This microscope is a great addition to my aquarium business and snail research! The picture and video show a rotifer eating some phytoplankton. It’s definitely not a high end microscope, but much better than the cheap monocular ones. In my opinion it’s a great option if you want a pretty decent home microscope.
I haven’t tried the camera adapter portion yet. I got the picture and video by placing my phone on a tripod and aligning it just right to see inside the microscope. The video is a time lapse.
An excellent and far better product than a similar item I purchased and returned for credit TWICE. The other product was delivered without any literature at all. No warranty info, owner’s guide. instructions…..NOTHING !! What company sells a product without some type of literature ? However, this
product arrived well packaged with warranty information and a helpful user guide which among other things informed me with the happy news that with registeration the 5-Year Warranty to 6 years !!
Have wanted a decent microscope for a while, mostly to take photos. Haven’t used a microscope in, 35-40 years, since high school. And it is easy to use, and does exactly what I want!
Very fine make, everything you’d expect, and I especially love the the fact that it’s a trinoculer, the wrapping was nice and firm, I wish they’d included couple of testing slides though, I would’ve tested it immediately.
Me sorprendio demasiado la calidad del material se ve fuerte y duradero no como otro tipo de plasticos que hacen dudar ademas al probarlo las observaciones fueron nitidas la caja en que llego fue bien manejada y con la proteccin necesaria para un viaje a campo traviesa. la verdad 100% recomendado
No me enfado de usar, le acople una cmara y lo uso con monitor de 25″ y la cabeza de un zancudo se ve como de 20 cm ESTE EQUIPO ES UN VIAJE A OTRO MUNDO LITERAL
I’ve used a few other brands where this SW380T microscope is the best so far and for the price. The only addition needed is a light source from the TOP side, which I’m sure the engineers can implement as another model. To correct for this, I’m using a dual gooseneck LED light source which works very well. I’m extremely happy with this microscope, it’s a keeper!
I've used a few other brands where this SW380T microscope is the best so far and for the price. The only addition needed is a light source from the TOP side, which I'm sure the engineers can implement as another model. To correct for this, I'm using a dual gooseneck LED light source which works very well. I'm extremely happy with this microscope, it's a keeper!
Scope has excellent build quality. Focus knobs are smooth with no play. Optical quality is very good. Lighting is adjustable and bright. X – Y table adjustments are smooth with no play. I really can’t come up with anything I don’t like. I’m using to look at soil biology from bacteria to nematodes. I haven’t used with a camera yet but you can pop an eye piece in the third tube as well.
A friend of mine who is very much into photo microscopy bought one of the microscopes and utilized his camera in it. I was very impressed with the unit and bought one myself along with Swift’s camera. The microscope is beautifully made, convenient and has nice optics. The camera does a generally good job but has worrisome yellow lines across the image at increased magnification. I am still investigating this problem. Otherwise, I can’t speak highly enough about this unique microscope, it’s filter fixture and condenser. I love it and tend to use it every day because it is so easy to use and set up.
This is a fine microscope of high school/college quality. Be sure to purchase a cell phone adaptor for the upright scope viewer, with a built in lense. With at least a 12 no cell camera, objects can easily be viewed, sharpened with scope fine tuning, and photographed.
Good beginner scope with a few issues.
1. The oil emersion objective is really pointless for this scope. It’d be better to have a 60x regular one instead.
2. The 20x eyepieces are pretty useless. The quality just isn’t there, especially when used with the higher powered objectives.
3. The filter holder is a pain to use. I can never find the little knob used to swing it out.
4. I wish the LED were brighter. Not sure if this is replaceable.
Overall, though, I’m somewhat satisfied, especially considering I spotted it on sale for less the $300.
Excellent microscope pour le prix! Je suis habitu d’utiliser des microscopes 3000$, alors j’avais peur d’tre du, mais j’ai t agrablement surpris par la qualit!
This is an excellent buy. It is actually better then the one I used In medical school. It would be excellent for a student of biology. The lenses are very sharp and the controls work well. I have not used the photo tube yet but it looks like it will also work well.
This microscope arrived quickly in perfect shape and could not be cooler! My 10 and 17 year olds absolutely dig it. We included 40x images of sugar crystals and torn paper. Now browsing c mount adapters for more serious photography
This microscope arrived quickly in perfect shape and could not be cooler! My 10 and 17 year olds absolutely dig it. We included 40x images of sugar crystals and torn paper. Now browsing c mount adapters for more serious photography
I got this one on a lighting sale, but even at regular price, totally worth it.
