My take away: its hard to appreciate the amount of behind the scenes effort needed for the quality of video(s) you provide. So, thanks for a little insight into what you do in post. And thanks for the review.
I came here to say the same. Really enjoyed the glimpse into your filming and post-production steps. Stuff I'd never considered w/r/t audio sync across multiple cameras. I know that this is now a year-plus old video, but if you happen to read this comment, James, I'd love to see a whole video dedicated to your YT production routine.
I’ve owned this exact same microscope. I can’t speak highly enough about it. Video is crisp and high frame rate. The quality of soldering you can achieve with it is incredible.
I have a binocular and a digital scope. What I've found, is having become more used to the two dimensional aspect of the digital microscope, for longer periods of work, I use it almost exclusively because my back and neck get very fatigued with the binocular scope. It's just a matter of getting used to 2D and the soldering is again very second nature.
i find the Bino' setup too clunky takes up too much room extra leads+wires monitor Ect, i can do anything with my setup without the megabuck scope .........
James - thanks for the great work! One suggestion for adding an audio track for sync: If the microscope is capable of plugging to a PC and acting like a webcam, use software like Snagit or OBS Studio to record using the 'scope as a video source and the PC's microphone for audio. It's not a great audio track, but the "clap in view" technique still works fine. My company makes ultrasonic test equipment, and some of that can do remote screen share to a PC. I use that exact technique with OBS recording the screen share along with cameras and regular audio track for the rest of the setup and test. So far my editing efforts aren't up to your level, but I'm improving with practice and watching what you, Quinn and Tony do. Please, keep 'em coming....
I bought one of these scopes a few months ago directly from Ali. Some how they managed to forget the stand. Surprisingly, a simple message to them resolved the issue and they put the stand on the boat the same day . Much better experience than I have had with other Ali sellers. I would love to see a stand video... even better if you could come up with a design that worked out financially that you could sell. There's tons of these stands out there and like you we've all hit the limitation of that stand on an otherwise decent sub $100 scope....oh man, just hit the cost segment. Not sure I would have paid what they are asking now
A flashgun can be used for sync in lieu of an audio cue. A simple white LED flash is enough, and combined with a scene marker like you demonstrated should make things easier to work with in post. One thing you didn't mention concerning the microscope, is if there is any discernible lag. I couldn't see much during the video, and you didn't note it, so I assume that it is minimal. Using a Stereoscopic microscope prior to this has spoiled you James. I had the same issue when I tried one like this after having been used to using high quality stereo scopes before, although lag was also an issue for me. I can see that a different mount - Manfotto-esque speedmount or even Noga, especially on a machine could be highly useful. Suspended overhead would be my ideal for keeping the workspace clear. Thanks for the honest review.
The biggest limitation to this scope is the base. If soldering on a larger board, it may even be impossible to do it because of the base. So i purchased and articulated arm made for another brand of scope but it works grade. When i dont need the scooe i articulate it out of the way.
We would normally use and setup the lights to produce no shado and best picture. However although that still applies for inspections, it may be practical to adjust lights for adequate oicture and to have additional luminance to provide shadows from iron tip and solderr. Obviously, holding the solder above the board would have a gap between the solder tip and the shadow tip and as the solder gets closer to the board the shadow will hunt for the real solder end. So it may be a case of learning new tricks. However with my eyes in your boat, I just use the feeling in my fingers to slide the solder over the boards.
@@Clough42 Hi, I was watching Stefan Gotswinter. RUclips is quite amasing, I only watch about 12 channels in total, Applied science, Mike Patey, you, TOT, Adam Booth, AVE, Electroboom, Anton Petrov and Jody (welding tips & tricks), Sina (drummer) and the electronics guy from Switzerland i.e: only the sensible clever people, and it seems they often know each other. Stefan commented about TOT a while ago and Joe Pieczynski today (obviously with complements), so I asked Stefan how long before he mentions you?
I bought a "similar" one about a year ago (off Ali E of course). Use it all the time and it's been great. Funny thing though, is 75% of it's use is me finding metal or wood splinters! Works awesome for that, and I keep an Exacto blade handy for extraction. 45 years of automotive and metal work, you get used to it. ;)
@@DrFiero I use a jewelers loupe, a fine sewing needle and a pair of needle nose tweezers. Cost a hell of a lot less and don't need power to operate. Lighting is sometimes a problem but that big light in the sky usually suffices. That said I could see using one of these if I had one. A lot easier on the eye sockets. (From holding the loupe in.)
I learned to solder 0.005 plated wire onto ceramic substrates using a Weller solder station and with no visual assist in 1975 at Univac in Roseville, MN. You had one attempt to get it right. This was for 7015 plated wire memory stacks. Now I certainly appreciate any assist, and these USB or screen-included microscopes are awesome. This is a good overview of the pros and cons, thank you.
One thing: you can tilt the stand in order to get a slightly angled perspective. Found that helped a bit with depth perception, but of course we have two eyes for a reason... (edit: also, it focuses to infinity :))
Good image quality review of the microscope, but why did you not talk about the microscope's resolution, the microscope's remote, features of the remote, and the microscope's menu system? I think you missed the mark on this review if you were truly reviewing the microscope in its entirety. Otherwise, it looks like you were just in it for the freebie. Also, you could have laid the microscope on its side and placed a circuit board as far away as you wanted from the lens if you needed extra distance from the lens. You should do a follow-up video. All of this being said, you gained a subscriber.
