I've tried a handful of USB microscopes and this one is the best so far. Two things warrant mention. The first is the camera adjustments available under Windows and the other is resolution. The Plugable software (Windows version is all I've used), which requires download, can be set to auto adjust brightness but it can be manually adjusted too. My application requires locking exposure and this microscope can do it. That isn't the case for the other microscopes I've tested. It also isn't a feature mentioned by manufacturers. For my application, autoranging is undesirable. The ability to control exposure makes this scope stand out and why I like it so much. I am baffled by the magnification numbers given by manufacturers. This scope gives equal or higher magnification compared to others claiming 1600X. To change magnification, the scope is positioned above an object and focused. There is no zoom. All the others I've tried operate the same way. I've enclosed results at distances of 0, 20 and 40 mm from the clear plastic guard showing a 1 mm scale. I've also shown a penny's date at 0 and 40 mm. A penny is nominally 19 mm with 1 in the date being about 1.17mm or so. While the scope is great, I am not a fan of the flexible mount when operating at maximum magnification. Touching the microscope to focus or adjust lighting causes annoying movement. It is easy to get in a seemingly endless loop of adjust, move the object, readjust. I have a more rigid stand and find it to be far easier to use due both to rigidity and gears to move the microscope up and down. Circling back to software control, the camera app native to Windows can be used with add-on setting apps to set exposure and other options. Other USB microscopes have most of these setting greyed out whether in the Windows settings or in the apps supplied. They just aren't available.. I find the Plugable app does everything I want to do and does it quite nicely. Still pictures, videos and time-lapse are all available.
