I recently got myself a stereo microscope. It had a 10x eyepiece and can view at 10X or 30X magnification. I added a 20X eyepiece that allows 20X or 60X magnification. What could I use this device for in relation to iNaturalist? My current thoughts: –Mosses (and liverworts), especially cell str…

You covered most of the options, although it would be more suited to some of those than others. I know them as dissecting scopes and have used them to identify bryophytes and lichens.

Dang, now I want one :laughing: Mind if I ask what model you have and/or how much it cost?

There are many, many features of flowering plants that are best seen with a dissecting scope: types of hairs, and details of flowers and seeds, in particular. Also contents of plant galls.

Please post a photo of a tiny insect taken at your highest magnification. What a scope is good for depends a lot on what the smallest features you can see clearly are.

I use a dissecting microscope (seems to be the same as a stereo microscope) routinely to look at small parts of plants – spikelets of grasses, hairs on leaves or stems, structures in flower heads of Composites, you name it. Also to get tiny sliver out of my skin. So many uses. Better than a hand …

Nearly any insect that you have in the hand could be photographed this way. Even if it’s identifiable from other photos, close ups of hard to see areas like the mandibles or the underside can always help improve on the suite of photos available in Inat for a specific species. Many plants require cl…

I often reckon that my dissecting /stereo microscope is the best $2000 I ever spent! I bought it about 10 years ago - a Leica EZ4. I routinely use it for botanical purposes: iding eudicots, sedges and grasses mainly. I also take quite acceptable photographs with my Olympus Tough camera looking down …

Like Barbara above, my microscope is also highly valued for helping me ease thorns out of my fingers. Lighting is very important. I find the LED lights are too bright to show details of, for example, beetle elytra punctures and I wish I could get back to the old 60 watt hot bulbs. I often get bett…

My friend found a used one for about $31 Canadian which I bought off him. It is a old Cenco 62090-2 model. I added a ring light for about $40 and a pair of 20X Amscope eyepieces for about $100 Canadian. There is an issue with the ring light. I will use double-sided tape and a rubber band to ensu…

Viewing microorganisms? That seemed like an obvious choice to me.

What could I use a stereo microscope for?

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What could I use a stereo microscope for?

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