I don’t disagree with your review, but I’ve been very happy with the cheaper version I bought from Banggood 3 years ago. It had a 4.3” display and a ring light instead of the flexible ones, but it was only $45. I’d love to have a binocular microscope too, but they are much more expensive. Display is crisp, and I’ve been able to read part.numbers off of partially melted surface mount chips.
For inspection, since you like fun projects, and this would be easy, you could build an X-Y table which could move the scope around a large board, providing a nice close image, at various key points, like production lines do.
Can you make a video tour of your shop? I would love to see your various set ups. I am about to build a lathe station for my bench lathe and your set up seems very user friendly! Love to see where other makers work.
Thanks or the review. A more angled, less even light (side-lighting) might help with the depth perception issues. Just a suggestion, but I'd try a low angle specular (small) light slightly back and to the left and a more diffuse light above, slightly to the right of center to balance it out. Some amount of "shadows" should make it easier to see the depth.
Just manipulating the two side spots (possibly only using one of them) and having some ambient room light as fill will help a lot. I have one of these I use for the sort of soldering her was trying, and it works for me.
Ciao James, apprezzo moltissimo i tuoi video e riesco a imparare qualcosa da quello che vedo. Non capisco quello che dici ma con i sottotitoli riesco a intuire qualcosa. Ottimo lavoro. Ciao
I just bought ad407 for its 4mp sensor and hdmi out capability. But after a few days of using it, I think that the picture/video quality on its 7” screen is the same as ad207. The only difference is the focusing range. At the same zooming size, the ad407 gives you more working space under the lens if you mount the unit at the bottom red ring (and of course, you need to chin up more to its higher screen). I hooked it up with both my hd tv and a 23” 1080p fhd gaming monitor. No matter what resolution I set, the big screens always show “1080i” with exactly the same (bad) quality of grainy videos and pictures for all resolution settings. The sharpness selections also give no difference effect on both screens.
"...I'm not 17 any more..." hit close to home. I used to solder and assemble small parts no problem, and yup, the close-up vision has been moving outward, right into Old Guy Land...
The first stage is looking for steel rules that only have mm markings and not the stupid half-mm marks. Now I'm looking for one that only has 2mm markings! ...maybe one with 5mm markings as a fallback! Hell, if it gets any worse I'll have to go imperial.....and find one that is only marked at full inches!
For soldering on definitely needs stereo depth perception... so trinocular microscope. Want to inspect solder joints? Sure, this will serve one very well.
great video practice kit good idea i have been soldering for years and the components have gotten alot smaller over the past 40 years one thing i note in your video that maybe could really help would be using smaller diameter solder
I saw also an AD409 with a little bigger screen (10 inch) and WiFi, maybe a little better for you eyes. I hope they bring a stereo for 3D in use with a VR like the Quest2. I was already suprised what a Quest2 can do.
I use a digital microscope for all my microelectronics work (as a profession) and I have no issues with depth perception whereas I find traditional stereoscopic microscopes uncomfortable to use. Just takes time for you to adjust.
Why were you only trying to look at the screen to do the work? I can definitely say that trying to use a single zoomed in display would be extremely difficult since you lose depth perception as you very clearly noted. Have you tried working while keeping your focus on the board while using the computer screen in your peripheral or placed back behind the board (working so you can either glance back and forth between the two or simply focus on the picture while “seeing” the board and tools just below and in front of your focus)? While this may seem like you’re trying to look at 2 different things at once it’s actually very easy to pickup. For instance at this moment i’m typing with my focus being locked on my smartphone screen yet I can easily describe the objects behind and off to the sides w/o much effort. They most certainly will look out of focus but in a moment that detail will become irrelevant. Conversely if I focus at the object immediately ahead and behind I can no longer see the printed lettering for individual keys on the digital keyboard but even though my thumbs look out of focus, I can easily tell their changes in 3D space relative to the object I’m keeping my focus on. The farther out in ones periphery an object is the more likely it will exist in only a single eye’s field of view so by keeping it relatively close to your area of focus you can still gain that missing depth perspective that the screen couldn’t capture in its Top down view.
I used mine to solder an 8 pin audio amp soic. that was about as small as I was comfortable with, these days I have it mounted a good meter up above my TV and it is used for wide inspections on the TV screen (40 inch)
It's possible that the recordings still have a timestamp in the metadata. You can check using either `mediainfo` or `ffprobe` (part of the FFmpeg suite), or there's probably some GUI tools that can do it, but I assume you're experienced enough with the commandline to handle it. If the microscope does add timestamps, note that some devices save the start time and some save the end. That should at least be enough to let you match up which clips go with which source audio, and if the clocks are close enough, and the timestamp precision is high enough, it might let you sync. When I edit videos, I use a horrendous pile of Python and bash, going by timestamps to line stuff up approximately, then the waveforms (where available) to get it precise, then break the recordings up into takes/chunks, which I can review manually, deleting the bad ones, keeping the good ones, then concatenating them together with ffmpeg. (I don't like GUIs.)
Just started to watch your channel a few days ago and will certainly be watching more. What do you think the max FOV you can get if you extended the height of the objective/camera? Certainly looking to pick one up as you mentioned the stereo microscopes tend to be bulky and heavy leading me to leave mine in its resting place unless I absolutely need it. What good is a nice tool that is rarely used?
