This sub US$500 Eakins microscope from Aliexpress seems identical to the new AU$1800 Suba Engineering microscope for 1/3 the cost.
And Dave shows how it can out perform the $4500 Tagarno!
s.click.aliexpress.com/e/b7ycSav2
s.click.aliexpress.com/e/eN3Ec5a
s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bHSXalzm
s.click.aliexpress.com/e/cMimkzYc
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I was just on the edge of purchasing one of these. Thanks Dave.
This is a neat little device. Bang for buck, can't go wrong and I really like the ability to tilt the board and it focuses automatically.
Great review, Have ordered one now thanks to you.
Thank you very much for the detailed review. I'm definitely getting this.
We have one like this in the lab. Very useful in checking for stray solders and shorts not visible to the naked eye
Brilliant vide David, thanks 🙏
Thanks to the person that posted a link to an ebay store 5 days ago. I bought one for $599 and it does indeed work. The difference is I got all the components, stand lens, camera, ring light, everything for that price including the DHL shipping from Hong Kong. Just received It and it does actually work! I'll buy the other lenses from the cheapest seller. The auto focus is worth the price alone.
Great Video👍 thanx and greetz from Germany.
Another tool bought, thanks to you dave......
Very nice! That is something I would need it for design my own amplifier in future!
In regards to the capture - I believe that this is some sort of Medical grade HDMI-Signal which is not supported by most capture cards. Louis Rossmann had a similar issue with his microscope cameras
there are ad on lensed for the tagarno for increasing magnification and they can be stacked.also suber have lenses for the budget version that decrease the magnification (increase field of view)
I have a microscope which I use mainly for inspection, but prefer using my head mount magnifier for microsoldering. I don't know about anyone else but I find it hard soldering looking at a screen rather than looking directly at the PCB. I lost the vision in one eye last year, (walked into a plasma TV in the dark - yes very ironic; sharp corner right in the eye) also doesn't help as my depth perception has gone. Getting the iron and the solder in the same place is challenging. Having to learn how to solder all over again. I have my own repair shop so learn and adapt I must. Big fan Dave. Thanks for all the vids.
Holy shit dude, I'm so sorry. Glad you can still solder. But man, did you run into this TV or what? I've heard people destroying their cornea on sharp objects but still retaining their vision after a transplant.
Tripped on the TV stand and fell onto the corner. Surgeons couldn't find the lens. Probably got cleaned up and thrown out with the blood. Split the eye right open. Surgeon said I did a good job, sadly. I looked like the terminator for a while so I would walk up to people and say 'I'm looking for Sarah Connor'. Got a few laughs, and you have to laugh. Life goes on and you adapt and get on with it. Shit Happens.
@@luscus9754 I love that you have a great sense of humor dealing with that. . . I sometimes think that everything is a important asset in our line of work. Best of luck dude 😉
That reminds me of one of the cameras that you can use on my amscope trinocular microscope. I absolutely love that thing :) I highly recommend one with what amscope calls simul-focal, it lets you use the camera and both eyes at the same time. Some of the cheaper trinocular microscopes cut out on one eye when you switch to the camera.
Buuusted! I'd love to hear their explanation :)
it's made back in Oz ... Personally polished by the Tin Woodman. Not a mere human mind you.
thank you very much !
I know it's silly, but I like the remote zoom-in and zoom-in buttons on the tagano.
Appears to be a nice unit for the money especially for a small shop on a tight budget. For that it simply needs to work and be reliable with a reasonable price . Have you tried it with boardview.
as James May would say: "That's fantastic!"
Please test somehow if this is really 60 fps. I.e. by recording LCD display with high speed counter . Some people claim that it doesn't produce 60 fps when recording to SD card. Might be too slow processor to encode stuff fast enough. I wonder if the screen capture with some 1080p60 HDMI to USB video capture card would actually capture full 60 frames per seconds.
To my understanding a power rating is the equivalent area seen magnification. We can take the square-root of the power rating and you can find how many times longer or wider it will appear. For example, an object viewed through 100x will appear 10 times longer or wider.
