aplomado Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 (edited) I wanted to bring up a microscope I like. It is the Brock Magiscope- and extremely simple, tough microscope invented for kids but also good for field use by adults. Some of you may find it useful. It has regular microscope optics that be can switched out with other ones. The stock microscope has a 5x ocular and a 4x objective for a total of 20x. You can easily up this to 40x by replacing the ocular with a 10x widefield one. The really nice thing about this microscope is that it can get great views of opaque objects as long as the ambient light is decent! So you can look at rocks, fossils, bugs, leaves etc. You don't even need slides, though those work well, you can just stick the object on the stage. Focusing is done by sliding the brass tube up and down, and is every easy with no gears or grease needed. The base is a cast aluminium alloy, so it is relatively light, about 1.8 lbs. If you are viewing microscope slides, the light is provided by a plastic rod that works like a fiber optic cable to shine light thorough the bottom of the stage. It works very well, needs no adjustments and is far superior to mirrors. You can buy a surface adapter at the brock website that will allow you to pull off the optics tube and view large surfaces that won't fit on the stage as well. The only real issue is it is kind of expensive if you buy new retail. Fortunately, there are good deals to be found on ebay sometimes for used ones, I've bought two there, both for under $30. They have a lifetime warranty, and someone at Brock told me they honor it for secondary buyers also. If you have kids that like science (even little kids!) they will probably enjoy this scope. I really like mine, it is fun to stick random things on, and it is easy to carry on trips to the woods. Edited August 18, 2016 by aplomado 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigHyatt Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 That is a fine design for a microscope. I like it very much. Info: Craig Hyatt, retired software/electrical engineer Experience: Beginner, fossil hunting less than a year Location: Eagle Pass, TX USA on the border with Mexico, hot dry desert Formation: Escondido, Marine, Upper Cretaceous Materials: Sandstone, Mudstone, Shale, Chert, Chalk Typical: Thalassinoides, Sphenodiscus, Exogyra, Inoceramus Reference: http://txfossils.com/Txfossils.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Great review! Thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Looks retro... steam punk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Good info, thanks. Equipment geared towards kids can be useful. About the year 1998 or so I was trying to photograph fossils. I ended up going to the toy store and buying a kid's digital microscope for about $70. It worked great for most of my needs. I only stopped using it when I learned to take photos with a scanner. Anyways...no need to spend a lot on equipment for most needs. Photo from the late 90's with kids scope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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