Cost effective magnification solutions - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: nbritton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 04:10:16 am
content: I currently have no magnification devices and I can't afford a Mantis stereo microscope. What other 'best bang for your buck' magnification options are there? Should I go with a headband, or a desk lamp magnifier, or USB microscope, or loupes, or stereo microscope, or magnifying glasses, or... I have no idea where to start on this. I have maybe $200 I can budget towards magnification.

author: fivefish
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 04:21:30 am
content: I have this. AVENhttp://www.aventools.com/avens-complete-product-line/microscopy-and-inspection/magnifying-lamps-and-accessories/mighty-vue-magnifying-lamps/mighty-vue-magnifying-lamp-ivory-3-diopter#.VjBMaWSrQeMapprox $188Great lamp and most important of all... GREAT LENS! Wide viewing angle, no weird color fringes.I think you can buy them for about $150 on eBay.BUT... don't select other "look-alikes" that are not AVEN. I bought a second one of these magnifier lamps, and I decided to cheapen out by buying a "clone" and man.... biggest waste of money. Then lens on the clones will give you headaches even just after a few minute of using it.Spend the extra and get the AVEN. The lenses are great, and you can work for hours looking into it and not get headaches.ADDENDUM:Just want to add the big glasses also double as safety shield when working... from solder splatter, or flying cut leads. It's like having a windshield covering your face.For SMD work, they may or may not be enough (depending on good/bad your current eyesight is). It's not a microscope, for SMD inspection work (not SMD soldering), you need another tool. What I did was bought some CCD camera (NTSC) on eBay, and rigged it up to a color TV monitor. It's straight NTSC video output. I don't want a USB camera, needing a computer/laptop on my already cramped workbench. Plus, with the NTSC direct output, there is no lag. I think I bought the camera for less than $20, wired it to an RCA and 12VDC adapter. Plug the RCA composite video out to the TV monitor. done.

author: nbritton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 06:12:33 am
content: Quote from: evb149 on October 28, 2015, 04:33:06 amI'm nearsighted and wear contacts. I don't plan to work with anything smaller than 0603 imperial.

author: FlyingHacker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 06:27:06 am
content: I like my head mounted magnifier. Harbor Freight has one for about five bucks. It's no Zeiss glass, but it works well enough, and I don't worry about breaking it.

author: dadler
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 06:27:25 am
content: I use one of these all the time to check my work:http://www.amazon.com/BelOMO-Triplet-Loupe-Folding-Magnifier/dp/B00EXPWU8S/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1446013590&sr=8-8&keywords=Loupe

author: Joule Thief
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 06:54:22 am
content: Quote from: fivefish on October 28, 2015, 04:21:30 amFivefish, may I ask what combination of cctv camera and lense you are using in your previous post?The magnification and working distance appear to be a near ideal combination I would like to investigate for use on my bench.Thanks in advance.

author: JoeN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 08:04:56 am
content: I use a cheap photographer's negative loupe a lot of times. They actually really work great as long as you are working over a board and they cost like $5 (or this one,http://www.adorama.com/dkl10x.html, just a bit more - that's the one I have). If you have to move it around a jeweler's loupe like the high quality one posted before works better. But I have one of those also and maybe use it 10% of the time, the cheap photographer's loupe is generally more handy IMHO.

author: nbritton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 08:10:14 am
content: I love your idea, I already have a 32 inch 720p TV sitting on my desk; it has HDMI, VGA, composite, component, and NTSC/ATSC tuner input jacks. Any idea what kind of CCTV camera to get?

author: nbritton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 05:37:24 pm
content: Quote from: FlyingHacker on October 28, 2015, 06:27:06 amThese have a critical flaw, to use them your head and body have to be hunched over about 5 inches from whatever you're viewing. So this means if you want to view something on your desk your head has to be hunched over about 5 inches above your desk. I can't see how you use these for anything longer then a few minutes. Furthermore your nose will be about 5 inches away from your soldering iron, so you're going to breath in all the fumes.

author: nbritton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 05:49:28 pm
content: Quote from: fivefish on October 28, 2015, 04:21:30 amHow do you find that 3 diopter is enough magnification, I checked out some 3 and 5 diopter magnifiers at the store today and when viewing 0603 imperial I really didn't see any benefit to using the magnifier, it just wasn't enough magnification to justify the hassle of having to look through the device. 3 diopter is only 1.75X and 5 diopter is only 2.25X.Also from looking through the magnifiers at the store the smallest size that I found that was acceptable was 5 inches in diameter, anything less and it's just too small to look through with both eyes.I think what would be closer to ideal would be a 6 inch or greater diameter lens with at least 8 diopter (3X) magnification.

