looking to buy a microscope... anyone know anything about them???

[agoutihead]

how much should a "decent" one cost me?

granted i dont want to spend hundreds of dollars.

but i do want it to be able to view cells in their entierty.

how much magnification do i need to view cells?

should there be anything else i look for when purchasing one?

i will probably be looking on ebay.

thanks alot!

[galveston_guy]

Minimum I would say you need a 10x objective to efficiently see most eukaryotic cells. You should also see most of the larger bacteria and parasites with a 10x. If you need more power I would sugget a 40-60x objective.

Concerning your question about where to buy one, I can't really help. The microscope I use cost $300,000, but the federal government paid for that one.

[agoutihead]

i seen somethign on ebay with like 1000x magnification.... why is that one so much more??? and why dont i need that much?

what is that much used for?

300k huh?

nice!

what do you do?

[galveston_guy]

Well, your magnification is the combination of the eye piece and the objective. A lot of eye pieces are 10x magnification. Multiply that by your objective magnification and you get the total mag. A 10x eye piece times a 10x objective should give you 100x magnification. A 10x eye piece times 100x objective would give you 1000x magnification. Once you start getting into 100x objectives you have to start worrying about oil immersion and other stuff you probably don't need.

What exactly are you wanting to look at? This microscope http://cgi.ebay.com/40-1600x-BINOCULAR-COMPOUND-MICROSCOPE_W0QQitemZ7581566368QQcategoryZ26411QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem is a very simple microscope that would most likely be PLENTY of magnification.

[agoutihead]

i just want to be able put anything under the scope (blood, tissue, organs) and be able to see the actual cells moving around and what is inside of the cells... you know the juices and stuff! haha

even though its not a must... but i would like the ability to project what im looking at on a computer, or preferable onto a wall projection style.

thats kind of expensive for that isnt it?

its all just for personal use... so nothing crazy.

so i need to look for something that has 1000x TOTAL magnification or better when searching ebay?

[npaden]

From what I understand you aren't going to get a quality microscope for what you are wanting to spend.

I just bought one of the new Intel QX5 digital scopes and will post a review on it when I get it. They are basically a kids toy and cost around $75 with shipping. They take digital pictures at 640x480 resolution and I think go up to a total of 200x magnificaiton.

http://www.meritline.com/hotinplayser.html

I'm looking more for something to look at my rotifers and stuff than any intense magnifcation.

FWIW, Nathan

[galveston_guy]

Unfortunately even 1000x won't give you much detail as to what is happening inside the cell. You may be able to see some larger features, but most of the intracellular structures are difficult to see even at higher magnifications.

You could project the image to a computer or digital projector with an CCD camera. You might consider this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/40x-1000x-COMPOUND-MICROSCOPE-W-DIGITAL-USB-CAMERA_W0QQitemZ7583876283QQcategoryZ71409QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem THis should fulfill your needs quite easily.

[agoutihead]

thats fine as long as i can see the different cells separate from each other. i dont have to see inside totally... as long as it shows them individually.

so i guess i will shoot for 1000x or more.

[FloridaFishMan]

I use microscopes in lab to view plant cells ect. at 400x (these are very nice microscopes) you can see the chloroplast moving around in algae cells. It is a little harder to see indivifual organelles in the cell that are smaller but if you want to see small go as high x as you can go.

[raddogz]

I claim to nothing about microscopes.

I have a friend who wanted to do have an indoor hobby, and went to a microscope group on the yahoogroups website. It might be a good place to get info as well.

[LittlePuff]

www.greatscopes.com/


Kim

[jimroth]

What I bought for reeftank use is a binocular dissecting-type microscope, from Edmund Scientific. It's great for looking at macro-sized living things in a perti dish. It's similar to

this. (http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_3119501)