Celestron 44121 Microscope Kit

The worst microscope ever. The higher magnification is max 600x but I can only see till the magnification 40x. And the product is also a quite damaged . I am really offended, I expected more than this. Very poor product.

The good: This is a fair product for a beginner (age 8+). We can use it traditionally by preparing slide samples, or even place a tiny object (e.g. ant) on stage directly on a slide to see it magnified in 3D, just like a powerful magnifying glass. It comes with a few sample slides and a couple of blank ones, along with tweezers and a little cup to gather samples. There is a pen shaped LED that is useful to illuminate the object surface for direct viewing. Magnification objectives that work well are 4x and 15x, along with eyepiece of 10 to 20x giving magnification from 40x-300x. Glass lenses inside the objectives are of fairly good quality, given that I did not see aberrations in the image. Overall easy to use and good value for money if you are considering this for a child as their first microscope, compared to most others which are at least 50% costlier. The bad: The product is completely plastic and hollow inside. No part is metallic and it does not feel solid or long-lasting. There is one coarse knob that moves the stage, there is no fine adjustment knob. The 30x objective (300x-600x) does not work well in my unit. The image brightness is naturally less due to optical limitations and it is worse due to the budget nature of the instrument for this magnification level. Stick to the 4x and 15x objectives for best results. The ugly: I went for Celestron due to their brand. But the product I received was nearly 10 years old from surplus inventory in Canada. It has several issues. The eyepiece does not work properly at lowest magnification (10x) but it is fine at 20x or somewhere in between, indicating that the eyepiece screw movement may not be calibrated properly. The worst part was that I heard rattling from inside after taking the microscope out of its box. The only working objective seemed to be the 4x one because I could not see anything from the other two objectives. During troubleshooting, it turned out that the delicate glass lenses and washers were not secured in their place. They fell out from the 15x and 30x objectives after unscrewing them. Had to spend half a day trying to put them back in and secure them somehow. They now seem to be in place and the scope is working, but not sure about future reliability. Overall: After initial struggles, I am now fairly satisfied with this product. The price I paid (INR 2K) seems OK if you compare it with other gimmicky microscopes and glorified magnifying lenses. At least a kid will be able to understand how to use a scope, how slides work etc. But do not expect a long life from this product. If you are more serious and willing to spend more, do not go for this.

The product has clearly been used before. I could see smudged dirt in and out of the Styrofoam carton. I tried using it, it's not working. The container box also bears clear signs of previous usage. I tried adjusting and viewing through the microscope for about an hour, I couldn't use it at all. The item is defective and used. Not recommended.

Poor quality. Not accurate. I am disappointed