That doesnt make too much sense. A 10x zoom would only be 3x larger. The zoom on a camera is given in (focal length) divided by (minimum focal length). So a 50-200mm zoom lens is 4x zoom due to 200/50=4. And thats exactly what it does: Zoom in 4x. If a object was X lenght/height/width at 50mm its going to be 4 times X if you zoom in to 200mm. Its not the area that is 4x as big, its the actual angle of view that changes. From X° to X/4°
@@leocurious9919 Thanks. I didnt think about any zoom or angles, but maybe we can agree we are both right about some things.
Okurka ... what...?
I don't use a microscope myself but this left me wondering if a foot pedal controller to activate (or deactivate?) autofocus would be a good addition? That way you'd have both hands free to handle the device being inspected... Maybe could do this with a custom USB HID device?
I'm glad I got the Mantis Elite and not the Tagarno back then, It still has unique advantages and the Tagarno already looks pretty dated. The other day I was at a Keyence demo, that was insenely good, also appropriately expensive (70k).
They must have seen your video. They raised the price to $523 now.
Just take the tigano lens and put it onto the other camera? You can use a DC zoom lend with C mount as well.
New firmware has extensive measurement and annotations functions. There is also version with 2 USB ports, for mouse and keyboard for example.
When recording directly to the memory card, does the on screen menu and the guides/ROI rectangle also get recorded? And also can the ROI be turned off so that the image is just what's being seen with no on screen controls showing?
Thanks Dave, I almost bought a trinocular this week... am so tempted to buy this before the price jumps up.
I wouldn't swap my trinocular for one of these. Nothing beats a 3d view.
absolutely agree, I love my simul-focal trinocular.
Trust me, buy that binocular.
Have a basic 10x Bresser ICD CS binocular, ~350€ back then. Doing all the sub 0603 soldering under it. Would never trade it for a camera.
I’d like to hear what Suba engineering has to say about all this and their claim that they engineered their camera.
Scuber diving engineering camera.
Could it be that Eakins used the design and engineering from Suba?
So the guy has it for year(s) from Eakins and now Suba shows up on some Exhibition? Without looking any deeper that seems fairly conclusive.
Jacques Gilbert looks like suba got caught lying.
It's pretty common this happens. For example another AU company, stedi, that sells light bars claim their ST4K is designed and engineered by them even though I got the exact same from another place but without stedi logo. I even showed them everything how exactly the same they were down to components, but no, they wouldn't budge.. :p Not that I cared really, I just wanted to know before testing theirs if it really was the same, they said theirs was better and suprise, after I got it it was the same.. But it's a good light bar so no problem but, why lie?
What's the maximum focus distance? Could you not at least double the field of view just by sliding it higher up the mounting?
I find manual adjustable lens much more easier for close up work.
Apologies for my lack of soldering experience, but would it be correct to say that while this is excellent for inspection, an AmScope or something else that's stereo would still be better for soldering if you don't need to record?
Have you tried using ffmpeg to decode the H264 file to a different format and then use open it with the video editor?
Dave, would it be possible to put one of those lens on a regular video camera and get similar results since they have C mounts on the lens?
Dave, please take it apaat! Like to see the focusing mechanism
I bought an used Carton trinocular and it’s fantastic. I’m looking for a good ccd camera because original one is running under win2000 only.
I have a non-auto-focus version of this and it’s very nice aside from the lack of auto focus. I had to do some shopping for lenses since c-mount lenses are usually intended for security cameras and so forth, where a rather mediocre image quality is fine. I bought several and eventually ended up using some much lower power lenses which were alright, though I would have loved to have auto focus! I only paid $130 for mine, so it’s not too bad for that price with the great image quality.
link please
Do you have any recommendations for microscopes for general use for about half the price of this?
"maker paste" soldering paste is incredible just apply and melt with low temp iron tip or your lighter (!) : from paste to metal magic !
I just bought the same lens about 1 year back with non autofocus camera (as I don't feel I need it). But... I did buy the 0.5 and 0.33x converter lenses and that turned out to be a good move. With them I can get a very nice working height on the scope and a much wider field of view.
Which are the .5 and .33x lenses?
@@michealcortes2553still need help? They are called Barlow lens attached to bottom of that 180x lens, which allow for wider field of view
That calculator is the most. The Kin function es great. I have the same but Casio brand.
Benevolent Overlord Dave, please try soldering with it. Curious if the latency of the display is acceptable for precision work other than just inspection.
I did, it's fine. No perceptible difference to the Tagarno, i.e. no perceptible lag. No point showing that as there is nothing to see.
