well illustrated. For a book about an imaging technology, this is obviously quite important. There are many instances where there are sets of images to compare the results achieved with varied operating parameters. The text is well organized. It begins with an assumption that you know some basic physics and chemistry, but doesn't require any background in microscopy. Both the Table of Contents and Index are detailed enough to enable specific searches for specific subject matter. This is a textbook I look forward to reading in the evening, and one that I look forward to finishing. It matches very well with the practical work I'm doing on the SEM.

If you are like me and had to use a Scanning Electron Microscope or SEM, you want to start with the basics that everyone goes by. This book is a safe bet that most everyone knows about. Plus, it is written with very little background in the world of electron microscopy. Too many authors to list but it's wonderful that alot of experts got together to present this material in clear, concise manner. Before you grab your solid-state physics book or check Wikipedia, just relax and page through it since this book pretty much makes it easy for you. Chapters are arranged by the following: What is SEM?, How SEM works?, and Why are we interested with SEM? That's the easiest way to explain rather than list all the chapters. If you have a specific question, you don't even have to read through the previous chapters (if you have rough understanding). The size of this book is a BIG PLUS. It's compact compared to the monsterous Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) book by Barry Carter which is another great reference. For this price, you would be lucky to find another good reference book under $100 with such relevant information.

This book is a comprehensible review of principles and methods of SEM and X-ray microanalysis write in a single and elegant language. The authors avoid using mathematical formulas in the description and demonstration which turn it an atractive book to all scientists and even the beginners.

This ought to be the dream book of those who do SEM imaging. The first half or say first five/six chapters are solely devoted to fundamentals of SEMs and the rest of the chapters are dealing generation of X-rays and concentrate on EDS. I have not yet finished reading this book. But certainly recommend to other SEM users to possess this book and read it as and when required.

The book is very good. I can learn a lot about the SEM from this book. The cd has also some interesting pictures, additional information.

Reviews

While it's true that this book was written a long time ago and many of the chemicals will no longer be sold to children, it still teaches science to children the way it should be. I'd recommend this text over any of the recent efforts that compromise the science for political correctness. Furthermore, the author does not talk down to his audience. Adults reading along and helping their children will be just as engaged and informed. Scientific terminology is used in the book but it's explained very well. Since it's written for the intelligent reader however, it's only explained once. Headstrom's insightful observations are as relevant now as they were when they were written, and this should provide a sound basis for further study and exploration for the inquiring mind. The constant use of puns and the style of writing comes from a time when the world was a different place, however this adds to the charm of the book. 142 line drawings are used throughout. I'd highly recommend this book to adults and children of any age taking their first steps in microscopy. I'd also recommend that adults do not give a child a microscope without a copy of this book. Subjects covered include protozoa, algae, diatoms, desmids, flowers, insects, spiders, common food items, mosses molds and lichens, higher invertebrates, blood, and forensic subjects such as fibers, hair and fingerprints.

Microscopes in toy stores haven't really changed much with time. There are better-quality models now available, but the box still usually contains the 'scope and a few dozen glass slides of blood, insect parts, and such. Rarely are the directions enough to keep a child's interest in microscopy alive for more than a few weeks, at best. This book offers a guided tour of the microscopic world, in the form of 59 "adventures" which range from the kitchen to backyard pond or shoreline. More than instructions on how to capture a fly and examine its feet, the adventure includes a discussion of how the fly can walk on the ceiling. The microscope, then, becomes one gateway to rich discoveries in nature study. If there is a problem with this book, it is its age. This is a reprinted version of the 1941 edition. Many of the supplies recommended "for your laboratory table" are no longer easily available, while some are now considered hazardous. The fly mentioned earlier is to be killed with chloroform, for example. There are safer alternatives available, but the reader will have to do some further research. Nonetheless, it's a stimulating book, charmingly illustrated with many line drawings. The language is at times too difficult for younger readers, but a parent/child team of adventurers will find it useful.