The microscope came in a big box, plenty of padding, several parts were all wrapped in plastic to keep dust out.
These are some pictures I took by simply holding my phone over the lense, without a proper holder (I’ll set that up in the next few days)
Very good microscope! This is my first microscope and I am very pleased with it! Keep in mind this unit doesn’t come with slides in the box (mine didn’t come with them) but they are cheap and easily available. I’ve been looking non stop through it since then.
As a retired research scientist I have spent most of my life looking through microscopes. While this scope is not as solidly built as a Nikon, Olympus, or other professional scopes I have used, the optical quality is very similar at a fraction of the cost. I am very impressed considering the low price.
Received and tested this microscope. it is robust as i expected. High quality components. doesn’t show any bad finished at all, even if this is intended for school. Definitely something up to college/graduate students. Not recommend to spend money in cameras included because low quality, and those that are good, are too expensive. Instead, recommended to buy the cel phone adapter made by same Swift Co., and take pictures with cellular. It worked for my daughter (12 yo) science experiment/fair and was a great addition to have pictures and even movie in her presentation. It was easy to use, she was able to do most of the zooming and media capture.
I love this microscope, I am a lab tech but, I work mainly in administration, so I wanted to buy a telescope to see some old slides in my house from time to time. I am very happy with the quality.
A really well built piece of equipment for the money, both mechanically and optically. One would probably have to invest big bucks to get something significantly better.
he order came very quickly. Already assembled. Optics look good. It is heavy enough for my work. Now I need to get a camera for the third ocular 🙂
I intend to experiment with different lighting (dark field vs. bright) and see if my light polarizers work with this microscope. I am happy that I jumped on the prices around holidays.
Bought this microscope for my home schooling 8 year old granddaughter. I spent much of my career sitting in front of a microscope so I know a good microscope from a cheap one. This one is really nice. It has no design flaws that I have been able to notice. The resolution of the optics is quite good…much better than I was expecting. We have not yet used the 100x oil objective so I cannot comment on that one, but the other three are excellent quality optics and both the 10x and 25x objectives are good. The stage moves smoothly and the light is strong enough to get good visualization. The trinocular allows for a camera but also allows her and I to view the slides together and discuss them. My granddaughter loves it and is learning the joys of seeing the hidden details of her world. We wanted to get her a microscope that would last her through her college years and I believe we have accomplished that with this particular instrument. I would highly recommend it! Only downside (which is ridiculously minor) was the thin little plastic cover is totally inadequate, way to small to accomplish its purpose. We ended up buying a KitchenAid mixer cover for less than $20 which fits it nicely and provides good protection to keep it clean and dust free.
So far, it’s been great, the optics are clear, it has every basic function you’d like to see in a good school-quality microscope. The lamp could be brighter for using the 1000x oil lens as getting a bright clear image at that range with the correct settings is a bit tricky.
I needed a scope to look at slides of midge flies and worms and didn’t want to spend a lot of money (some microscopes can cost thousands) and this scope works just fine for that purpose. Its easy to use right out of the box and takes up less space than the scope I was using previously. Overall a good value.
Bought for my grandson who needed a better microscope for his homeschooling classes. He loves it. This product has heft and outstanding quality. Definitely not a “toy” microscope. His teacher (my daughter) was even more impressed. He’s 12 now and there is no doubt this microscope will carry him all the way through high school and even college.
I am pleasantly surprised for the wholesomeness and great quality of this microscope. Images are sharp and clean. I am happy I got it. It is fun and unpretentious, unlike my lab microscopes.
I paired it wit a Gosky iPhone adapter, the one with the protruding tube to be inserted in the tube of the eyepiece or in the trinocular head.
Helpful hint: First than anything else… Center the iPhone and Gosky adapter already pre-coupled with the light field of the image while it sits on the eyepiece position, for most control and perfect coupling. A little fiddling will show a sharp capture a circular image, uniformly lighted, without vignettes.
THEN, you may photograph from the eyepiece (as if you still owned a binocular microscope) or, BETTER, now troubleless and already centered, on the trinocular tube.
Best of both worlds: your eyes and your camera will be both satisfied, registering images at the same time, without the need to sacrifice observation to please your camera. Your diagnosis should be as good as if you were using a $5K microscope in a hospital or a university.
