Update: It appears the 44345 has unfortunately been discontinued (or at least no longer sold on Amazon). Boo Celestron! While unfortunate, its most similar replacement is the updated version of the LCD Digital Microscope II — also known as the 44341. We have replaced all below links with links to this version instead. As a plus, the below review is still quite accurate as optical quality/functions between the two units aren’t very different. AND this one comes with a 1GB microSD card to store your videos/images and a carrying cast. Perks galore!
Original review:
Celestron does indeed have a strange system for labeling their microscopes, as I wouldn’t know what a model 44345 microscope is just at first glance, but moving forward, this unit serves a great basic purpose–to allow viewing of a biological sample at high magnification and share your image with a group. While the image quality of the 5MP camera is fairly decent, a bit of the resolution is lost on the small LCD display (3.5″ display).
The great news about this unique digital Celestron microscope unit besides it’s sleek appearance is that it is a dual lit unit–you have a light source from the rear of the stage onto your sample, as well as a bottom illuminator shining up as most compound student microscopes have. You will be able to view opaque objects as well as translucent objects with one single microscope–a need that is difficult to meet at a low end microscope level. Typically a dual lit metallurgical unit is needed for such work, which can get well into the thousands of dollars, but Celestron was able to package the use of both into one single junior high to high school level student microscope.
Celestron Microscope Review “44345“
The objectives themselves are powerful enough to be a stand alone unit great for any classroom or homeschool setting, sporting a 4x, 10x, 20x, and 40x objective set. This unit won’t be requiring oil immersion techniques as it does not use a 100x objective, The unit gives 40x – 400x optically, and up to 1600x digitally, meaning you have a full range of magnification settings as required for any home school or classroom curriculum.
Model 44345 also comes with a carrying case, touch pen, and is both battery operated or plugged into the wall. For $199, the deal is an amazing value, giving you results you can easily share with your students in the field or in the class room right away. You even get a set of prepared slides right out of the box, so this unit is truly a turnkey package.
You can check our the 5MP Digital Compound Student Microscope on sale at Celestron’s Amazon store, or for more details, by clicking here!