DIY microscope - how to make a simple and powerful microscope with your own hands (85 photos and videos)

How is the ciliate slipper doing?

Below we will tell meticulous kids in detail how to make a microscope with their own hands at home. It may allow them to look at more than just the ciliate slipper. This is a single-celled living organism, which they first saw at school through a real microscope.

A do-it-yourself microscope made from lenses is a very technically complex optical device; not everything is visible from the outside in the photo; the main thing is hidden in the body.

It is possible to achieve image quality at home if the lenses are professionally made.

Then increasing things several times is quite achievable. We will present a design diagram of a quite good homemade product developed by L. Pomerantsev.

Microscopes for soldering and electronics repair, recommended for purchase

At the end, I will give a review of a microscope for soldering microcircuits and a method for attaching a microscope to a desktop, long ago and kindly provided by Master Sergei.

What is needed for the job?

Buy a pair of lenses for ten diopters plus at an optics store. Buy them with a small diameter, about two centimeters.

Looking ahead, let's say that one lens will be installed in the eyepiece, that is, where the eye will come into contact with it, the other - for the lens.

Dioptres (D) is the power of the optics, the reciprocal of the focus (distance). One unit is equal to a meter focus, two – half a meter. Therefore, ten D is only 10 cm. We will design from them.

Guess what I shot, or Microscope on a smartphone. Introducing children to the microworld for pennies

I decided to introduce the children to the world of all kinds of insects and show them how unusual familiar things are under high magnification. To begin with, I decided to invest the minimum and try the cheapest monocular microscope, in which I was captivated by the ability to display the image on the smartphone screen.

Content

• Stated characteristics
• Packaging and appearance
• UV mode
• How does it increase
• General impressions
• Where to buy and how to save

Stated characteristics

Item Type: Handheld Microscope Magnification: 60-100x ( Yeah, sure ) Material: ABS plastic, coated optical glass lens Illuminated: LED light, UV light Size: 110x65x25mm Battery: 3 x AAA batteries (NOT included included for safety) Weight: 96g Feature: 60/100x zoom, LED light and UV light, with universal cell phone clip

Packaging and appearance

The packaging here is outright rubbish and cheap. It is what it is.

But inside there is a quite tolerable case for storing a microscope

The microscope is a cheap and lightweight piece of plastic measuring 110x65x25 mm. On one side there is a recess with a lens, on the other there is a clothespin on the eyepiece.

Zoom level switches and sharpness control.

Gray UV and backlight switch

Here's the lens.

Eyepiece with clothespin removed.

Compartment for 3*AAA batteries

In general, everything here is cheap, from the category of tray powder “everything is 200”.

UV mode

Generally stupid, you can immediately forget about it.

How does it increase

And here is the most interesting thing.

First, you need to correctly align the optical axis of the microscope with the optical axis of the smartphone. In short, it is correct to attach it to your smartphone. This is not difficult to do, you just need to turn on the camera and look at the screen, adjusting the position of the microscope.

Well, it increases... it increases, in general, not bad. X60 is definitely not here. But even if we take this on faith, then there is certainly no x100 - the larger approximation is not nearly as strong and differs from the smaller one, and you will see this below for yourself.

sharpness here. Largely due to the shallow depth of field. It is possible to focus on the plane and, in the end, get a fairly good picture.

See for yourself. Let's play a game, I will give you 2 pictures, and you will guess what I took. Both pictures, of course, show both magnifications (where possible).

Below the spoiler is a photo of what exactly was filmed.

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Well, it won't be difficult here

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the first pair of photos is part of the bridge support next to the letter “D”

It’s probably easy to guess here too. This, you see, is a pretty good increase.

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Well that's easy too

But the next character in the frame is also related to the contents of the spoiler above

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Well, let's move into nature. Do I really, really see cells?

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And that’s why I took this microscope. These were the ones that interested me the most

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General impressions

Nonsense, of course, sheer nonsense and trifle. Focusing is difficult even with a smartphone, and almost impossible when working “by eye”.

UV is decorative.

There are no x60s here at all.

But! Let's evaluate this microscope relative to its price. And this is where I have zero complaints. I paid frankly a little, a little more than a regular magnifying glass (lens + pen). But I was able to see even plant cells. In a number of cases, the shots were quite good - first of all, I’m talking about a bug, whose eyes are generally indistinguishable to the naked eye, and are clearly visible when filmed through a microscope.

I can’t think of any practical purposes for this device, but it’s perfect for entertaining children’s acquaintance with the micro-world of all kinds of insects. I think that a breakdown is inevitable here, but it will not break a hole in the wallet, but instilling in a child a desire to get to know the world around him better is priceless.

In my case, the microscope occupied the children for an hour and a half for several days and was abandoned after interest waned and they examined everything they wanted. I hope that I managed to plant in them some kind of seed of a healthy desire for natural scientific knowledge.

The microscope was lying nearby in the gazebo and the adults sometimes looked through it at different things.

I hope that the microscope review from Aliexpress was interesting. Write what you managed to guess and what you didn’t!

Where to buy and how to save

You can buy a microscope with an attachment for a smartphone here on Aliexpress. In principle, the price tag is already small, you can buy right now and not wait for the 11.11 sale - there are working promotional codes, click on the spoiler below, it will help you save on the 11.11 sale on Aliexpress.

Yes, yes, they are here - click here

1) add everything interesting to your cart. For this you will be awarded coins that can be exchanged for coupons. We change coins in the application, there is a section “Games and Coins” right on the main page, find “Coupons” there and go

2) Promotional codes may expire - the coupons will remain with you. Take them here, in the coupon center or on the product page under the price, it doesn’t ask for porridge. Save the coupon center link above or the page with this review to your favorites and check back periodically to see if anything has been added.

3) And here are the promotional codes. By the way, they work together with Ali stores and special coupons. I will update this list. Drop by so you don’t miss it or, what’s easier, add yourself to the telegram channel using the link below in the “about the author” block

Promotional codes for all products for the Russian Federation/CIS

are already in effect

MIND1111 – 100 discount from 1000 RUR FAMILY1111 – 100 discount from 1000 RUR Lumeniac100all – 100 \ 1000 RUR Lumeniac200all – 200 \ 1600 RUR PFMK3Q1A – 250 from 1,250 rub.

For new users of Lumeniac300new - 300 \600 rub.

Earn on 11.11:

1111GO – 60 from 400 RUR 1111WOW – 120 from 1,000 RUR 1111LOUD – 200 from 2,000 RUR 11111KRIK – 500 from 4,990 RUR 1111ALI – 800 from 7,000 RUR 1111SHOK – 1,100 from 10,000 RUR 1 111SHOUT – 1,700 from 16,000 rub. 1111HITS – 1,900 from 18,500 rubles 1111BUY – 2,600 from 25,000 rubles 1111FORU – 3,200 from 35,000 rubles 1111FUN – 4,200 from 45,000 rubles

Step-by-step method for assembling a microscope

Select a ready-made cylinder or assemble it yourself to the specified length and to fit the circumference of the selected lenses. Divide it into 2 equal parts. Strengthen the diopter glasses in them.

Paint the insides with black gouache. Glue the lenses in half tubes with cardboard ring inserts. Then make another tube - the future tube - with a diameter so that the two halves with optics fit tightly into it, one above the other. Also paint the inside black.

DIY microscope photo