Looks great 👍👍👍👍👍
The same supplier offers a traditional trinocular microscope with conventional camera for around half the price as SZM0745T I thought the autofocus on this one was fantastic, and would be great for board inspection. I wondered if the difference in price is warranted for general board soldering/repair?
We are Eakins sellers, we have reviewed the review, many of our products, thanks to the review of EEVblog
Wow that Awesome dude
If you check craigslist and ebay for old photo reproduction and restoration equipment, you can find some nice mounts.
What 3 lenses specifically do you recommend? They have alot more choices now, about 12 choices now in 2021. Thanks, great video!
Question on wet sponge or scotch bright poke can ? Which one would be or is better ?
I bought a very similar camera with almost identical optics on aliexpress for $70, just without autofocus and holder.
You can get a random HD security camera and a Tele-Zoom Lens, add some CS-Mount distance rings and voila you have a 50x Digital Microscope for around 50 Dollars..
Aaaaaand Sold!
Yep, when I destroy an IC trying to solder it I like to have a good view of the damage. (smile)
A free FFMPEG front end GUI tool called FFE can probably fix the file format. You simply copy the video stream (do not transcode it) and write it to a new proper MP4 container format file.
Just use mkv merge to pack the h264 file. Most editors should be able to open that.
Please give link for the set of 3 lens. I only see them individually sold.
VLC can play it, then VLC can convert it to anything you want. Your best bet is to look at their wiki, as the options/configuration can be overwhelming.
what are the HEX numbers appearing as you zoom on the Tagarno?
Do you have a link for the stand and everything?
Is this still best camera microscope to get in 2020 or would you now recommend something different ?
Cool. Just for fun maybe you can put a drop of pond water onto a slide and check it out with your greatest zoom.
Damn, that's tempting. Grimsmo's Leica is like $1500. Guess you can't compare the two - one's optical and one uses a monitor.
Nice item
Is the eakins camera still the state of the art in this price bracket for someone looking to buy an affordable hobby electronics microscope in 2021? The killer feature seems to be the auto focus, and it would be golden if there were an easy way to lock/unlock it.
I ordered it last month. There is now a tab for measurement in the software but the only way to disable the autofocus is the buttons shown at 9min33sec. 3 buttons : AF is for AutoFocus (obviously), Click F is for clic Focus. (you clic this button then clic on the screen where you want the focus to be). MF for Manual Focus. In this mode you can use the scroll bar to move the focus. and it will not change automatically. In AF mode you can also place the focus region where you want on the screen. Hope I helped.
@@guillaumebraun7993 : Just curious...does the AutoFocus thing get crazy during soldering process ? Like loosing Focus every time the Soldering Iron "enters " the scene !
@@peplegal8253 It does change the autofocus when you put anything in the "autofocus zone" but you can disable the autofocus function. Soldering is not my main use of the system but I guess that when you solder small things, you maintain the board in place so you don't need autofocus.
@@guillaumebraun7993 : Thanks ! I don`t see reasons for AutoFocus. I`m buying a similar Cam on AliExpress for U$ 80.00. No AF. I could pay U$ 300.00 for the AF version...but for what purpose ?
@@peplegal8253 exactly what Dave shows. Inspection where you rotate and move a lot what you inspect. In this case Autofocus is a big improvement
So Dave, what you are showing us was your camera recording off the screen or was it the video recorded on the camera's SD card?
I need a wider maxiumum area, period. Where should I look? What precisely do I ask for? Ideally, I'd like to have 6"x6" viewable. Surely it can be sourced reasonably?
Upload the video file to a file sharing site and have us take a whack at it.
Back in the day QuickTime converted h.264 to .mov. Maybe you can then convert from that format.
.h264 format can be converted using ffmpeg to and from multiple formats
Dave, they have another version of the microscope, with ENORMOUS field of view, and 4K@60Hz, and very solid stand. Very compact, but still possible to switch lenses, if one wants higher magnification. It is about 1800 USD. Blows Tagano out of the water.
Do you have the product info for this?
ave need one of this!
The second you mentioned a SONY sensor I knew it'd be good.
you can mux .h264 into mp4 containers, sony Vegas can open it
Can't help but wonder how that'd work in my trinocular port on my amscope. Beautiful footage.
