Update: Unfortunately this specific package is no longer available for purchase. Bummer Omano! All links have been updated in this article to the microscope only package. For convenience, purchasing these two items will get you a similar kit:
- Omano OM118M4 40x – 1000x Full Size All Metal Microscope
- AmScope SP-14 Microscope Slide Prep Kit w/ Plastic Tools & Eosin Y and Methylene Blue Stains
Sometimes, you just don’t want to buy bits and pieces to assemble your own starter microscope setup. Sure–the microscope aficionados love to do to it ensure they get exactly what they want, and no more. But, as a busy parent or teacher, when back to school shopping starts happening, each item you can get as a package saves you a great deal of time and, hopefully, money.
Omano realized this and put together what I feel is one of the ideal starter microscope packages on the market–the Omax OM118M4-XSP2. Coming with a solid 40x-1000x LED lit microscope, slides, cover slips, and a staining kit, it is ready to immediately use for home and education level lab studies!
Omano Compound Microscope Package Review – Model OM118M4-XSP2
Finding a full compound microscope package that is ready to go out of the box at this price point, AND contains a microscope of worth is unheard of. So naturally, when I saw this Omano package being offered, I had to jump in and try it out for my student and teacher readers.
First off, the OM118M4-XSP2 was extremely well packaged. Took me a little while to get it open, to be honest, but I was glad for the extra packing materials, as compound microscope packages like these have lots of little glass elements that can be damaged or broken in transit. No one likes dealing with shards of glass slides in their package, or a broken lens when trying to use their microscope!
The compound microscope packaged with this is Omano’s OM118M4. Very similar to the OM118M3, however, this package includes a 100x objective for high resolution and high magnification viewing, as well as a mechanical stage to adjust the position or scan around your sample with easy to use knobs, instead of positioning by hand. Both functions are critical to a full power compound microscope package, as I frequently mention, so having both of these functions at this price is unheard of. I’m sure cost is saved by this unit being a monocular microscope (one single eyepiece) rather than a binocular (two eyepieces) or a trinocular (two eyepieces and a port for a USB camera), but for educational purposes in classrooms or at home, a monocular microscope is more than adequate.
The OM118M4-XSP2 comes with an adjustable iris diaphragm, allowing you to adjust the amount of light that is being allowed from the illumination source in the base to the sample. Adjusting this helps ensure you’re getting the ideal amount of light into the lens without “wasting” light outside of the lens’ range of collection, or causing the image to be too bright and washed out, so having an adjustable iris is certainly a positive note. With its various options (including both coarse and fine focusing) for adjusting lighting and focus, I’m extremely please with the image quality this microscope provides.
Construction wise, the microscope frame itself is metal with an enamel coating on it, and the optical elements are all ground glass. This compound microscope package packs a punch in power, while still being an elegant looking student compound microscope. While it likely won’t survive long drops or falls, it won’t be easily broken by being knocked over on the table. I was quite happy with the construction, but for student labs, be sure to monitor the students to ensure ample care is taken to protect the microscope.
The biggest pitfall I’ve found on this unit is a lack of expandability. I did not find any darkfield or phase contrast condenser options that I knew for sure would work with it–likely due to the fact that the condenser is not easily removable in the first place to swap with those accessories. So if you are looking for an expandable unit for future proofing, I’d probably suggest going with something superior to this.
For the accessories, this Omano compound microscope package comes with Eosin Y and Methylene Blue stains, 5 prepared slides, 50 blank slides, 100 slide cover slips, a dropper, 3 well slides, 4 oz cleaning fluid with paper, a plastic slide storage case, and, thankfully, an instruction manual for those new to microscopy. But, everything you’d ever need to know about using a microscope you can easily find from our educational section, accessible at the top of any page on this site!
All in all, this compound microscope package is a solid buy for its price point, and out classes many different units in the same quality range by paying attention to important features, and paying less attention to fluff and extra bells/whistles. I’d recommend the OM118M4-XPS2 to anyone looking for a microscope package that has everything you need right in the box for a great price.
As always, please send us a message or leave us a comment if you have a question or concern! If we can help you out with your issue, we will be more than happy to help!