Ok, stumbled across this…though it might be helpful for those that might need some assistance seeing small components
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2083614
from his site
Most incredible part… Total: ~ 63€ / 86$
And focal length is incredible…no more 3-4” of space…just look at how much room you would have to solder!
That’s a huge space to work with!!!
Just thought you guys might be interested
I could build one of those… then let you swap cheap lenses…
mine? would feed a standard A/V signal… i’d watch it on my own screen, but, you could watch it on whatever you wanted.
zooming in and out would be possible…
its basically a cheap security camera, and, a camera lens.
Now there is something which my tired old eyes can actually see well :+1: It’s on the dream-bucket list, just can’t spend that much for something like this without a lottery win first.
Phil
I just bought a microscope but it’s still in the mail - 500X version
The 500x version says 10mm to infinite focal distance. I figured that means I won’t have an issue with working space. I hope it works as expected…
are there any fomular to caculate the X number( forgot the name)
what if i use 35mm lens or 85mm lens
Thanks for sharing, WarHawk-AVG.
The workspace and depth-of-field are really impressive. I use an Andonstar 2 MP USB microscope and although it is very small and offers a few inches of workspace it is difficult to focus properly.
I wonder if I could use one of my old analog camera lenses instead of a CCTV lens…
Edit: The answer is yes. Here is an improved version.
My goodness……… I like that. Thanks for sharing. :+1:
I just noticed this in massdrop
wow…
some of these are low enough cost? i dont even want to play with making a cheap one, even though i know i could do it…
mrheosupa said…
“are there any fomular to caculate the X number( forgot the name)
what if i use 35mm lens or 85mm lens”
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definitely.
if you know the size of the sensor, and the Focal Length of the lens… you can calculate the field of view, and express it in whatever units you find useful… EG, 12 feet at 100 yards, or, 1.2 degrees at 100 yards
i wanna remember that you just google a “field of view calculator” and you’ll get multiple hits… security camera sales places trend to have them, to make it convenient for customers.
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the SAME exact lens, on two different security camera sensors? could have different “power”. The lens just projects a picture back onto the area of the sensor, some of which lands on the sensor and some of which falls around it wasted.
different size sensors, have therefore different fields of view (and apparent magnification). I tghink its also called “crop factor”, but dont quote me.
camera and security camera guys? plan this out thoroughly, lol…
well, you will think i’m silly, but what does the Focus ring on camera lens do
it isn’t autofocus, right, i have to manual focus, does the focus ring change anything
In this instance, auto focus would not work so you would have to use the focus ring to focus manually
This is what I have, it works:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GJQIUOG/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I am also running it on a Linux machine
The microscope I ordered arrived today.
Whilst it does ‘work’ it is far from ideal. Also far from advertised specs - advertised 1600x1200 30fps max resolution - reality 640x480 25fps
I can adjust it so I have enough clearance to do solder jobs but the resolution is so grainy I might as well be looking straight at the work.
I’ll see if I can add a lens like OP and/or replace the current plastic lens …. or I could just send it back and tell them it’s rubbish 
Sorry it was too late to warn you. 
When I was looking for a USB microscope I found this video comparing yours (sort of) and (now) mine. The Andonstar is much better but still not great for working.
I think you (I) will need a strong far-away lens (as the project in the OP) or either working distance or depth of field are too bad to work.
I know professionals use binocular microscopes for soldering but these are far too expensive for me as a hobby tool. Maybe one of my old SLR lenses will work with a webcam.
so… basically, if i MAKE one of these contraptions… what do you guys WANT in the way of specs?
1) you want high resolution, the higher, the better
2) you want “work space” under the thing
3) you want to zoom in and out, from lower to higher magnification
what else?
I’m on the tail end of a long project, and honestly, THIS device is something i could have made early on in my project.
I salvage lenses, plastic or glass, from any device i find for scrap… and i can grab several of them, and put them all into “one lens”, kinda like i made my own camera lens.
magnification is just a number to me, in THIS case… because you are not wanting for “more light” at higher magnifications… (I am pretty sure? no one here will hve trouble getting enough LIGHT at higher magnifications, call it a hunch, haha)
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what do you guys need/want? it will be manual focus only. I am seeing giving the ability to swap commercial lenses that are affordable being cool… although for MYSELF? I would just have several different FocalLength lenses laying around, in plastic carriers that i would swap out for various magnifications.
I had no idea something like this was needed or wanted…
all this is, is macro video photography…. i normally do all this in infrared, doing it in visible spectrum would be a lot simpler… would black and white be okay with high resolution? or is color a must?
After experiencing the POS for me resolution is priority #1. The 500x zoom (I now have doubts about this figure) is useful range but the microscope had to be right up close to get any decent resolution.
well… every optical device works like that…
take a picture of me at 100 yards,and take a picture of me at 10 yards, and which one has better “resolution”? definitely being closer to your target gives you more resolution…… what you are saying is that you wished the focal length of the lens was more…
how small of a “thing” do you need to fill the screen? A quarter? A dime? a pack of smokes?
you cant send a ball peen hammer to do a sledge hammers job… i could see about running a test with, say, a 600mm or 800mm focal length lens…
just tell me… what size “thing” should fill up the screen… penny, dime, pack of smokes… what? That will give me something to go on, so i can mock something up to see if this will work.
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sounds like you need more magnification from farther away, lens-to-target distance, to give you room to solder and move your hands around. plus it sounds as if the “specs” are chinese lumens, so to speak… resolution was different than expected, etc etc…
i can build a thoroughly ridiculous device, lol… it just might LOOK silly… but, if youwant “magnification” and “working distance” as requirements, thats not a hurdle… the vertical tube will just get taller, thats all…
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just wait a while, and i’ll mock-up a working device in the workshop… i’m in the middle of re-plumbing most of the house because of old man winter’s doing, lol… (my basement? looked like an ice skating rink, LMAO)
you would have to appreciate? i can put an image sensor on A-N-Y lens imaginable.
i can put them behind “real camera lenses”, or, i can use bare lenses laying around to fab with.
either one can be “video screen only” or, you can look down thru a microscope sort of tube, then clap on the video feed to look down thru the eyepiece…
I’m thinking “zoom in” “zoom out” would be by changing lenses, if it was not built around a camera zoom lens…
but, i’ll see how “nuts” I can get when i mock up with what i have laying around…