I purchased this www.ebay.com/itm/Autofocus-1080P-60FPS-HDMI-Industrial-Auto-focus-Microscope-Camera-SONY-Sensor-S/273139900414?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 It works perfect on my trinocular port. It fixes the problem with the manual focus camera, that would not track the eye piece focus, so I was adjusting the camera focus as I changed the zoom. Only complaint, no video capture, so looking for a method of doing that.
Louis Rossman uses a similar camera attached to his binocular microscope. (Links to Amazon in description)
Dave try using Handbrake to re-encode the video before you import it into your editor. Also you can get powered lenses for the Eakins. Though they will cost about the same as the camera!
I did, it didn't work.
he only needs to mux it into an mp4
Handbrake is not very good for this sort of stuff. Try XMedia Recode. It should be able to do everything needed.
Tim Hunter Just try the output option in VLC itself (forgot the menu name).
"identical to the new AU$1800" made ALL IN Australia Suba???? :o throw .3 barlow and you end up with perfect x10 magnification and even more working distance
From experience. ffmpeg is a swiss army knife of massaging broken video formats into something a bit more acceptable.
Cool!!
You could probably add a toggle switch to turn off the auto focus.
This or a AmScope SE400-z for SMD soldering?
I bought eakins 4k microscope and canceled it, can you recommend this brand?
probably raw h264, just need to use something like ffmpeg to put it in an mp4 container. handbrake tends to choke on raw h264 without a proper preset, which i have yet to find a reliable one. For about $10 in parts, you can add a digital zoom control to that lens with a servo, belt, and teensy. Heck, if you dont care about the positional data from the pot, you could just use a standard servo controller
Handbrake didn't work.
There are plenty for less than 100$ on ebay now and you can get a 4K60fps(?) with like 300$ or something. But I doubt it makes 60fps, anyways it would have been great if there was a way to record externally.
I want to see you solder some 01005 parts.
The camera seems nice. Probably best to use it with a trinocular microscope though if you're going to do soldering instead of just inspection. But since it's a standard C-mount it would be easy enough to be able to swap it in, which could be very handy.
I think trinocular lenses are dumb because you end up being closer to PCBs when your soldering, and breathing in those toxic fumes.
@@CookieManCookies Your fume extractor should be able to handle that. If the difference matters, you've got insufficient extraction.
It look to me that the top of the Suba case is just a "adapter box" that plugs in the normal camera just bellow.
There are lots of options when it comes to C mount lenses, usually pretty cheap too.
Sure, but knowing which ones do what you want is the trick.
Can the shutter speed or ISO be controlled?
Can it shoot RAW/TIFF format photos?
Looks like they raised the prices since your video released? Is it really fast enough to keep up human hand/eye for soldering? I didn’t think digital scopes would be fast enough. Would this really be better than a real optical AmScope? For real work?
Depends. From experience, the latency on these is minimal, and you tend to get a clearer "big picture" vs optical. Mostly comes to personal preference. I prefer optical, but others i know prefer digital. I personally use a mantis. Also depends on the application, soldering vs rework vs inspection.
I think as long as you get an HDMI one you are good. The usb ones are slow and choppy from what I've seen.
What is your monitor's pixels per inch (ppi) spec??
Your HDMI capture card might not be working because the video stream has HDCP encryption. You could try using a cheap HDMI splitter from China to “strip” the HDCP. Then you could send the video to your monitor and capture card at the same time.
Not sure what i am doing wrong though not able to access the UI. Mouse works fine on PC and appears powered on device but no pointer viewable on monitor
it seems like htc amaze 4g's main board
I bought the Amscope HDMI non-recording autofocus digital camera, but the lens it came with does not allow me to have a wide enough field of view to see the whole PC board. Amscope told me "Unfortunately, we don't have a different reduction lens/camera adapter that you can use with any of our HDMI camera to increase the field of view. We normally use a barlow lens to increase the working distance and field of view but we don't have one available for your H800 series." Can anyone suggest a solution? Thanks.
Hmm, good to know. I'm in the market for a camera. This one will also fit on a Amscope microscope so winner winner chicken dinner:)
Need to make some usb controls and make the software then with the right lens
Maybe I'm just dumb, but how does the physical size of the monitor effect the level of zoom on the microscope??
Depth of field is dependend on focal length and aperture, thats like comparing a horse and house