author: ez24
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 05:59:07 pm
content: Some other ideas- reading glasses - I am near sighted and was surprised how helpful these are. I have 3x and 8x. The good is they are cheap and hands free. The bad is you need to be close up as with any mag lens.- binocular glasses - I do not have a pair but there was a long discussion here once on them and the brands. The good is you are farther away from the work because they are binoculars and relatively cheap. I do not have any so I do not know the bad. Of course not as good as some other suggestions here (but cheaper).Sample of what they look like:http://www.amazon.com/Glasses-Magnifying-Fishing-Binocular-Teleconverter/dp/B00UUP7P9E/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1446054559&sr=1-1&keywords=binocular+glassesI hope someone can link in the post on the binocular glasses.The kind that dentists use can run over $500

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 06:00:30 pm
content: I know you said $200, but if you can swing a bit more I purchased an Atten stereo microscope a couple of years ago and it works VERY well for the price. I got this one, but there are some cheaper versions:http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/400159487189?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160I was amazed when it arrived how well it works compared to the Meiji I have at work. It's notquiteas nice as the Meiji, but it is surprisingly close, considering the order of magnitude price difference. It's perfectly usable for 0402 or smaller.

author: ez24
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 06:21:16 pm
content: Quote from: suicidaleggroll on October 28, 2015, 06:00:30 pm$200 --> $365I wished I knew what "a bit more" meansFrom the same seller I would go for " a bit more" and get this1500X Phase Contrast Inverted Fluorescence Microscopehttp://www.ebay.com/itm/1500X-Phase-Contrast-Inverted-Fluorescence-Microscope-1-4MP-B-W-Cam-/381445665333?hash=item58cfeef235:g:h-sAAOSwkNZUgIHyBut seriously the seller is a big time seller so if you put in a range of say $190 to $210 you come up with some interesting possibilities in the "$200 range"www.ebay.com/sch/precision*world/m.html?item=400159487189&ssPageName=ADME%3AL%3AOC%3AUS%3A3160&_sop=15&rt=nc&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udlo=190&_udhi=210

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 06:27:32 pm
content: Quote from: ez24 on October 28, 2015, 06:21:16 pmThat's why I mentioned there are cheaper versions, perhaps some that are a little closer to his $200 limitI was just showing the one that I had experience with, as a point of reference.

author: fivefish
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 06:38:05 pm
content: Quote from: nbritton on October 28, 2015, 05:49:28 pmThe glass lens is 6" tall, and 7.25" wide. Definitely, you can look with both eyes.I've used these even when working with SMD 0805/0603. I usually wear reading glasses 1.0x, or 1.5x but with these lenses, I can get away not wearing my reading glasses to do fine closeup work. Of course, wearing the glasses + the magnifier lens increases magnification. For me that's enough magnification. If I need more than that, I have my camera/TV setup.As I said, the magnifying lamp is not a microscope. If you want a Mantis, get a Mantis stereo scope. For high magnification inspection of SMD soldering (checking for shorts between SOIC pins), I use my TV + camera. The problem with the TV screen/USB scope and the like is you don't have any depth perception. It's hard to work/solder where you're looking at a TV screen and your hands/soldering iron are elsewhere. It's like a disconnect on where your hands are, and where you're looking at. So probably a stereo microscope is what you really want/need.My opinion is you need both kinds of tools. A stereo microscope isn't good for general work (tedious, eyestrain, limited field of view), and a magnifying lamp may not have enough power to for very small SMD work.As someone already mention, you can wear 1.5x, 2x reading glasses along with the magnifying lamp and it is a comfortable setup, you can work for hours looking into the glass with it.

author: ez24
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 06:52:01 pm
content: To OP - maybe having the price range in the title would help.But here is one under $200 (maybe - tax ?) and is the number one Amazon rated with lots of reviews to read throughhttp://www.amazon.com/AmScope-SE400-Z-Professional-Microscope-Magnification/dp/B005C75IVM/ref=sr_1_2?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1446057492&sr=1-2&keywords=stereo+microscopeSeems you can use one of these if you rig up a fan to blow away the fumes ?suicidaleggrol - no offense - I was just pulling your egg rollSometimes thinking about egg rolls committing suicide gets me depressed.

author: nbritton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 07:14:57 pm
content: Quote from: fivefish on October 28, 2015, 06:38:05 pmYeah. I was thinking of going with a magnifying desk lamp for soldering work because that hopefully won't screw with my hand-eye coordination. For close up inspection I was thinking I would use the TV + CCTV camera method since I already have a TV on my desk, still need a camera and lens though. I also just remembered that I have a Celestron laboratory biological microscope with digital imager accessory in storage, could this be of any use here? I think the lowest magnification it can do is 40X, but maybe it can do 10X with the digital imager since that replaces the 10X eyepiece.Here are links to the microscope and digital imager that I have:http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/microscopes/biological-microscopes/advanced-biological-microscope-500http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/microscopes/microscope-accessories/imagers/digital-microscope-imager

