Haha sometimes people say I take nice pictures. I have the cheapest possible set up. I'm blind in one eye and can't see out of the other so a magnifier is of little use to me. I bought this USB microscope for $44.00 online over a year ago. It came with an adjustable tripod that was utter crap. You could tighten it up but it would start to droop and I could never get it straight so the camera was looking straight down. The other problem was I could not turn off the LED's so a harsh bright light came out. I couldn't get good pics of shiny coins. Also the room or outside light would always change and I could never get consistent results. I made a translucent washer from the inside top of a prescription bottle and some scotch tape to push up into the barrel of the microscope. It diffuses the bright light from the LED's and softens it. I can take pics of shiny coins with the filter in place. I also had a set of cheap plastic "loupes" from Harbor Freight. On a whim I popped the lens out of one and my microscope barrel fits into the top with the diffuser or without it.. Now I can get it level. I set the loupe over the coin and set the microscope on top. Now very little light from the outside gets into the pic. I control the light on the micro level now so I don't need external lamps, diffusers, etc.... For very close up shots I set the microscope on the coin without the loupe.
NASA needs you... Another source of diffusing material, cut a 4 x 4 chunk out of the side of a translucent plastic milk or water jug, then trim to fit. If one layer's insufficient, simply make another, it's very thin but sturdy plastic.
