Carson Pocket Micro 20x-60x LED Pocket Microscope Handheld STEM Toy (MM-450)

I like that it works. I used it to see these tiny little pests on my houseplants called mealybugs, they sure look freaky under the microscope! You can see them without it if you look closely with your eyes but you won't be able to notice their long antennas all over their body unless you use a microscope. Zooms in and out and adjusts the clarity all along the way. Needs a AA battery, i like navy blue and the light it has helps but could be brighter. I don't know, this is my first microscope but won't be my last! It seems medium sized in the advertisement but it's actually pretty small. There's a quarter next to it for comparison, and I have medium-large hands.

So much fun for your tiny adventurers and scientists! Great quality for the price, very affordable. Literally fits in your pocket. Remember this is only a 20x-60x magnification microscope, so it’s not going to be comparable to a regular microscope but works well, focuses nicely, excellent for on the go observations and learning. My kindergarten is in love and always on the hunt for things to look at with it!

I got this for my wife, who buys and sells vintage silver jewelry. She needs a good loupe for examining hallmarks and signatures. I'm able to use this microscope just fine, although I have to agree that it's so very touchy even when fully zoomed out, to keep your subject in the view field. And then, since your actually seeing a mirror image of the piece you're looking at, you have to keep this in mind when you make the adjustments of the piece you're looking at. Even the smallest movement of the piece can take whatever you're trying to examine right out of view, and this is exacerbated by the fact that you need to move the piece in the opposite direction of where you feel it should go. Hard to explain. I can do it, but my wife has all but given up because it's just too much of a bother to keep he subject in focus. The focus and zoom wheels are so hard to turn that it's nearly impossible to move either of them without again having to move your subject back into the view field. I just leave it zoomed out so I never need to touch that adjustment, and then I set the focus wheel to "very close" and then move the scope up and down (away from and closer to the subject) a tiny bit to get the subject into clear focus.You also need to make certain that the scope is perpendicular to the subject, as the depth of field is so short that even a small piece of jewelry will present as sharp-focus in one place and very soft-focus in others.With some patience and practice, this can be an excellent tool. But do the practice part before you really need it, or it'll be a frustrating experience.Except for the tight, hard to turn adjustment wheels, this is a very nicely made scope and the built-in light is well placed to light up your subject. Seeing your subject in mirror-image takes some getting used to, but the clarity of the view, IMHO, makes it worth the effort.At it's price, it's also a bargain. Fits in your pocket, too.

I was in the search for a microscope to look at various microorganisms in my aquariums. I stumbled upon this and saw many reviews saying to just get a loupe.So, I purchased this microscope and a JARLINK 30x 60x loupe to compare.The microscope has MUCH better magnification. The proclaimed 60x magnification on the loupe is a load of crap. The microscope on 20x magnification zooms in more than the loupe with 60x magnification.In terms of clarity, they're both great but the microscope remains clear even with higher magnification.The loupe does have its advantages though. It's, MUCH easier to use. You just put the lens directly on top of whatever you're looking at and you'll see it. On the other hand, it's a lot trickier with the microscope. The lens is positioned pretty high up and far away from the contact surface (of what you're trying to look at), so trying to line them up can be very frustrating. Your hands have to be still so that when you adjust the magnification you don't lose what you're looking at. Not to mention the image is reversed, so you have to remember right = left, up = down, etc... very hard to control at first, but I got better and better at it and it's quite manageable now.Also, the loupe has MUCH brighter LED lights. This makes the loupe a lot better at viewing through transparent surfaces like through glass/plastic with bad/no lighting.I am impressed by both. The loupe is amazing for its ease of use, but the proclaimed magnification is a lie. If you want to see something very tiny in better detail and don't mind spending half a minute trying to locate & adjust the magnification, then the microscope is better.

