At work I have a Nikon SMZ 745 that I am very pleased with (very good working distance!) but is probably to low mag for you, and a Leica MZ6 that is also very good. The Leica was bought second hand for ~600€. The Leica stereomicroscope system is modular so you can adapt it if you for instance need more magnification by buying stronger eyepieces or stronger objective. My private stereomicroscope is a Wild Heerbrugg M8 that is also very good and a modular system. I bought it second hand for ~900€. It is recognised as one of the finest stereomicroscopes in the world and basically the same as Leica MZ8 .

My recommendation would be to buy a second hand Leica/Wild scope and buy the parts you need to get to your desired magnification.

Currently I have been using SMZ 168 but that is terribly bad for small insect genitalia

identification.

I can recommend Nikon SMZ–800 (but the cost is relatively high)

Hello. We recently purchased a Olympus SZ61 that gets us to 45x. We can use this for most of the insect we identify (Scolytines and Cerambycidae), but for very small Scolytids (1-2 mm) we need more magnification and use a different scope (80x). Anyway, the Olympus scopes are expensive and you would probably be looking at somewhere between $5000.00 US to $8000.00 US for scope/camera combo. I'm not familiar with the model you mention, but I expect it would be even more. It might be more microscope than you need, depending on what you are studying. The digital cameras Olympus sells are around $2000 and up. The optics for the Olympus scopes are awesome, especially if you have been working on an older scope. The field of view that is in focus is impressive and everything is very clear.

One thing to keep in mind is that with the Olympus, and I expect most companies, you can really piece a scope together to fit your needs and all this alters the price. So, within a given model there will be a large price range. You will choose your objective and eye piece magnifications to get to the power you need and there are trade-offs at every decision. There are also multiple light options, most of which you will not need for insect ID or something similar.

I'm not sure I've answered your question, but be ready to spend a lot of money if you go the Olympus route. We went for a "cheaper" olympus and have been very happy with it for what we do.

Dear Marcin thank yiu very much. How much would NikonSMZ 800 cost? What is the magnitude?

Dear Kevin thank you very much for very detailed answer. My caddiss Hydroptilidae genitalia may be 1mm too. 80x I suppose would be fine. How much did you say this scope would cost? Not nrleccesarily Olympus, just let it be 80 x to 100x with camera.

I do not know as we have only really dealt with Olympus and Leica. My guess, and this is a guess, is that you would not get a scope that powerful with a camera for under 6K US and it would probably be closer to 8-9K with a good camera. But again, that's mostly a guess based off of our lower magnification Olympus and I have never looked at any of the other major scope manufacturers. I imagine there is a fair bit of variation in price, but if you want good optics and that much power it is going to cost you. There are also cheaper ways to do the imagery instead of having a dedicated camera on the scope. You could get an adapter and use a cheaper point and shoot digital camera.

no problem - all important information you can easily find under the link: http://www.nikoninstruments.com/Products/Microscope-Systems/Stereomicroscopes/SMZ800/(specifications)

and here:

http://www.nikoninstruments.com/Products/Microscope-Systems/Stereomicroscopes/SMZ800/(brochure)

I will check the cost of SMZ 800 tomorrow - I have to check it in the department

I use the Olympus SZX-12 Zoom Stereomicroscope, with the SZX-DA drawing tube attachment that can be used for both drawing and photography. Many camera options are possible for digital photography. I also use halogen fiber optic lighting. Most of my use is for entomology, but also other invertebrates.

David what is the zoom range of SZX-12? Any idea for the price?

Hi Halil,

If you are looking for something good And cheap, also consider the Russian MBS-10 (see http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artdec06/rp-mbs10.html). I have one of those; excellent optics, looks like a Russian tank, but has been very satisfactory for many years now. Has a photo-tube as well. Price: I once paid about 400 euro (for a new one!).

there is a firm that has excellent options... amazing range of selection..

http://www.microscopenet.com/?gclid=CMWaoa-0u7wCFY07MgodaisAfQ

you can select a combination of scope and digital camera in a wide range of prices..

trinocular is ideal...

good luck on this.. let the group know if this worked out.. I know some brands are thousands of dollars but this firm has very good options.