Pictures included, taken on my inaugural session, are: Nail with fungi under the nail plate (medium power) and old plantar wart (high power).
Questions? @aldogs
I am a pathologist and could easily do my job with this scope!
Pros:
Super sturdy and built like a tank, but light enough to easily carry/move (even has a handle)
Very smooth focus adjustments coarse/fine and equally smooth mechanical stage
Trinocular to take photos/videos or let someone else see what you see as you view through the binocular
High quality optics with no artifacts – extremely crisp view through all objective lenses
Cons:
No darkfield (I personally have no use for it)
Doesn’t come with a case or anything for the eyepieces/caps/fuse/filter (bummer but no biggie)
Doesn’t clean up after me when I’m exhausted from looking at tiny things all day 🙂
100% recommend this beast of a scope to anyone interested in microscopy
Well, the reviews are correct. Build quality is very nice. Optics appear excellent. LED light source is
just right. Focus is precise..just like a Lab-Grade instrument.
I’m retired from the largest University Biological Sciences department in the USA.
To get 20% better performance, you’d have to spend 10X more money. Buy this scope.
So far so good, have not used all functions as of yet but so far this microscope works as described, easy to use, I have not had to use tech support so I cannot give an honest rating.
Micro biology is a critical study. I am privileged to have obtained such a fine tool. For thousands of years man has been blind to what prematurely has killed our spieces. Thank you!
Designed primarily for backlit microscope slide samples. Accepts relatively inexpensive microscope cameras. The 5MP camera gives a resolution of ~50nm/pixel at 1000x. There are no zoom lenses so you use 8 different magnifications by changing the eyepiece and rotating the objectives. You can front-light a sample with a microscope light but small samples may fall through the stage.
Excellent scope! I paired mine with the Swift 5MP camera. This unit is very well made, tolerances are tight and no backlash exists in any of the mechanisms. Its heavy, and has a very professional feel. Packing was excellent, plenty of foam padding and was very well wrapped to prevent dust from entering optics. Great scope right out of the box, no tweaking or cleaning required. The LED lighting is amazing.
Excellent scope! I paired mine with the Swift 5MP camera. This unit is very well made, tolerances are tight and no backlash exists in any of the mechanisms. Its heavy, and has a very professional feel. Packing was excellent, plenty of foam padding and was very well wrapped to prevent dust from entering optics. Great scope right out of the box, no tweaking or cleaning required. The LED lighting is amazing.
Glad I picked this model over the others I had been researching. It did not disappoint. Super clear optics, microfocus, and very fine adjustment for slide table. Using the light aperture feature made a difference. 5 star all the way. Could not be happier. Buy it, but look it up and see what other people say. use other sites for reviews and you will see why I am so happy.
PROS
– Controls are good for playing with focus. Not overly sensitive or dull
– LED light doesn’t get hot
– Trinocular port and ability to present things in front of a class
DELTA
– Heavy but it’s not an unusual weight for a microscope and they probably need it to keep a steady base. Just wish it was lighter when I have to set up/put away
NOTES
Not a replacement for high-end work but good enough for school lab.
I was looking for a microscope to share my love of science with my son. As a photographer, I know the importance of “good glass” so I decided that it would be better to buy something with superior optics now that he can grow up to enjoy and that I would enjoy using in the meantime, instead of a cheap toy microscope that would frustrate both of us. I’m very pleased with this microscope. You can tell right away that it’s built to last, all the parts are sturdy and the focusing is super sharp. We haven’t tried out the camera port yet, other than with the included eyepieces, but I’m looking forward to getting a camera attachment next!
I’ve used plenty of microscopes in the past, wanted to try a trinocular for the first time. The SW350 doesn’t match up to super high end microscopes I’ve used in labs, but I didn’t expect it to since those can run thousands of dollars. For hobbyists and at the high school and even college level, this is a great microscope, esp at this price point. Sharp focusing through each magnification level, controls are really smooth, and the LED bulb is very bright without getting hot. Base is stable and quite weighty — I’m glad they included an arm handle to make it easier to carry!
Especially love the trinocular port. Since the microscope came with two sets of eyepieces, I could try it out right away. Attached a couple pictures I took on my phone that show a slide with the 10x lens in the third port and the 25x lenses in the binoculars. Clarity was fantastic and I can see that the third port would be really useful for teaching little kids or students about microscopy because you could make adjustments for them as everyone’s looking at the same thing.