I bought this as a gift for someone and after trying it out, I really want to buy one for myself. I don't see how I could complain about this pocket microscope when its as cheap as it is. Of course the image is inverted like some of the other reviews mention, that's how microscopes work. Most lab microscopes are inverted, you'd have to buy a specialty or electronic microscope in order to solve that issue. This little guy fits in one hand and has a plastic guard so you can avoid accidentally scratching the lens. The top wheel adjusts magnification and bottom wheel adjusts Focus. If you are having trouble because the wheels are "stiff" as others have reported, simply place the microscope on a flat surface againts the plastic, adjust your view until it looks in focus and then bam you instantly have a microscope at the perfect focal point of whatever you place against the plastic. I for one love that the wheels aren't going to be accidentally bumped out of focus while youre trying to look at an object. They are firm but not so firm that its actually difficult to turn them. It's just right. When it comes to magnification strength its accurate to the listing. you can see the fibres that make up your clothing or the dots of ink that are printed on a linoleum countertop. It's amazing that something like this is widely avaliable for anyone to use. If I could change one thing about it, I'd add a lid / lens cover that you could put on for travel. Overall its a quality purchase

Field of view on any 3D shaped object is a problem in focus and zoom. Use with eyeglasses is next to impossible. Hand use is a shaky undertaking. The diopter (focus) adjustment range is inadequate for the field of view. The lens diameter is so small it 'clips' and goes dark trying to position the object. A guess?, you have a 6mm window to hit. Children will have a problem with the "reverse" location adjustment when centering the object.You'd be better off buying a slide out 30/40/60/90 jewelers loupe w/led for child or adult use.

We've had this for over 4 years and it's really quite valuable in our home. It works wonderfully and better than i could've expected. The magnification is clearer, if not better than our larger standard one. (Naturalists and homeschoolers here.)

I read a lot of reviews to determine which microscope powers should suit my purposes, and the answers people provided were correct: 20x to 60x. I also read quite a few reviews stating this microscope did not work and the reviewers "couldn't see anything", but there were enough counter- arguments to convince me to go ahead and purchase the Carson PocketMicro 20x- 60x. I can add to those asserting it DOES work. What is most difficult is getting the microscope on the object and focused. When I put the microscope over the center of where I thought the object was, sometimes I did not see anything. I had to reposition the microscope sometimes several times until getting a "hit". Moving the microscope to try to capture the object to view was challenging at times (and in the OPPOSITE direction that I thought I should move) and I had to experiment with the zoom and focus. Sometimes I experimented too much, losing focus of the object. It can be frustrating not knowing which way to turn the zoom and the focus, and I think a bigger lens would help solve this problem, as well as enable more people to realize (or realize sooner) that it does work. The lens could be much larger and the microscope still pocket-sized! I did not like that the required AA battery was not included. I'd rather pay 50 cents or $1.00 more for the alkaline battery to be included - no one wants to receive the PocketMicro and not be able to try it right away because s/he doesn't happen to have the right size or type of battery readily available.I found that putting the object to be viewed on a piece of cardboard, centering the PocketMicro lens over the object, and then slowly moving the cardboard (instead of the microscope) made it quicker/easier to "find" the object where it can be viewed with the small lens. I think the compact nature of the microscope also resulted in capturing (reflecting) some of my eyelashes! So, if this happens, you need to reposition your eye. If you wear eyeglasses and are concerned that you won't be able to use this microscope, you don't need to have your glasses on - the zoom should compensate for your vision deficiency!I hesitated several times before deciding to order this microcrope, and I do not regret my decision. I've been using it on various things out of curiosity "just to see". It is worth the price and, I suspect, works better than a kids' (toy) microscope at two or three times the cost.

Es muy pequeñito. Te cabe en cualquier bolsillo, y es muy divertido para los niños. Se pasan horas con ello. Un acierto total!

A very good purchase. Does the job as advertised.

Original productHigh qualityClear view

Good little microscope.

petit microscope de poche tres efficace et avec lampe, piles non fournies