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 08:16:54 pm
content: QuoteIt's 90% about the lighting. Unless you have some really nice overhead lighting, already, this is going to more important than the magnification. And a lamp is so wide, that it's going to get in the way quite often. The higher the magnification, the lower you have to put the lamp to see, and the more it will get in the way.Even before I had a microscope, I mostly used the lamp for the lighting.Now that I have a stereo microscope, I use it more often than the lamp for soldering. I most commonly use it on the lowest magnification for 0603, which is 3.5x, and it's still a big difference. (I need to bump to up about 7x for fine pitch IC, not to solder, but to be 100% confident of my on-the-fly inspection before the board has been cleaned of flux). But you know what is really good on my scope? The working height and the even better lighting. But I still use the lamp quite often for awkward angles or for the larger FOV or just for the light and not even looking through the lens.I think a "magnification" lamp without a lens would be quite useful, even. Looking through a ring of light right that is put close to an object brings out some details. The more light, the smaller your pupils can close, and the sharper your eye can focus. It makes a big difference. That gets you a sharper image off the bat, with no tradeoff. Magnification has pros and cons. Distortion. Reduced FOV. Limited range of working distance. Need for increasing stability, lest the slightest vibrations give you motion sickness. Narrower depth of focus.

author: nbritton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 02:20:16 am
content: What do you all think of these options?:8-Diopter 5" Diameter Flourescent $84.94:https://www.all-spec.com/products/Lighting_and_Magnification|Magnifiers|MAG-03/230-120.html5-Diopter 5" Diameter Flourescent $75.38:https://www.all-spec.com/products/Lighting_and_Magnification|Magnifiers|MAG-03/230-103.html5-Diopter 5" Diameter LED $93.90:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UW2IRJ2

author: ez24
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 02:45:15 am
content: Quote from: nbritton on October 30, 2015, 02:20:16 am22 watt circline bulbA friend uses these and years ago they lasted years, now they last a few months with little use. IE the quality of these bulbs has gone to shit (from US made to Chinese made). Better off getting LED

author: ez24
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 02:47:10 am
content: Quote from: nbritton on October 30, 2015, 02:20:16 amIf you get this let us know what you think about it. Sure gets a lot of good reviews.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 04:42:35 am
content: Quote from: ez24 on October 30, 2015, 02:45:15 amCirclines were good when they were made in the GE Bucyrus plant, and before they had to become low mercury. The bending tends to stress the glass, and along with it the end seals are also prone to cracking increasing pressure inside as nitrogen leaks in. the circlines made by Osram in Hungary are not bad, but as I rarely use them ( too expensive here, Pl and 2D is more common) I do not buy, the only ones are old stock for just in case. Moving the production has decreased quality, I find that even new boxes of tubes will have the first run flickering and streaking till the low dose capsule boils out it's fill, the old production line of GE and Osram would run all lamps for a half hour to both weed out those early failures and distribute the mercury dose. They probably only do that now for the high end lamps like the 1kW MH lamps and the Xenon short arc ones, where the cost of early failure is so high to replace.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 11:33:07 am
content: nbritton, I have a 5 diopter 8" lighted magnifier similar to what you are looking at and I also have a headband magnifier that I got at a hamfest. I use both but I use the headband magnifier more. I also have decent lighting over my work area- 6 T-8 bulbs so the light in the articulated magnifier is really insignificant. I'm with KL27x and blueskull, it's all about the lighting. I am actually looking to add more lighting as I am only using about 1/2 of the workbench space and I want to maximize the usable area to the full 8' instead of about 3.5' in the middle. Personally, I can use my headband magnifier for a couple of hours at a time without neck pain. I have a low chair which brings my head closer to the workbench so it isn't a strain using the headband.

author: dentaku
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 03:04:01 pm
content: I don't know about magnifiers for soldering but for inspecting joints and reading small things I use the lens from an old flatbed scanner.They all have a small metal tube with a lens in them that work well as a loupe.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 07:17:45 pm
content: I have a very similar lamp to the Allspec in the link. I'm not sure about the magnification.The bulbs on mine last for several years. I have replaced the bulb once or maybe twice in 10 years.I bought an LED lamp to replace it, but I switched back to fluorescent. The point sources of the LED lamp were noticeable on the work. Combined with the narrow spectrum, this made for eye strain. Due to the position of the lamp on a busy bench, it was no small feat to change out lamps. So I lived with the LED lamp for quite a few months before finally getting the inertia to change back. It wasn't a kneejerk reaction. Actually, I thought it was great, at first. The LED lamp was thinner, lighter, brighter, and easier to posiiton. And I grew to loathe it.

author: fivefish
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 31, 2015, 12:37:10 am
content: Magnificationandgood lightinggoes hand in hand.I bought (3) 10W LEDs on eBay (800-900 lumens each, cost $0.79 each!) and mounted them on a 19" aluminum panel to use as heatsinks, hooked them up to a spare PSU, and now I have adjustable lighting. Pointing the LEDs directly downwards produces "hot spots" and also multiple harsh/sharp shadows... not good. So I pointed them up, and made the light reflected from the stainless steel shelf I have.Now I have diffused lighting from the LEDs, and direct lighting from the (2) fluorescent bulbs (pi-shaped) on the magnifier lamp.A smaller LED lamp on the left side lights up that dark corner, and also double duty as lighting for my scope/TV setup.