I bought this to better see my fossil amber inclusions. Wow! It works perfectly for that and opens up a whole new world for the eyes to behold! Clearly and perfectly magnifies things professionally. It's an amazing laboratory microscope for a very fair price. It's a "must-have" if you collect fossil amber inclusions. Highly recommended! :)

I purchased a Swift S7 Series digital zoom trinocular dissecting microscope, WF 10X eyepieces, 0.7X-4.5X zoom ability, on a pole stand to replace my really old Bausch & Lomb. There are two auxiliary lenses, 0.5X and 2.0X; the latter lens doubles magnification to 90X. I got the trinocular head, so that I can use either a DSLR camera or a Swiftcam megapixel/computer combination to take photos or video. I received the microscope four days after I ordered it, came one day early. Scope setup took about 15 minutes. All parts were packed nicely into heavy foam; I would strongly suggest keeping the foam and original packing box for future storage and transport. Each eyepiece tube had a tiny set screw that had to be removed before eyepieces could be installed; I removed them completely and saved them, as it’s my personal scope and I don’t plan on turning the head upside down. The set screws, while a nice idea, could damage the barrel of an eyepiece by gouging its surface. There is a large set screw in the head collar too that must be tightened to hold the head in place. The metal base is large, and the vertical “pillar” onto which the head collar, focus knobs, and scope head reside is sturdy and well made, all of which provides good stability to the scope during use. The base has an interchangeable black or white round plate. Least useful are the two base/stage clips. I can see their purpose on an old compound microscope without a mechanical stage, but unnecessary on a stereo scope. There is also a detachable LED ring light which seems adequate so far, but might require a brighter light source as magnification increases. During actual use, the ring light becomes less useful in taxonomic work, because when the 2X doubler is attached to increase magnification to 90X, the working distance reduces from 100mm to 30mm. It may be time to revert to gooseneck fiber optic lights rather than buying a more powerful ring light. Both eyepiece tubes have diopter correction rings that work smoothly, and the eyepiece holders turn in/out to adjust interpupillary distance smoothly. Each eyepiece has a threaded ring on the inside of the barrel to insert/remove accessories like ocular micrometers and grids. The small zoom and large focus knobs at first use felt as though they were “grainy” and rough in their movement, but after using both slowly and carefully, both move smoothly now. There is a large opaque plasticized cover that fits over the entire scope to protect it. Overall, I’m pleased with this Swift stereo microscope. It has helped immensely in identifying soil mites, small flies and small beetles, as well as small aquatic insects. I have yet to try to take photos of specimens, but haven’t decided on a computer camera, to use my DSLR, or cell phone adapter. I give the microscope a 4.4/5.0 for quality of construction, durability, and adaptability, 4.0/5.0 for price, and 4.8/5.0 for ease of handling and setup.

the continuous zoom is way off. wish i returned before deadline.

what else but " WOW"

Historically I’ve used Leica scopes at work and wanted something for home use. This one is well built and the optics perfectly fine for the kind of things I do at home. Great value.

Looks and feels like a real professional laboratory stereoscope

A very good instrument at its price point. It is well-made and optically good, and it is superior to many of the entry-level 300 dollar stereomicroscopes on the market. It is not the equal of the more expensivemid-range stereomicroscopes ( e.g. Meiji, Motic ), but that is not a fair comparison, as you have to pay a lot more money for these. Thus, at its price point, it is a Good and Very affordable instrument for serious students and for laboratories. ( I do agree that an upgrade on the illuminator would be a worthwhile additional purchase. Also, be aware that the base offers only illumination from the top, and not from the bottom. )

i bought this one after buying one of their microscopes. very good quality. i bought 144 LED ring too like previous reviewer suggested.

I am by no means an expert on microscopes, but for what I do, which is to look at placer gold and sort gold from what isn't gold, this microscope does the job well. I also am happy to have the ability to add a digital camera, which I haven't yet gotten around to. The adapter for my Sony Alpha 7 R IV costs more than the microscope. I wasn't sure what level of magnification I would need, so I opted for higher magnification than I was getting with the student dissecting microscope I had previously borrowed. Greater magnification means I need more light. The ring light I have has about 50 LEDs. I just ordered a 144 LED light. The higher levels of magnification are really too high for gold flakes and nuggets, but the closeup views are often spectacularly beautiful and I can always switch to the lower magnification levels if I need to.