This microscope is a great addition to my aquarium business and snail research! The picture and video show a rotifer eating some phytoplankton. It’s definitely not a high end microscope, but much better than the cheap monocular ones. In my opinion it’s a great option if you want a pretty decent home microscope.
I haven’t tried the camera adapter portion yet. I got the picture and video by placing my phone on a tripod and aligning it just right to see inside the microscope. The video is a time lapse.
An excellent and far better product than a similar item I purchased and returned for credit TWICE. The other product was delivered without any literature at all. No warranty info, owner’s guide. instructions…..NOTHING !! What company sells a product without some type of literature ? However, this
product arrived well packaged with warranty information and a helpful user guide which among other things informed me with the happy news that with registeration the 5-Year Warranty to 6 years !!
Easy setup. I am a beginner at Microscopy and am very pleased with my purchase.
Have wanted a decent microscope for a while, mostly to take photos. Haven’t used a microscope in, 35-40 years, since high school. And it is easy to use, and does exactly what I want!
Very pleased
Packaged well and works great for my son’s biology class online.
Easy to use but comes with nothing, no slides or anything. This is just the microscope.
This was a Christmas present for my adult son. He wanted it to show his daughter the unseen world.
Very fine make, everything you’d expect, and I especially love the the fact that it’s a trinoculer, the wrapping was nice and firm, I wish they’d included couple of testing slides though, I would’ve tested it immediately.
Me sorprendio demasiado la calidad del material se ve fuerte y duradero no como otro tipo de plasticos que hacen dudar ademas al probarlo las observaciones fueron nitidas la caja en que llego fue bien manejada y con la proteccin necesaria para un viaje a campo traviesa. la verdad 100% recomendado
Excelente producto, definicin y eficacia profesional.
Material de muy buena calidad y lentes de buena definici
No me enfado de usar, le acople una cmara y lo uso con monitor de 25″ y la cabeza de un zancudo se ve como de 20 cm ESTE EQUIPO ES UN VIAJE A OTRO MUNDO LITERAL
I decided to keep it. I was very skeptical as my experience with past microscopes was bad. This one is sturdy and like the three dimensional movement. Using celestron smartphone adapter (https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-Universal-Smartphone-Digiscoping-Bluetooth/dp/B093QJBR67/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=celestron&qid=1626710366&sr=8-13) you can take pretty good pictures.
I’ve used a few other brands where this SW380T microscope is the best so far and for the price. The only addition needed is a light source from the TOP side, which I’m sure the engineers can implement as another model. To correct for this, I’m using a dual gooseneck LED light source which works very well. I’m extremely happy with this microscope, it’s a keeper!
i bought a stereo microscope too from them after seeing this one… very good quality. other positive reviews here that influenced me are on target.
A friend of mine who is very much into photo microscopy bought one of the microscopes and utilized his camera in it. I was very impressed with the unit and bought one myself along with Swift’s camera. The microscope is beautifully made, convenient and has nice optics. The camera does a generally good job but has worrisome yellow lines across the image at increased magnification. I am still investigating this problem. Otherwise, I can’t speak highly enough about this unique microscope, it’s filter fixture and condenser. I love it and tend to use it every day because it is so easy to use and set up.
Used with a phone camera mount from ilab. Will need to see how long it will last.
This is a fine microscope of high school/college quality. Be sure to purchase a cell phone adaptor for the upright scope viewer, with a built in lense. With at least a 12 no cell camera, objects can easily be viewed, sharpened with scope fine tuning, and photographed.
I love the microscope but the 40x optical isn’t working for me… all others including oil are good
Good beginner scope with a few issues.
1. The oil emersion objective is really pointless for this scope. It’d be better to have a 60x regular one instead.
2. The 20x eyepieces are pretty useless. The quality just isn’t there, especially when used with the higher powered objectives.
3. The filter holder is a pain to use. I can never find the little knob used to swing it out.
4. I wish the LED were brighter. Not sure if this is replaceable.
Overall, though, I’m somewhat satisfied, especially considering I spotted it on sale for less the $300.
Sturdy and beautiful. The Microscope works great and has different settings you can use for work and viewing slides.
This is an excellent buy. It is actually better then the one I used In medical school. It would be excellent for a student of biology. The lenses are very sharp and the controls work well. I have not used the photo tube yet but it looks like it will also work well.