I wonder if anyone has tried a VR headset to solder with as I find the exact same issue. That would be fun to try and see if that solves the depth of field problem, and give me an excuse to buy one
You can increase the depth of field by making the aperture smaller in diameter. You may also need to increase the light intensity to compensate for the loss of light due to the smaller aperture. I am assuming that you do not have enough magnification that diffraction is significant in the resolution.
On the depth of field shot, it looks like you have the digital zoom turned up too much! I have the AD208 & get good depth of field. Great video though.
what about using the binoc scope for you for soldering, and have this one slightly off-axis for the recording? The DOF might kill it. Would be cool to have a binocular microscope with a camera mounted right between the eyes such they all focus together, or two of these electronic scopes angled apart slightly and user wears a headset. Ask Andonstar for a second one, and make an angled twin-stand, and turn yourself into a Cyborg Solderer. (not a cyborg soldier, that's something else)
James -- While soldering, I don't think you mentioned anything about lagginess between your hand motions and the time they appear on screen. I know you were somewhat preoccupied with the depth perception, but I wonder if you could comment on the lag? Also, how did you capture the microscope video? SD Card? USB? Or did you get the HDMI output working for capture?
Thanks for your detailed video.. just wondering what is the PCB holder you are using? ... .. . I took some screenshots of your video and zoomed in.. very blurry name on the PCB holder but eventually I googled various names and stumbled across the name of your PCB holder.. in case anyone is interested to know it is called "StickVise".
I picked up one of those (probably a different brand name, but the same thing, for about 40 bucks) because I had to replace a couple of power supply resistor chips on 50 embedded PCs. There was no way I could even see the parts without a microscope with my eyes at my age. It took me about 20 minutes of poking around to figure out how to get the resistor, iron, and solder, all into the same place at the same time. I've used it for a number of things since, but I only use it when I need to. I'd rather just work under a normal magnifier if I need to see something. On syncing sound on silent video: make yourself a slate with a clap stick. The slate is a board with places for production name, date, scene name or number, and take number. On a movie the production assistant has a log with that information, and holding the slate in front of the camera for a few seconds at the start of the shot puts the information on the film. The purpose of the clap stick is sound sync. The guy holding the slate announces the information written on the slate, and then claps the stick against the top of the slate. This makes a sharp identifiable sound burst that can easily be synced to a single frame of the image.
@@Clough42 Yea it occurred to me about 40 minutes ago that using one under that camera would be a little awkward. Writing anything useful on it would be even more awkward. :-)
I don't understand the problem with depth. Touch the pad with the solder tip, to start with. Then you know where the solder tip is. Move it from there.
Just checked the price of the microscope on Amazon... AUD$387.97 and AUD$37.70 post.. Whilst the device seems okish, the price is TOO HIGH for the result. Having said that, I haven't looked for an alternative. Thanks muchly for the review.
Understood. I think it's a good example of what this type of device can do, and it's very common, so it's a good place to start testing. I think it's also an excellent example of the challenges all of our Australian friends face in the global markets.
For your soldering is there an opportunity to nest / piggyback / mount this lens onto your binocular microscope and achieve a similar viewpoint between the two?
you must try with a mobile phone card...you show 2 cards that we can see with our eyes or with a loop application that we can download to our mobile phone..
The sync problem is a bit frustrating. I think it could be simplified by using something like the old clapperboard that's been used for movies ever since they added sound. You just need something that will fit in the FOW of the microscope that makes that sound you use to sync the videos. Then you can manually sync the microscope video very exactly if it's ever needed. As for identifying the video you might try using your phone and any app that allows you to set a very small text size. If that doesn't work I'd give 2D bar codes a chance. It should be possible to generate and display QR or Datamatrix codes in a format that will work with the microscope, at least when it's set up for max FOW. And while it won't be human readable it is easy to just use the phone to scan it from the screen when editing the videos. None of this is a perfect solution nor have I tried anything like this so feel free to point out any obvious short comings or simply how stupid the ideas are. Actually my first thought was that it would be nice if there were a phone app that could show a text in microscope friendly format, switch over to the same text encoded as QR or Datamatrix code, and finally could show a graphic countdown and generate the sync "clap". But then I got to think about the total market for something like this and I realized that it's probably not something anyone will feel like putting in the time to design and code. After all there aren't that many people who have a need of this. But then I might be totally wrong and some one already hacked up an app like that...
What I want (and might build) is a device that beeps and fires a camera flash. That would generate a tone, and also a visible flash for every camera. Taking the idea further, it would be possible to flash out a code over a few frames that could be used in software in post to automatically locate, identify, and assemble the multi-camera timelines. But as you said, while it's an interesting problem, there isn't enough of a market to justify the development. The pros (the ones with the real money) just use synchronized timecode.
@@Clough42 I realize that time has passed but I am improving your metrics. Your problem was syncing audio and video files. The clapboard was invented for that. A sprung cloths peg clicked on camera fills that function. Primitive but effective. I am sure that as you do the washing you will know where you keep the pegs;-) If you glue it to a piece of timber a post-it can be used to keep the scene count by counting in 5's. BTW, I believe that an Australian invented the clapboard.
@@andrewdoherty8847 I have a whole bag of C-47's in my lighting kit. I hadn't thought of snapping one for sync. That would work, as long as I can get it in the field of view of the microscope without disturbing my setup
They didn’t send me one. And that’s going to reflect my review when mine comes. ($500) I’ll use it up to the return period and return it. And then it would be like they sent me one. But they didn’t.