I thank you all for very valuable answers. For the whole of my life I have been using Motic SMZ 168 with zoom range: 0.75 to 5x (7.5x to 50x magnification) which is terribly bad for small insect genitalia.

Now I am a bit confused. Sam I have been looking this model from the site you suggested: http://www.microscopenet.com/2x270x-zoom-stereo-simulfocal-microscopefiber-lite9mp-camera-p-9294.html

It says '2X-270X super widefield continuous stereo zoom magnification power' and than 'Objective zoom: 0.67X - 4.5X'.

Does this mean this is worst magnification than my SZM 168. Or where is the difference between zoom range and total magnifiication?

Hi Halil,

I just checked the same website, and they say that the total magnification range is 2x - 270x. This is produced by, for 2 x magnification, using the 10 X ocular, the 0.67 X minimum zoom, and the 0.3 X auxiliary lense (10 x 0.67 x 0.3 is just over 2 total), and for 270 x magnification, the 30 x oculars, maximum zoom of 4.5 x, and the auxiliary lense of 2x (30 x 4.5 x 2=270 exactly). So, the maximum magnification is 270 x, which is much stronger than your motic (but there you had, apparently, only 10 x oculars). Hope this solves the confusion? By the way, the MBS-10 I talked about earlier is my private microscope, I forgot to say there...

What is the total magnification of MBS 10

hi Halil,

the max magnification is 98 x.

How much money do you have? You often get what you pay for with stereo microscopes. We have a range of older Zeiss stereo microscopes (excellent optics and nice strong bodies), a couple of different Olympus stereo microscopes (not as robust but pretty good optics), right through to a Visionary Digital BK+ imaging system. This means a price range of ~US$1k or so to nearly US$50k. The imaging system is by far the best but the priciest. http://www.visionarydigital.com/ for details and examples.

Hi Halil,

To my knowledge Olympus is the best in terms of optical instruments as stereomicroscopes but again how much money or funds do you have?

Let us say something around 4 500 - 5 000 Euro (which is 6 000 - 7 000 USD).

In terms of stereomicroscopes, I have always been very satisfied with the Leica Mz series, although you need to spend some money. e.g., for the Mz 12.5, you need to spend all you budged, but it is a very versatile and high-quality piece of equipment:

http://www.microopticsfl.com/leica_mseries.html

http://www.leica-microsystems.com/products/stereo-microscopes-macroscopes/research-manual/details/product/leica-m125/

I would just love to have one of my own....

At work I have a Nikon SMZ 745 that I am very pleased with (very good working distance!) but is probably to low mag for you, and a Leica MZ6 that is also very good. The Leica was bought second hand for ~600€. The Leica stereomicroscope system is modular so you can adapt it if you for instance need more magnification by buying stronger eyepieces or stronger objective. My private stereomicroscope is a Wild Heerbrugg M8 that is also very good and a modular system. I bought it second hand for ~900€. It is recognised as one of the finest stereomicroscopes in the world and basically the same as Leica MZ8 .

My recommendation would be to buy a second hand Leica/Wild scope and buy the parts you need to get to your desired magnification.

I was just getting a quote for a Leica M80 in the US. The total cost with a computer software and all the bells and whistles was around 20K! Is the M80 any better than the MZ8? 

An old thread but here's my two euro cents.

At work, we have Zeiss top models and Zeiss student models. These are very good indeed but for personal use I find myself going for the Wild models. Yes, the old ones that were made before the merger with Leica. Not all things improved at that juncture, unfortunately...

For the persistent Ebay trawler, certain Wild model lines offer incredible modularity through a staggering number of compatible parts - partly this is due to the scopes being of the CMO (common main objective) type, partly it's just Wild being Wild :)