If you need some help deciding which microscope is for you, we are here to help.

The two basic types of microscopes are High Power(often referred to as Compound) and Low Power(Stereo).

High Power Microscopes

High Power Microscopes will typically outnumber low power microscopes in an education setting by a 5 to 1 margin. They are used for education from Kindergarten through Medical School.

High power microscopes typically go up to at least 400x and usually up to 1000X. They commonly bring light in from under the specimen to allow the light to pass through the specimen for you to see an image. You can not look at a solid object (such as metal or plastic) with this type of lighting.

Slides are used to mount the specimen for viewing. Blank slides and cover slips are used to prepare new samples for viewing. Prepared slides are also a great way to learn without having to do all of the preparation work yourself.

Most models come with built-in light source and some are now offered with rechargable batteries for cordless functionality. Models which use mirrors and prisms to collect light are still available, but much less common that they used to be.

Low Power Microscopes

Low power microscopes are often referred to as Stereo or Dissecting scopes. They usually have both a top(reflected) and bottom(transmitted) light and for looking at objects in which a high magnification is not required. Some examples are stamps, coins, leaves, vegetation, bugs, plastic, dirt, sand, rocks, baseball cards, etc.

While less popular than high power microscopes in the educations setting, they can sometimes be easier for children to learn and become familiar with. They do not require as much of a learning curve as high power models typically do. The user can look at almost anything that can fit in the palm of their hand and no slides are needed.

Most low power microscopes have two eyepieces and a separate objective lens for each eyepiece lens. This allows for the image to appear to each eye individually and appear like a 3-D image. The lower the magnification you are viewing at, the greater the depth of the 3-D image.

Low power, or stereo microscopes, are available in either fixed magnification systems or zoom systems. The most common magnifications for fixed systems are 10x, 20X, 30X and 40X. Some fixed models will have a rotating lens assembly with 2 or more mag settings so that you can have the option of multiple magnifications on one unit(such as 10x and 30x or 20x and 40x).

Zoom systems have moving lenses inside the microscope(usually controlled by a rotating knob) that will allow the user to view his specimen at any magnification within the specified zoom range(such as 7x-35x or 8x-50x).