We all understood, but for future reference, as fas as I know, a binocular microscope has two eyepieces but only a stereo microscope has two objectives.
I use mostly Kester 24-7068-7608, which is a Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5 lead-free alloy with no-clean flux. I have a roll of .015" for SMT work, and a roll of .031" for larger though-hole soldering. I usually use a Kester #951 flux pen. If you want lead-free, it's a good combo.
Excellent review. Informative and covers a wide area of practical uses within electronics. If anybody would like to send me a digital microscope ro review, it would be much appreciated 😀
I have a similar one with the smaller screen. Pretty much agree with your assessment. Mine has the same issue with hdmi. It will not connect to some screens, intermittently with others. I have a dedicated scavenged laptop screen that I reserve for this that seems to work all the time. A few other gripes. The separate power supplies for the lights and screen + hdmi makes cable management i bit of a pain. The directional LEDs are a bit shadowy and have been meaning to create a ring lamp to see if that helps. The last is one that may be specific to the smaller model. There are seven buttons 4 + 3 on the sides that are impossible to read their functionality making them hard to use. I have to use an eyeglass just to guess what the icons imprinted into the buttons are, which is a bit ironic. I use it a lot for the same as you i.e. Inspection and find it does a great job. ps. love your channel, have bought 2 of yr leadscrew boards
Wat. I don't have a steady enough hand to solder SMD components like that with a freakin' iron (and I don't know how you're using the tension of the metal because it would pull it off the pads, and I would have more difficulty heating both pads at the same time. That said, with a preheater and hot air station, I can do equivalent work.
Yeah but it sucks when you get a little older still and find you can't see stuff right up close like you used to....in addition to not being able to see them at distance. Have recently bought a head-visor for just this reason - saves squinting through a loupe when you're trying to get the metal splinters out (small mill problems).
thats junk, im going to stick with optical, i was really hoping this would be good for micro soldering :( thanks for making this video for us, glad this works for you brotha. just not for me.
I'm not fond of it for soldering. I much prefer a binocular optical microscope. For showing things in RUclips videos, the digital scope looks better than the camera port on my optical, though.
Just bought this microscope it's a child's toy. The review of this microscope is terrible, why can't any reviews of this product go through the settings step by step, can't get a decent review on RUclips.
"Rubbish" is strong, but I hear ya. I've got a roll of Kester '44 that flows like a dream. Lead-free is hard to work with, it requires higher temperatures and more flux, it has issues with cracking and other aging problems. It's also arguably safer (for some definition of safe) and it's required if you want to make something and sell it legally in some parts of the world.
My take away: its hard to appreciate the amount of behind the scenes effort needed for the quality of video(s) you provide. So, thanks for a little insight into what you do in post. And thanks for the review.
I came here to say the same. Really enjoyed the glimpse into your filming and post-production steps. Stuff I'd never considered w/r/t audio sync across multiple cameras.
I know that this is now a year-plus old video, but if you happen to read this comment, James, I'd love to see a whole video dedicated to your YT production routine.
I’ve owned this exact same microscope. I can’t speak highly enough about it. Video is crisp and high frame rate. The quality of soldering you can achieve with it is incredible.
What kind of work did you do with it. If electronics is the size of the base a problem. Would the 10.1" be better
thank You!!!
what about latency?
I have a binocular and a digital scope. What I've found, is having become more used to the two dimensional aspect of the digital microscope, for longer periods of work, I use it almost exclusively because my back and neck get very fatigued with the binocular scope. It's just a matter of getting used to 2D and the soldering is again very second nature.
i find the Bino' setup too clunky takes up too much room extra leads+wires monitor Ect, i can do anything with my setup without the megabuck scope .........
"so the electrons don't fall out"! I let out a laugh at that!
I can't take credit. It's a Dave Jones-ism. And a good one.
James - thanks for the great work! One suggestion for adding an audio track for sync: If the microscope is capable of plugging to a PC and acting like a webcam, use software like Snagit or OBS Studio to record using the 'scope as a video source and the PC's microphone for audio. It's not a great audio track, but the "clap in view" technique still works fine. My company makes ultrasonic test equipment, and some of that can do remote screen share to a PC. I use that exact technique with OBS recording the screen share along with cameras and regular audio track for the rest of the setup and test. So far my editing efforts aren't up to your level, but I'm improving with practice and watching what you, Quinn and Tony do.
Please, keep 'em coming....
I bought one of these scopes a few months ago directly from Ali. Some how they managed to forget the stand. Surprisingly, a simple message to them resolved the issue and they put the stand on the boat the same day . Much better experience than I have had with other Ali sellers.
I would love to see a stand video... even better if you could come up with a design that worked out financially that you could sell. There's tons of these stands out there and like you we've all hit the limitation of that stand on an otherwise decent sub $100 scope....oh man, just hit the cost segment. Not sure I would have paid what they are asking now
This cost less than 100 bucks ? I see them for 250 now
A flashgun can be used for sync in lieu of an audio cue. A simple white LED flash is enough, and combined with a scene marker like you demonstrated should make things easier to work with in post.
One thing you didn't mention concerning the microscope, is if there is any discernible lag. I couldn't see much during the video, and you didn't note it, so I assume that it is minimal.
Using a Stereoscopic microscope prior to this has spoiled you James. I had the same issue when I tried one like this after having been used to using high quality stereo scopes before, although lag was also an issue for me.
