USB Microscopes - Which do you recommend?

I see a lot of people talking about using the USB microscopes for pictures. Are there certain ones that anyone would recommend or not recommend? I'm sure they go from cheap to very expensive. How about anything under $100 or over $100? 2MP or more, with about 20-200X?

 

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You will find everybody has their own preference.

This one is really easy to take pictures with, goes up to about 200 mag, and is relatively inexpensive.

http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Microscope-Flexible-Observation-Magnification/dp/B00XNYXQHE

 

i love my $17 50-500x.

 

Check with Alan @coinzip He can give you the best, most comprehensive info.

Chris

 

What kind/brand is it?

 

Okay. Thanks.

 

Hi DCHR,
Welcome to CT. I'm very interested in knowing what you find out from Alan. Please let us know what you learn to be the best & least expensive scope. I bought a 0-800x USB scope on Ebay for about $20 & it works great except that it doesn't show any raised areas like I expected. I'm definitely in the market for a new one.

 

800x is overkill unless you're checking the coins for a virus. It's like placing your nose against the bark of a tree and trying to see the whole forest. Anything over 40-60x is useless for close-ups of coins.

Alan is a member, here. Why don't you send him a PM?

Chris

 

The most actual optical magnification I've ever used on a coin (as opposed to monitor resolution "magnification," which if you read the fine print is mentioned as a part of the total mag of a USB scope) is 4x. That's the magnification of my Nikon objective. In combination with dSLR-level resolutions, that's actually a pretty big image in the real world.

 

Celestron Pro, 5mp. I like mine.

 

Regarding looking at the bark on the tree to see the forest I just look through the knot holes. For coin pics I'm using an older Sony Smart Zoom MVC-CD350 3x optical zoom camera.
I'd like to use the USB to simplify the process for auctions. Yes, 800x is overkill. I like the 0x & up magnification better than the 5x,10x,20x & up because I can view a coin at lower mags & increase as necessary to look for errors, etc. & use it for taking pics for auctions. I'm considering buying a smaller sized, lightweight camera that works with USB & shows on my monitor to do both error searching & picture taking for better quality pics than my USB scope.