Use this to take photos and it is easy to use and the depth of field and clarity is great.
The microscope itself is fantastic, however shipping was rather slow and it did not include a euro plug (shipped from the UK)
Our granddaughter is in love with science and this was a great gift for her.
This microscope arrived quickly in perfect shape and could not be cooler! My 10 and 17 year olds absolutely dig it. We included 40x images of sugar crystals and torn paper. Now browsing c mount adapters for more serious photography
This is a great microscope and I’m pleased I bought it!! I use it frequently to teach labs in anatomy and physiology.
The microscope came in a big box, plenty of padding, several parts were all wrapped in plastic to keep dust out.
These are some pictures I took by simply holding my phone over the lense, without a proper holder (I’ll set that up in the next few days)
Very good microscope! This is my first microscope and I am very pleased with it! Keep in mind this unit doesn’t come with slides in the box (mine didn’t come with them) but they are cheap and easily available. I’ve been looking non stop through it since then.
This is a very easy to use, well designed and very clear resolution microscope with fine focus adjustment. Great value at this price range!
I love this microscope, I am a lab tech but, I work mainly in administration, so I wanted to buy a telescope to see some old slides in my house from time to time. I am very happy with the quality.
Not a toy microscope. Met my expectations for the price. Good for teaching kids.
A really well built piece of equipment for the money, both mechanically and optically. One would probably have to invest big bucks to get something significantly better.
he order came very quickly. Already assembled. Optics look good. It is heavy enough for my work. Now I need to get a camera for the third ocular 🙂
I intend to experiment with different lighting (dark field vs. bright) and see if my light polarizers work with this microscope. I am happy that I jumped on the prices around holidays.
I am very satisfied with the product, loyalty in the sales proposal and quality announced
Awesome capability for reasonable price. No quality issues or complaints. Highly recommend getting the camera.
I paired it wit a Gosky iPhone adapter, the one with the protruding tube to be inserted in the tube of the eyepiece or in the trinocular head.
Helpful hint: First than anything else… Center the iPhone and Gosky adapter already pre-coupled with the light field of the image while it sits on the eyepiece position, for most control and perfect coupling. A little fiddling will show a sharp capture a circular image, uniformly lighted, without vignettes.
THEN, you may photograph from the eyepiece (as if you still owned a binocular microscope) or, BETTER, now troubleless and already centered, on the trinocular tube.
Best of both worlds: your eyes and your camera will be both satisfied, registering images at the same time, without the need to sacrifice observation to please your camera. Your diagnosis should be as good as if you were using a $5K microscope in a hospital or a university.
Pictures included, taken on my inaugural session, are: Nail with fungi under the nail plate (medium power) and old plantar wart (high power).
Questions? @aldogs
Super sturdy and built like a tank, but light enough to easily carry/move (even has a handle)
Very smooth focus adjustments coarse/fine and equally smooth mechanical stage
Trinocular to take photos/videos or let someone else see what you see as you view through the binocular
High quality optics with no artifacts – extremely crisp view through all objective lenses
Cons:
No darkfield (I personally have no use for it)
Doesn’t come with a case or anything for the eyepieces/caps/fuse/filter (bummer but no biggie)
Doesn’t clean up after me when I’m exhausted from looking at tiny things all day 🙂
100% recommend this beast of a scope to anyone interested in microscopy
just right. Focus is precise..just like a Lab-Grade instrument.
I’m retired from the largest University Biological Sciences department in the USA.
To get 20% better performance, you’d have to spend 10X more money. Buy this scope.
So far so good, have not used all functions as of yet but so far this microscope works as described, easy to use, I have not had to use tech support so I cannot give an honest rating.
– Controls are good for playing with focus. Not overly sensitive or dull
– LED light doesn’t get hot
– Trinocular port and ability to present things in front of a class
DELTA
– Heavy but it’s not an unusual weight for a microscope and they probably need it to keep a steady base. Just wish it was lighter when I have to set up/put away
NOTES
Not a replacement for high-end work but good enough for school lab.
Especially love the trinocular port. Since the microscope came with two sets of eyepieces, I could try it out right away. Attached a couple pictures I took on my phone that show a slide with the 10x lens in the third port and the 25x lenses in the binoculars. Clarity was fantastic and I can see that the third port would be really useful for teaching little kids or students about microscopy because you could make adjustments for them as everyone’s looking at the same thing.