The USB microscope is a typical example of Chinese ingenuity: combine a simple webcam with a magnifying lens that moves back and forth in a tube for focusing, add a ring of LEDs to illuminate the object – and you’re done. The whole thing is sold at a price that everyone can afford. Common operating systems automatically recognize webcams and add standard drivers, saving the need to develop and maintain your own drivers.
This approach worked well because USB microscopes are extremely practical. No matter whether you need a magnifying glass, a microscope or – if the microscope tube is thin – an endoscope to look behind the skirting board, there are many everyday applications. Manufacturers have now equipped the microscopes with their own displays, batteries and memory for image and video recording. This means you no longer need a PC and can also carry out biological studies in the forest.
We have brought five models with displays for different purposes into the c’t laboratory at prices between 47 and 210 euros: The Andonstar AD246S-M and the Tomlov TM3K-3D are particularly suitable for soldering and screwing on delicate devices, the colorful Heweimei P2 and MX2-AS models from Matata Studio for children and school lessons and the Wadeo DM4 as a cheap all-rounder.
That was the excerpt from our heise Plus article “USB camera microscopes for working and learning in the test”. With a heise Plus subscription you can read the entire article.
