Amscope MU1000 10MP Still and Live Image Microscope Digital Camera and Editing, Measuring Software, Compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10, Mac OSX, Linux

Pros:I ordered this camera for my research, and was very apprehensive about doing so since all it had were 3 negative reviews. But after reading them and seeing that the people only had problems because they were using Macs, and considering the low price, I decided to go for it. It came quickly, the software installed quickly, I set it up quickly, and it works great. I've gotten some awesome pictures of my work, it is easy to use. I'll need thousands of photos for my research, and given my experience so far, I'll be happy to take them with this camera.The program it comes with, toupview, has a lot of features that might be nice. I doubt I'll use any of them though, favoring ImageJ, which is far more commonly used in my field, and thus more readily accepted. So, I don't have anything to say about the functionality of toupview beyond taking a picture.Cons:Obviously, since it is connected via USB, you're going to have trouble getting quality video, but I don't know what else anyone would expect, you can only fit so much data through at a time. Either low frame rate or low resolution. I did find that it worked better with my usb 3.0 slot (which makes absolutely no sense by the way since the camera only uses USB 2.0, but whatever, I'll take it). They probably shouldn't stretch claims about "live" videoI guess the Mac software is crappy... I'm not a Mac user. If they say it works on a Mac, then it should. Still, not a problem that I had with it.

The microscope is excellent and does everything advertised. It can rank up there with the best of them.I've loaded and re-installed the camera software, not to mention un-installing it, and the computer still cannot find the camera.I've disabled the webcam, cold restart, and still get "windows could not find the driver". Yes I did plug it in a USB 2.0 port.Called amscope and left a couple of messages, but not received and callback. Granted I am not an expert on microscope cameras but the advertisement said it easy to use and navigate and works great. So I think I must be missing something. I've spent a week searching the internet for people who have the same problems, but still no go. I would greatly appreciate any help with the camera portion.Otherwise the microscope is excellent--5/5--better than most scopes I've used in my lifetime.

I've used several versions of these at work. Purchased this for home lab. Only slightly more expensive than the 3 MP one, this is worth it.I'm not fan of the camera coming with some adjustment or sleeve bushings/adapters and that there isn't any mechanical assembly documentation. The software is easy to install and run the camera. No issues with that (which makes me very happy). I've not tried actually taking a photos yet. Lighting seems finicky. I've the 144 LED on my AMSCOPE. I think part of this also has to do with lens and wavelengths geometry.Overall a decent image. Slightly better than the 3 MPs I've used before.In general, I'm happy with this and it is a welcome addition to my electronics lab.

I believe this is a solid product, but they may have packed too many megapixels into a old transfer standard (USB 2.0).It's obvious if you read between the lines (1.9fps @3584x2748), which I intially missed.From my experience, the software would constantly crash when changing resolutions, even when setting the res to the minimum before changing it, and reviewing and following all their YouTube videos.Direct Amscope customer service had issues answering questions (2 calls) and referred me to the Amazon representative, who responded to my first email but never followed up when I replied.My laptop beats the minimum specs (quadcore i7 2.8gHz, 16 gb RAM, dedicated video card), and I attempted both direct USB and through a self-powered hub to check for power consumption with the same results.While I think they tried to over power this device through an old standard, I don't think they put out bad products - just this one, and the customer service was definitely questionable, but I'm not ruling them out yet.Replacing my return with the MU503 (lower resolution but higher USB bandwidth), and will leave a review there once I've tested it.Bottom line: if you are limited to USB 2.0, get a camera with lower resolution (especially when you have to calibrate at the highest settings... And it just keeps crashing).Bonus: they included a calibration slide, which wasn't mentioned in the packaging... So there is that ;)Follow up - the MU503 is incredibly solid, runs smoothly as silk, and is virtually plug and play on my laptop. A review there will be forthcoming, but my personal suggestion if this is your price range, grab that one instead. It's worth the drop in resolution for a functioning product.

The older USB to computer interface is too slow to use for real-time monitoring of video on a display.

I am really satisfied, the camera solved my problem of registering what I look through the microscope eyepiece. The manual is more extensive than I expected but this is because the camera offers several filters to improve the image. I am still trying to understand all that the product offers but for now the images of pollen, fungi spores and algae I work with can be saved with their measures and that is what I was looking for. The cost is very low against what it can do: combine images in a mosaic, put several pictures one onto another and combine them to eliminate the out of focus due to the depth of field. Supplier delivery quickly. Packaging is suitable, keeping the product safe in transportation.