I can see that a different mount - Manfotto-esque speedmount or even Noga, especially on a machine could be highly useful. Suspended overhead would be my ideal for keeping the workspace clear. Thanks for the honest review.
The biggest limitation to this scope is the base. If soldering on a larger board, it may even be impossible to do it because of the base. So i purchased and articulated arm made for another brand of scope but it works grade. When i dont need the scooe i articulate it out of the way.
got a link to the arm? 😊
We would normally use and setup the lights to produce no shado and best picture.
However although that still applies for inspections, it may be practical to adjust lights for adequate oicture and to have additional luminance to provide shadows from iron tip and solderr.
Obviously, holding the solder above the board would have a gap between the solder tip and the shadow tip and as the solder gets closer to the board the shadow will hunt for the real solder end. So it may be a case of learning new tricks. However with my eyes in your boat, I just use the feeling in my fingers to slide the solder over the boards.
Probably true.
@@Clough42 Hi, I was watching Stefan Gotswinter. RUclips is quite amasing, I only watch about 12 channels in total, Applied science, Mike Patey, you, TOT, Adam Booth, AVE, Electroboom, Anton Petrov and Jody (welding tips & tricks), Sina (drummer) and the electronics guy from Switzerland i.e: only the sensible clever people, and it seems they often know each other. Stefan commented about TOT a while ago and Joe Pieczynski today (obviously with complements), so I asked Stefan how long before he mentions you?
I bought a "similar" one about a year ago (off Ali E of course). Use it all the time and it's been great. Funny thing though, is 75% of it's use is me finding metal or wood splinters! Works awesome for that, and I keep an Exacto blade handy for extraction. 45 years of automotive and metal work, you get used to it. ;)
you use it for pulling splinters out of yourself? Brilliant! I needed a reason to buy one of these!
@@gizzyguzzi - glad to help justifying it! Sometimes you just need that tiny extra 'push' to get you over the edge. ;)
@@DrFiero I use a jewelers loupe, a fine sewing needle and a pair of needle nose tweezers. Cost a hell of a lot less and don't need power to operate. Lighting is sometimes a problem but that big light in the sky usually suffices. That said I could see using one of these if I had one. A lot easier on the eye sockets. (From holding the loupe in.)
I learned to solder 0.005 plated wire onto ceramic substrates using a Weller solder station and with no visual assist in 1975 at Univac in Roseville, MN. You had one attempt to get it right. This was for 7015 plated wire memory stacks. Now I certainly appreciate any assist, and these USB or screen-included microscopes are awesome. This is a good overview of the pros and cons, thank you.
How old were you when you were expected to do that?
@@Clough42 27, I think the secret was just enough liquid flux.
One thing: you can tilt the stand in order to get a slightly angled perspective. Found that helped a bit with depth perception, but of course we have two eyes for a reason...
(edit: also, it focuses to infinity :))
Good image quality review of the microscope, but why did you not talk about the microscope's resolution, the microscope's remote, features of the remote, and the microscope's menu system? I think you missed the mark on this review if you were truly reviewing the microscope in its entirety. Otherwise, it looks like you were just in it for the freebie. Also, you could have laid the microscope on its side and placed a circuit board as far away as you wanted from the lens if you needed extra distance from the lens. You should do a follow-up video. All of this being said, you gained a subscriber.
I don’t disagree with your review, but I’ve been very happy with the cheaper version I bought from Banggood 3 years ago. It had a 4.3” display and a ring light instead of the flexible ones, but it was only $45. I’d love to have a binocular microscope too, but they are much more expensive. Display is crisp, and I’ve been able to read part.numbers off of partially melted surface mount chips.
For inspection, since you like fun projects, and this would be easy, you could build an X-Y table which could move the scope around a large board, providing a nice close image, at various key points, like production lines do.
I had been wanting something like this, so I ordered this model. Thanks for the review.
Can you make a video tour of your shop? I would love to see your various set ups. I am about to build a lathe station for my bench lathe and your set up seems very user friendly! Love to see where other makers work.
Nice review! It would be really nice if you would try TOMLOV DM201 or DM202 and compare with this one. Thanks in advance!
Thanks or the review.
A more angled, less even light (side-lighting) might help with the depth perception issues. Just a suggestion, but I'd try a low angle specular (small) light slightly back and to the left and a more diffuse light above, slightly to the right of center to balance it out. Some amount of "shadows" should make it easier to see the depth.
Just manipulating the two side spots (possibly only using one of them) and having some ambient room light as fill will help a lot. I have one of these I use for the sort of soldering her was trying, and it works for me.
Ciao James, apprezzo moltissimo i tuoi video e riesco a imparare qualcosa da quello che vedo. Non capisco quello che dici ma con i sottotitoli riesco a intuire qualcosa. Ottimo lavoro. Ciao
I prefer the AmScope trinocular microscope for doing things. It has a good stand and you can put on whatever camera you like.
I just bought ad407 for its 4mp sensor and hdmi out capability. But after a few days of using it, I think that the picture/video quality on its 7” screen is the same as ad207. The only difference is the focusing range. At the same zooming size, the ad407 gives you more working space under the lens if you mount the unit at the bottom red ring (and of course, you need to chin up more to its higher screen). I hooked it up with both my hd tv and a 23” 1080p fhd gaming monitor. No matter what resolution I set, the big screens always show “1080i” with exactly the same (bad) quality of grainy videos and pictures for all resolution settings. The sharpness selections also give no difference effect on both screens.
