How to Buy a Microscope for a Beginner
Microscopes offer several different options to choose from. Selecting one can get a little complicated, but the good thing is that a beginner won't need a really advanced microscope. For example, magnification lenses can range anywhere between 40x and 1,500x, but a beginner won't need any more than 200x to view items as small as cells and water organisms. Once you start to become comfortable and knowledgeable at viewing objects through a microscope, you can start looking for more advanced features such as oil immersion objectives.
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Instructions
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How to Buy a Microscope for a Beginner
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Decide what you want to look at with your microscope. Do you want to look at gems and rocks, or do you want to study cells and microorganisms? You will need two different types of microscopes to do these different things.
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Determine how much magnification you want for your microscope. You can increase magnification by adding an eyepiece, but not all microscopes have the optical quality to support all magnification strengths.
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Look for a microscope with two focusing mechanisms. The better microscopes will have a coarse focus (for low and medium magnifications) and a fine focus (for high magnifications). A microscope with only a single focusing mechanism will make it extremely difficult to view objects at high magnifications.
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Look for a microscope that uses a built-in illumination system or mirrors. Don't get a microscope that uses LED lights because they are not as effective. A built-in light is a little bit more expensive but works well. A mirror illumination system places mirrors on the microscope that will reflect light from an external source (i.e., the Sun or a desk lamp).
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Check to see whether the microscope allows you to adjust the light. It's not always best to look at things in bright light, so a way to control the light is necessary in a quality microscope. Most light is controlled through a diaphragm or iris mechanism. An iris mechanism will allow for finer adjustments.
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Look for something that supports binocular vision. Using one eye for any length of time produces eye fatigue. A microscope head with two eyepieces will reduce eye fatigue and increase visual awareness.
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Get a microscope with good slide holders. If it can't hold your slide in place, then your microscope is useless. There are two types of holders used on microscopes: stage clips and a mechanical stage. Stage clips will hold your slide in place but aren't as convenient as a mechanical stage. A mechanical stage has control knobs to move the slide around. Stage clips are less expensive then a mechanical stage.
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