AmScope Student Microscope Review – “M158C-E” 40X-1000X Biology Science Metal Glass Student Microscope with USB Digital Imager Review

The M158C-E offering from AmScope seems to be one of their most popular holiday gift items, as each year they run out of stock of these by the time December 1st rolls around. So, if you want to get this AmScope student microscope for your young scientist to be, I highly suggest placing your order as early as possible to make sure you get it in time.

For a young student, a compound microscope can be a wondrous device as a window to the microscopic world. While adult supervision may be needed for the first few uses with this AmScope student microscope (or any student microscope for that matter), once they learn how to make a slide, mount the slide on the microscope, and focus using the knobs on the unit, they can basically do it all by themselves. I recommend adult supervision with the microscope for any student below the age of 12 or so, with some exception depending on your child’s maturity level.

AmScope Student Microscope Review “M158C-E“

In looking for a quality microscope when gifting, you want to get a unit that is made of metal for stability, and has glass optics for optimal clarity. This unit has both of those features.

You’ll also want a unit that has both coarse and fine focusing mechanisms–the coarse used for getting the sample almost into focus, and the fine for cleaning it up until it’s crystal clear. This AmScope student microscope also has both of those features, so we’re still in the clear in terms of this being an absolutely great holiday present to give to light up a child’s face.

For magnification, I always recommend up to 1000x. You can view just about anything you would want to in that age group with 1000x or less, so having all the powers you need right of the bat keeps them entertained with the microscope for as long as possible (more options means more things to play with, of course!) Having a 1000x setting created by using a 40x objective and a 20x eyepiece like the M158C-E AmScope student microscope does allows you to view at 1000x magnification without the hassle of using a more advanced oil immersion lens (which is not included with this unit) at the only cost of resolution (you have less resolution than you do with a 100x oil immersed objective and a 10x eyepiece than this combination).

The light source helps the M158C-E really shine bright among the rest in the industry. It’s a bright 3 watt LED light source, so you get a bright white light for your samples to be clearly identified and viewed, without any danger of heating up your sample (and maybe killing it if it’s alive!), or for smaller children touching the light source and getting burned (LEDs don’t emit heat, so they’re safe here!) While bright white LED light doesn’t imitate natural sunlight, so your colors in your sample may appear slightly different than with the naked eye, the difference is hardly noticeable for the level of microscopic use this unit would be getting. If getting it perfect for images is your goal, you’ll need a more powerful microscope (and probably one with oil immersion and a halogen light).

The camera that comes equipped with this is the MD35, which is a 40x device (fixed power) that slides into the eyepiece and interfaces the image of the microscope with a Windows XP, 2000, Vista, or 7 equipped PC. Windows 7 isn’t officially supported, but I was able to get it working with their website software download (from the bottom of any page). It’s a bit highly magnified, but for most applications, that isn’t too big of a deal.

All in all, if you plan to look at tap water for bacteria, small bugs like ants/moths/butterflies, or even some basic blood or cheek cell scrapings, this AmScope student microscope would be the way to go. Animal breeders can also use them for animal semen and fecal smears too if needed, so this microscope is not limited by any means to only young audiences or home school teachers/students. Even many elementary schools and junior high schools could benefit from this level of microscope–it’s quite universal.

At the holiday discounted price, this will blow out any in store model microscope you can find, and last for many, many years. They include a 5 year warranty if there’s any problems with it, as with all of their products, so longevity isn’t something I typically worry about when I buy from AmScope.

You can find this AmScope student microscope model for sale (with priority processing for those last minute holiday gift orders) and more user reviews here: M158C-E.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please leave them below! I love hearing from my valued readers, and will always be happy to help answer anything that I can.