"...I'm not 17 any more..." hit close to home. I used to solder and assemble small parts no problem, and yup, the close-up vision has been moving outward, right into Old Guy Land...
The first stage is looking for steel rules that only have mm markings and not the stupid half-mm marks. Now I'm looking for one that only has 2mm markings! ...maybe one with 5mm markings as a fallback! Hell, if it gets any worse I'll have to go imperial.....and find one that is only marked at full inches!
@@Cenedd get one from CEE's friend that measures in banana's.
Yes it certainly doesn't help when your arms are no longer long enough
Some reviews on amazon talk about a $12 wide angle lens kit you can purchase, so that may make the field of view issue a non-issue.
For soldering on definitely needs stereo depth perception... so trinocular microscope.
Want to inspect solder joints? Sure, this will serve one very well.
great video practice kit good idea i have been soldering for years and the components have gotten alot smaller over the past 40 years
one thing i note in your video that maybe could really help would be using smaller diameter solder
I saw also an AD409 with a little bigger screen (10 inch) and WiFi, maybe a little better for you eyes. I hope they bring a stereo for 3D in use with a VR like the Quest2. I was already suprised what a Quest2 can do.
I think those close up shots of machine running would look great
I use a digital microscope for all my microelectronics work (as a profession) and I have no issues with depth perception whereas I find traditional stereoscopic microscopes uncomfortable to use. Just takes time for you to adjust.
which model do you use?
Good review. I have a similar microscope and they definitely have their uses and limitations.
We've got leaded and unleaded solder now. I wonder if in a few years we'll only be able to get solder with 10% ethanol.
And later on we'll have... electronic solder?
I really hope that means we're electron beam-welding our parts together then.
The soldering irons themselves make global warming ...so they will be banned.
Don’t know what video it was but I’ve seen someone use a half zoom lens attachment with a similar microscope when doing electronic repair.
Why were you only trying to look at the screen to do the work? I can definitely say that trying to use a single zoomed in display would be extremely difficult since you lose depth perception as you very clearly noted.
Have you tried working while keeping your focus on the board while using the computer screen in your peripheral or placed back behind the board (working so you can either glance back and forth between the two or simply focus on the picture while “seeing” the board and tools just below and in front of your focus)?
While this may seem like you’re trying to look at 2 different things at once it’s actually very easy to pickup. For instance at this moment i’m typing with my focus being locked on my smartphone screen yet I can easily describe the objects behind and off to the sides w/o much effort. They most certainly will look out of focus but in a moment that detail will become irrelevant.
Conversely if I focus at the object immediately ahead and behind I can no longer see the printed lettering for individual keys on the digital keyboard but even though my thumbs look out of focus, I can easily tell their changes in 3D space relative to the object I’m keeping my focus on.
The farther out in ones periphery an object is the more likely it will exist in only a single eye’s field of view so by keeping it relatively close to your area of focus you can still gain that missing depth perspective that the screen couldn’t capture in its Top down view.
The scope looks perfect.. but the price is a bit high..is there a cheaper recommended version?
Best way to sync visual with audio is to clap, or snap. Use the visual of the clap to sync with the audio. Tiny clapper on the microscope
I used mine to solder an 8 pin audio amp soic. that was about as small as I was comfortable with, these days I have it mounted a good meter up above my TV and it is used for wide inspections on the TV screen (40 inch)
5:00 🤔🤭🤣
And pin "3" wasn't doing anything anyway, so good you didn't solder it. ;)
Thanks for sharing!
Maybe you could fit a 0,5 barlow lens, if there is threads for it.
It's possible that the recordings still have a timestamp in the metadata. You can check using either `mediainfo` or `ffprobe` (part of the FFmpeg suite), or there's probably some GUI tools that can do it, but I assume you're experienced enough with the commandline to handle it.
If the microscope does add timestamps, note that some devices save the start time and some save the end. That should at least be enough to let you match up which clips go with which source audio, and if the clocks are close enough, and the timestamp precision is high enough, it might let you sync.
When I edit videos, I use a horrendous pile of Python and bash, going by timestamps to line stuff up approximately, then the waveforms (where available) to get it precise, then break the recordings up into takes/chunks, which I can review manually, deleting the bad ones, keeping the good ones, then concatenating them together with ffmpeg. (I don't like GUIs.)
Just started to watch your channel a few days ago and will certainly be watching more. What do you think the max FOV you can get if you extended the height of the objective/camera? Certainly looking to pick one up as you mentioned the stereo microscopes tend to be bulky and heavy leading me to leave mine in its resting place unless I absolutely need it. What good is a nice tool that is rarely used?
I wonder if anyone has tried a VR headset to solder with as I find the exact same issue. That would be fun to try and see if that solves the depth of field problem, and give me an excuse to buy one
You might consider an hdmi audio injector to put inline with a cheap mic to get the audio track you want.
You can increase the depth of field by making the aperture smaller in diameter. You may also need to increase the light intensity to compensate for the loss of light due to the smaller aperture. I am assuming that you do not have enough magnification that diffraction is significant in the resolution.
Sounds like a design tip for the manufacturer.
Maybe you can make a diafragm by making a small hole in a piece of some material, plastic, metal, just under the lens?
Thanks for the video James.
Solidworks has a Maker license for $99US/yr now.
