Microscope lens for SMD inspection

on 2016-07-19 2 Comments

Every proud DSLR owner knows that no universal lens is good enough. While there are tons of lens reviews out there for larger cameras, smaller cameras are mostly left outside. Today I will be reviewing microscope lens. Will be using my own camera C1.

Overview

Lens is manufactured in China and sold various places. Also available on kurokesu e-shop. It is has generic name “180x, 0.7-4.5X C-mount microscope lens“. Lens consists of two main pieces: lens itself and camera adapter, which is also used as mounting bracket. Main lens assembly has optical magnification factor in a range of 0.7x-4.5x, while extension tube comes in various fixed ratios. I have 0.5x which gives about ~2cm diagonal viewing area at 0.7x from a distance of 10cm.

While in most shops lens comes as assembled from two pieces, it is possible to find variations from three pieces:

Lens assembly (adjustable magnification 0.7x – 4.5x)
Eyepiece extender tube (0.3X, 0.35x, 0.5x, 0.75X, 1x, 1.5X, 2.0X)
External (optional) lenses (x0.5, x2)

Key features

Focal distance ~10cm
Modular design
Fairly cheap
Decent chromatic aberrations
For optimal results requires additional illumination
Requires 5mm extension ring to be used with CS-mount cameras
Limited usability on magnifications more than 3x. Problem is – too shallow depth of field and increased optical distortions.

LED ring light

Due to construction features, it is possible to rise ring light to reduce interference with tools like soldering iron or hot air gun. I used light fixture from binocular microscope.