Microsoft Lifecam Studio Electronics Microscope

thingiverse

So I'm a cheapskate, and my vision isn't the greatest. Add in the fact that SMT soldering is really tough without magnification, so I decided to buy one of those cheap 14-dollar USB microscopes on eBay, and it was pretty disappointing. The lens mechanism and focal distance were actually nice, but the sensor is only 640 by 480 and has really poor light characteristics. I also have an old Lifecam Studio that picked up on sale a while back, and I never use it. I looked around online to see if the Lifecam had been converted into a microscope, and it has. There's a kit out there you can buy, but the lens costs $50! And it's only fixed focal distance! What a rip-off. After taking apart the cheap microscope, I noticed that it would be possible to Frankenstein the two together and create the exact thing being sold - a fixed focal distance microscope with plenty of room to get soldering tools under, and has a full HD picture with decent response time.