Great scope! I also bought the Omax 9mp camera to use with it (through my Mac laptop and supplied Troup Lite app) and I'm getting some terrific photos. It's a waste of money buying a higher res camera for this work. Originally I was going to buy a special photo eyepiece for my Canon SLR, but I'm glad I went the way I did. Anyway...I'm going to put an LED lamp in place of the halogen (which gets hot, and will dry your wet samples). I've been using two gooseneck LED lights to include top lighting (like with a dissecting microscope)...getting really nice photos with three-dimensionality this way. Great scope for the money, and works as well as my old Olympus (which cost 6k at the time). I particularly enjoy the the Siedentoph head, much easier to get real binocular image with this than with the Omax scope I had to return (because of this issue). It's nice that quality scopes are so affordable these days. p.s....I'm going to get a 60x objective to use in place of the supplied 100x oil immersion objective. Sharing my photo of Black Oak pollen, apx diameter is 0.04mm (used sub-stage halogen and two top LED sources (one on each side) can vary illum output of each to enhance 3D effect). My three-way cheapo gooseneck LED lights are better than the single brightness unit I never use now. Hope this helps.

As a retired high school biology teacher I am indulging in my lifelong passion for interacting with the living world by exploring local pond micro-organisms. Hence, my purchase of this scope. I had, admittedly, an inauspicious start. About 15 minutes into its first use, the illumination system failed. I tried everything - switching to the supplied replacement bulb, testing both bulbs for continuity, replacing the fuse, checking source voltage, etc. It was a serious disappointment! But, hey, stuff happens. The situation quickly improved. I can only say wonderful things about the tech support at AmScope. It was all done by email. My first email got a very quick and courteous response suggesting a few things to check which I did to no avail. Josiah from tech support then immediately sent out a replacement illumination base which installed easily and has functioned perfectly for a number of hours since. Kudos to AmScope support!

Now, to the microscope itself. From college through 50 years of teaching I have used microscopes ranging from cheap to very high end. I am impressed with how close a microscope at this price point comes to matching performance of far more expensive instruments. The base, stage, turret, and eyepiece mount are solidly built and stable. There is no vibration in the image when changing focus or moving the slide.

All lighting adjustments are easy to perform. The lamp itself has a dimmer control and the substage Abbe condenser moves smoothly. I still have to physically look for the diaphragm adjustment arm on occasion - something I should be able to do by feel, but that's a minor problem. The coarse and fine focus work smoothly with no slippage and no backlash when changing up and down focus. (There is also an adjustment for level of friction in the focusing mechanism.) The moving stage and its controls for x-y axis movement of the slide is a pleasure to use (particularly on swimming protists at higher magnifications!). Movement is smooth and precise on both axes and changing directions is immediate with no slipping at the control knobs.

Most important - the optics. There are 4 objectives included (4x, 10x, 40x, and 100x) plus a pair of 10x and 20x eyepieces. I have not used the 100x oil immersion objective since it has limited utility for my purposes. I have made use, however, of the other three objectives with both sets of eyepieces. All combinations show even brightness across the field of view (if substage illumination is correctly set), no focus distortion (coma) at the edge of the field, and no color distortion. In short, excellent optics. Also notable: an object in focus and in the center of view at low magnification appears in the center of view when higher power objectives are moved into place and only minor focus adjustments are necessary at each change.

I also cannot comment on the vertical viewing port since I have not attempted photography but look forward to trying it out in the near future. In sum, I'm thrilled that such a good instrument could be had at this low price. Spending more, even a lot more, would only produce diminishing returns.

I was hopeful that a modestly priced microscope would perform well enough and I was so happily surprised that the look and feel was as good as a more professional microscope I use at a veterinary facility. Mechanically it is excellent, smooth coarse and fine focus adjustment. Focusable condenser with diaphragm and halogen lamp with brightness control and unexpected 3 filters to adjust light color.
1000x allowed me to visualize gram stains perfectly! The objectives maintain coarse focus as changing so you only need adjust fine focus. Mechanical stage is fine. The only negative which I do not care about is focus falls off at edges. I able to take perfect photomicrographs by putting an ocular lens into upright camera tube and placind iPhone on top. See photo of gram stain from avian fecal smear.

Excellent optics with smooth mechanical movements on all the parts. Wish it could be brighter. Don't make the mistake I did of trying to change the bulb from the top down. You have to roll the microscope on its side to access the bottom panel to untwist the screw that allows you to open the hatch to access the bulb. I changed to a G4 type dimmable 20W LED bulb which is so much cooler to operate and hopefully lasts a lot longer. The LED bulb is actually 1/5 the cost of the OEM bulb that sells for ~$10/bulb v/s $2/bulb for the LED. AmScope customer support is fast with email response but the person I called didn't quite know how to explain how to change the bulb - he kept telling me to unscrew 4 screw on 4 sides when there's only one screw holding the bulb case.

Wow! I ordered this scope after sending back two from a different manufacturer. The price point was the same as the competitor's scope so I expected something of similar quality. I got so much more than I expected. First of all, this scope is huge, more than twice the size of the other model I returned. Everything was well packed and the scope looked aesthetically flawless. I have a Ph.D. in biochemistry and have worked in research labs for many years. This scope was similar to the quality of the Olympus and Zeiss scopes I used in the lab. Amscope has a YouTube channel with several videos on unboxing and working with the available accessories. I had to call tech support a couple times to inquire about additional options and they were very helpful. Overall, if you are looking at different manufacturers, I highly recommend you give this scope a try.