Glad to see they felt the pressure and are coming around. Sadly, I no longer qualify. :(
Snap in front of the microscope camera to sync it up. just make sure to lineup the palm not the finger tips.
the problem can be if the hdmi cable is to long it wont connect or have connection problems
On the depth of field shot, it looks like you have the digital zoom turned up too much! I have the AD208 & get good depth of field. Great video though.
What if you put the microscope at an angle to the board?
what about using the binoc scope for you for soldering, and have this one slightly off-axis for the recording? The DOF might kill it.
Would be cool to have a binocular microscope with a camera mounted right between the eyes such they all focus together, or two of these electronic scopes angled apart slightly and user wears a headset. Ask Andonstar for a second one, and make an angled twin-stand, and turn yourself into a Cyborg Solderer. (not a cyborg soldier, that's something else)
James -- While soldering, I don't think you mentioned anything about lagginess between your hand motions and the time they appear on screen. I know you were somewhat preoccupied with the depth perception, but I wonder if you could comment on the lag? Also, how did you capture the microscope video? SD Card? USB? Or did you get the HDMI output working for capture?
Oh, interesting. I didn't notice any lag, so I didn't even think about it.
Thanks for your detailed video.. just wondering what is the PCB holder you are using? ... .. . I took some screenshots of your video and zoomed in.. very blurry name on the PCB holder but eventually I googled various names and stumbled across the name of your PCB holder.. in case anyone is interested to know it is called "StickVise".
Or you could have checked the video description for the link I provided.
make a mini clapper like they use in cinema and use it under the micoscope.
I picked up one of those (probably a different brand name, but the same thing, for about 40 bucks) because I had to replace a couple of power supply resistor chips on 50 embedded PCs. There was no way I could even see the parts without a microscope with my eyes at my age. It took me about 20 minutes of poking around to figure out how to get the resistor, iron, and solder, all into the same place at the same time. I've used it for a number of things since, but I only use it when I need to. I'd rather just work under a normal magnifier if I need to see something.
On syncing sound on silent video: make yourself a slate with a clap stick. The slate is a board with places for production name, date, scene name or number, and take number. On a movie the production assistant has a log with that information, and holding the slate in front of the camera for a few seconds at the start of the shot puts the information on the film. The purpose of the clap stick is sound sync. The guy holding the slate announces the information written on the slate, and then claps the stick against the top of the slate. This makes a sharp identifiable sound burst that can easily be synced to a single frame of the image.
I have one. It doesn't fit under the microscope. :)
@@Clough42 Yea it occurred to me about 40 minutes ago that using one under that camera would be a little awkward. Writing anything useful on it would be even more awkward. :-)
@@Clough42 use a Croc clip (click) ?
nice toy, not sure if it deserves such great in-depth review. Though very nice of you to make one. Like the video.
Get a used Bausch and Lomb StereoZoom microscope. Great, reliable and reasonably priced.
I Made a different mount using a magnetic dial indicator holder. Make an adapter for the scope with a stub to fit the holder.
A few people have suggested this. It's a good idea, and it would be much more compact than a traditional binocular microscope base.
Would you test a stereo digital microscope? That might be easier to solder with.
Thank a lot for review. What jeweler visor do you use for soldering? Would appreciate a link, please. Regards.
I don't understand the problem with depth. Touch the pad with the solder tip, to start with. Then you know where the solder tip is. Move it from there.
Very good review.
How much travel is left on the focus to go higher?
Thanks
Just checked the price of the microscope on Amazon... AUD$387.97 and AUD$37.70 post.. Whilst the device seems okish, the price is TOO HIGH for the result. Having said that, I haven't looked for an alternative. Thanks muchly for the review.
Understood. I think it's a good example of what this type of device can do, and it's very common, so it's a good place to start testing. I think it's also an excellent example of the challenges all of our Australian friends face in the global markets.
For your soldering is there an opportunity to nest / piggyback / mount this lens onto your binocular microscope and achieve a similar viewpoint between the two?
Thanks for sharing!
I wonder if something like this would be good for fret work 🤔
isn't using flux a lot better?
you must try with a mobile phone card...you show 2 cards that we can see with our eyes or with a loop application that we can download to our mobile phone..
The sync problem is a bit frustrating. I think it could be simplified by using something like the old clapperboard that's been used for movies ever since they added sound. You just need something that will fit in the FOW of the microscope that makes that sound you use to sync the videos. Then you can manually sync the microscope video very exactly if it's ever needed. As for identifying the video you might try using your phone and any app that allows you to set a very small text size. If that doesn't work I'd give 2D bar codes a chance. It should be possible to generate and display QR or Datamatrix codes in a format that will work with the microscope, at least when it's set up for max FOW. And while it won't be human readable it is easy to just use the phone to scan it from the screen when editing the videos.
None of this is a perfect solution nor have I tried anything like this so feel free to point out any obvious short comings or simply how stupid the ideas are.
Actually my first thought was that it would be nice if there were a phone app that could show a text in microscope friendly format, switch over to the same text encoded as QR or Datamatrix code, and finally could show a graphic countdown and generate the sync "clap". But then I got to think about the total market for something like this and I realized that it's probably not something anyone will feel like putting in the time to design and code. After all there aren't that many people who have a need of this. But then I might be totally wrong and some one already hacked up an app like that...
