compact

As a medical doctor somewhat unwillingly dragged in IT by the accidents of life, I suffer from frequent bouts of nostalgia, remembering fondly the time where I was studying life sciences. That's during one of those episode that I bought this gadget, thinking it would probably end up gathering dust on a shelve. Boy, I was wrong! The microscope is so light and well designed that it can be taken anywhere. It is up and running in a few seconds, it's waterproof and it is sturdy. Its optical quality is beyond reproach.

But what really stunned me is the sheer amount of interesting things the 20x magnification is putting within my reach: seemingly uninteresting insects such as aphids offer are seen tantalizing amount of detail; closely watching a dining spider is something you will not forget soon. In the vegetal world, patterns seem to pop out of nowhere. This is also an incredible educational toy for children since it turns the most basic garden into a giant natural history museum.

One caveat, but not an unexpected one: since it is designed to be extremely light, no light source is provided. A white led connected to a cheap 5V supply can be helpful in low light conditions.