SM-4TPX Trinocular Stereo Zoom Microscope, 3.5X-45X

I spent a lot of time comparing the various AmScope models. I've used some very expensive Zeiss surgical microscopes so I was familiar with the general product lines. I tried to factor in the usual shortcomings of such items and took a chance on buying a $600 item sight unseen. However, I didn't see any really negative reviews of this or similar AmScopes. I also purchased the adjustable 144 LED ring light and a 0.3X Barlow which I'll return because it's not necessary. See below.Very heavy (about 65 lbs) and well built. The ball bearing version of the boom probably not necessary unless you are moving it frequently. For me, only use it for moving the scope when starting and finishing a session.Assembly is easy - I glanced at some of the drawings in the manual. That and common sense will suffice. Manual is in Chinglish but it does have a few non-intuitive tips such as adjusting the tension on the focus knobs.As advertised, you can configure the head in just about any position you want. There are numerous knobs and thumb screws that allow you to customize - even if your eyes and head aren't straight. Once you've got your setup, you can slide the boom about 10" to get it out of way when you're done with viewing.Optics were surprisingly good. Image sharp without any chromatic aberration and entire field flat and in focus. I used the 0.5X Barlow that's standard and found the zoom worked very well with no need to refocus from 0.7:1 to well over 1:1. Then, some re-focusing was needed. The working distance drops off fairly quickly as zoom gets high but you probably won't be doing that much with your hands over 10X magnification.Image stability was essentially perfect. No jiggling or shifting out of focus or drifting off center.The 144 LED ring light works very well although I kept it at max brightness and all LEDs on. Essentially no heat at all. I haven't tested it yet it at high magnifications. It actually works better than the super bright fiberoptic halogen light sources I've used in the operating room. Those are all off-axis, have a noisy light box and the light in the visual field gets hot.I thought the image might start to deteriorate or the field width would be too narrow with the 0.5X Barlow so I bought a 0.3X but it's not needed. Optics are much better and brighter than anticipated so no need for 2.1X. At 3.5X from using the 0.5X Barlow at 0.7 zoom the image field was sufficiently wide for my purposes.I'm using this with eyeglasses and there were no issues with reflections. Plus, there are rubber rims around the eyepieces (not the additional eye guards for bare eyes). Each eyepiece has a diopter adjustment which is great.Some minor cons: I'd prefer the inter-pupillary distance adjustment to be hinged at the top rather than at the bottom. There's not much room for your nose.The paint job on some of the very heavy cast metal parts may drop a fleck or two.Be careful when using the adjustment for rotation of the optical head on the drop down short vertical boom or shaft that comes off the main booms. The adjustment knob allows you to rotate the optical head and move it up or down on this chrome post. However, if you loosen the knob too much for rotating the head, the entire head can suddenly drop down a few inches. Fortunately, there is a safety stop at the bottom of the shaft.I haven't purchased a video setup or tried a still camera yet. I bought this "Simul-Focal" model anticipating that if I'm using a video or still camera it would be a real pain to change the focus every time I changed the viewing source.Overall, initial satisfaction level is close to a 5. Factor in the price and it's definitely a 5.

mine was from 'warehouse deals' and I didn't know what I was going to get. what arrived seemed nearly new, maybe even fully new. it did not have any signs of use that I could tell and was well packed.the unit, itself, seems easily worth its cost (just over $300 from that used priced). the only problem is the camera 3rd eyepiece hole. I've tried 2 different cameras and neither of them would show the same that I could see thru the optical eyepieces, as I looked thru them. it was always a more zoomed-in view. at work, where I first saw this model, they also have the same problem. a real amscope 5mp usb camera and they also are annoyed that what they see is much wider than what the camera sees.other than that, its great for its price. I plan to use mine for soldering and rework of smd pc boards. the 3rd eye was a nice-to-have feature and I wish I could have found a good camera solution that fits into the 3rd and gives the same exact view as what a person sees thru the 2 bottom eyepieces.

Bought this scope and it is missing screws. E-mailed seller and was told manufacturer no longer provides screws. These are the screws that hold the lens to the scope. Told by Amscope seller he could not help me. So much for the 5 year warrenty! This company goes on for a page or more stating that they are ISO 9000 and can not even provide the screws needed to hold the lens to the scope! Skilled technicians, pride in their work what a joke! I was going to leave 3 stars but the more I think about it they don't even rate 1 star. Just a bit disgusted.

This is a well built microscope which we purchased for electronics PCB work. The zoom range is 0.7-4.5 and the eye pieces are 10x so you really have two optics ranges: 7-45x and then adding the 0.5 barrows lenses it drops to 3.5-22.5xThe 0.5x barrows lens also forces the position of the head unit up. This is helpful for working on some electronics but it also means the resulting bench height may be less than ideal.The only significant issue is the camera mounting tube. It’s very confusing what is needed to add a camera - especially any of the 3rd party units. The lack of useful documentation adds to the challenge.Based on trial and error we were able to determine what fittings were needed. However, AmScope seems to not carry the necessary adapter which makes for even more trial and error.Our advice is to suck it up and just buy the recommended AmScope camera. It will cost more but it will be much less stressful and time consuming.Also, you will likely need a camera adapter solution which has both an accurate focus apparatus and a 0.5x or even 0.3x reduction. At 1:1 the camera image field of view is much smaller than that of the eye pieces.

Esta muy bueno

Love it, couldn't be happier. bought to start micro soldering to step up my game.

Powerful scope, did a lot of looking around and this was the best or matched the best price around. Good for working with 01005 SMD parts.

Me llego una copia CHINA, no tiene manual, dice amscope en una etiqueta mal pegada. Calidad media.-Funciona, SI. Pero no es lo que se ofrece.