What I want (and might build) is a device that beeps and fires a camera flash. That would generate a tone, and also a visible flash for every camera. Taking the idea further, it would be possible to flash out a code over a few frames that could be used in software in post to automatically locate, identify, and assemble the multi-camera timelines. But as you said, while it's an interesting problem, there isn't enough of a market to justify the development. The pros (the ones with the real money) just use synchronized timecode.
@@Clough42 I realize that time has passed but I am improving your metrics. Your problem was syncing audio and video files. The clapboard was invented for that. A sprung cloths peg clicked on camera fills that function. Primitive but effective. I am sure that as you do the washing you will know where you keep the pegs;-) If you glue it to a piece of timber a post-it can be used to keep the scene count by counting in 5's. BTW, I believe that an Australian invented the clapboard.
@@andrewdoherty8847 I have a whole bag of C-47's in my lighting kit. I hadn't thought of snapping one for sync. That would work, as long as I can get it in the field of view of the microscope without disturbing my setup
How about the time lag? that's what's annoyed me with the "electronic microscopes".
Is being methodical in your work something that was taught to you or did you develope that skill set yourself?
I'm late to the game, has someone already suggested a tiny clapper slate?
Enjoyed the review and trust your commentary on stuff, although you can’t blame crappy soldering jobs on the microscopes. Lol 👍
They didn’t send me one. And that’s going to reflect my review when mine comes. ($500) I’ll use it up to the return period and return it. And then it would be like they sent me one. But they didn’t.
angle should help. maybe 45
I read that someone used microphone arm for it.
Why not mount the microscope to your binocular one?
We all understood, but for future reference, as fas as I know, a binocular microscope has two eyepieces but only a stereo microscope has two objectives.
You might want to contact louis rossmann about recording your work under the scope, he does live streams all the time with his setup
For sure. Dave Jones also has a fantastic setup with the Targano, though it's also monocular, so I don't know about soldering.
I wish suppliers would send me expensive items I was already thinking about buying.
Is there any particular solder you like? Not a lot of info from sources I know or trust out there.
I use mostly Kester 24-7068-7608, which is a Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5 lead-free alloy with no-clean flux. I have a roll of .015" for SMT work, and a roll of .031" for larger though-hole soldering. I usually use a Kester #951 flux pen. If you want lead-free, it's a good combo.
@@Clough42 thank you... Now for me to find it in less than pound quantities...
The stand came with the 407? Thanks
The stand? You mean the platform with the LED lights? Yes.
@@Clough42 yes, the platform & spot lights. Thank you 🤓
Excellent review. Informative and covers a wide area of practical uses within electronics. If anybody would like to send me a digital microscope ro review, it would be much appreciated 😀
I have a similar one with the smaller screen. Pretty much agree with your assessment. Mine has the same issue with hdmi. It will not connect to some screens, intermittently with others. I have a dedicated scavenged laptop screen that I reserve for this that seems to work all the time. A few other gripes. The separate power supplies for the lights and screen + hdmi makes cable management i bit of a pain. The directional LEDs are a bit shadowy and have been meaning to create a ring lamp to see if that helps.
The last is one that may be specific to the smaller model. There are seven buttons 4 + 3 on the sides that are impossible to read their functionality making them hard to use. I have to use an eyeglass just to guess what the icons imprinted into the buttons are, which is a bit ironic.
I use it a lot for the same as you i.e. Inspection and find it does a great job.
ps. love your channel, have bought 2 of yr leadscrew boards
This will cost around $55-$65 in asia region
Wat. I don't have a steady enough hand to solder SMD components like that with a freakin' iron (and I don't know how you're using the tension of the metal because it would pull it off the pads, and I would have more difficulty heating both pads at the same time.
That said, with a preheater and hot air station, I can do equivalent work.
Nice video, thanks :)
Being really nearsighted has it's advantages, and as a bonus, it was free. Glasses are not free, so yeah trade offs.
Yeah but it sucks when you get a little older still and find you can't see stuff right up close like you used to....in addition to not being able to see them at distance. Have recently bought a head-visor for just this reason - saves squinting through a loupe when you're trying to get the metal splinters out (small mill problems).
I would disagree about Meanwell being a decent quality PS.
.02
Light from the side, to see a shadow.
I would love to have one of these to go along with my trifocals, however, this device has a rich mans price tag attached to it.
I agree, the price puts it out of nice to have and maybe it would be useful.
Perfect solution for us one-eyed guys.
James, we know you're not 17. but i really don't think your eyes should be going already at 22 years old. You should get that checked out.
thats junk, im going to stick with optical, i was really hoping this would be good for micro soldering :( thanks for making this video for us, glad this works for you brotha. just not for me.
I'm not fond of it for soldering. I much prefer a binocular optical microscope. For showing things in RUclips videos, the digital scope looks better than the camera port on my optical, though.
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Microscope Microscope
Just bought this microscope it's a child's toy. The review of this microscope is terrible, why can't any reviews of this product go through the settings step by step, can't get a decent review on RUclips.
The secret to good solder joints is lead. I still have a few pounds of 60/40.
unleaded solder makes baby kangaroos cry
Complaining that he can't tell where his solder is, now that's a man child.
Leadfree solder is rubbish !
"Rubbish" is strong, but I hear ya. I've got a roll of Kester '44 that flows like a dream. Lead-free is hard to work with, it requires higher temperatures and more flux, it has issues with cracking and other aging problems. It's also arguably safer (for some definition of safe) and it's required if you want to make something and sell it legally in some parts of the world.
lets stick to the machining video.