The Apex Practitioner Microscope

Having taken in a pair of underweight hedgehogs I discovered that it was necessary to have a microscope to check for parasites. Hedgehogs live with parasites but the stress of being captive reduces their ability to supress them. So a bit of poo exploration is necessary.After some research I settled upon the Apex Practitioner and what a good choice that was.It is well made and has everything you could need in a microscope.Adjustable brightness LED, an Iris to change depth of field.A couple of coloured filters that fit over the LED.A quick action slide holder, with up/down left/right movement.Coarse and fine focus.About 5 samples and 5 unused slides + cover slips (extremely thin glass to go on top of a sample), just enough to get you started.2 x very acceptable eyepieces x10 and x20. It also has a couple of coloured filters that go on top of the LED.3 x object lensesAs with any optical device very high magnifications are not as good as lower ones.I use the lowest x40 the most with the x 100 sometimes. At x40 you can easily see plant cells and the little nasties that invade poor old hedgie.The supplied eyepieces work well but I found the exit pupil wasn't great for my elderly eyes so I bought a x10 wide angle spectical wearers E/P which is better. This is not unusual, I have telescopes and the supplied E/Ps are OK but you can buy better ones. It keeps the initial purchase price down.I've sucessfully used it to make photos using a DSLR. I also made an interesting discovery. Normally the E/P is removed and replaced by the DSLR with a 23.2mm adapter but I found that if the E/P is left in place and the DSLR (without lens but with E/P adapter) is placed close to the lens, it captures all of what the lens sees. The scopes focusser can be used to focus. This works with all magnifications. For a stable setup you'll need a tube that holds the DSLR + adapter (23.2mm) and fits over the E/P and the microscope support.What I like most about this scope is that all of your money goes on the scope, no kits or accessories.This is a serious microscope and not a toy but it would be good for an older child.I'm amazed at what you get for the price.n.b. between them the hedgies had roundworm, lungworm and Fluke. One was quite poorly having the last 2. After treatments both are now well, getting fat and looking forward to their release in Spring.They think the Apex Practitioner is Magical :-)

As a retired microbiologist wanting to purchase an inexpensive microscope to use with my grandchildren, I was hesitant to buy this because the price seemed impossibly low for a practical and useable microscope, and I was concerned it would be little more than a useless toy. I took the plunge, and was delighted with it. I have used very expensive microscopes in my career, costing thousands, but this little microscope is ideal for families. The optics are surprisingly good for the price. There is no oil immersion on this version, so not suitable for bacteria, but there is a wealth of material out there to delight children. I have cultivated ciliates and rotifers from pond water, collected algae from natural ponds. With an iphone and adaptor (or camera and adaptor), it is easy to take photomicrographs of samples, and even movies for motile organisms. The version I bought (Apex practitioner) seems very similar to other brands from China. It is monocular, but has XY slide movement, a condenser, and adjustable built in LED lighting. If you want more, you can get binocular versions, though that doubles the price, and versions with oil immersion are also available. Oil immersion would be fiddly for children, so I skipped that. After retirement, I regretted not picking up one of the old microscopes that the department no longer wanted, but they were no longer very good, even though they would have cost a significant amount to buy. It seems to me that these Chinese manufactured microscopes really have managed to achieve good useable hobby microscopes for a low price. Though the microscope is smaller than most lab microscopes, it is reasonably heavy and sturdy, with a metal construction.

This microscope was packed very well and delivered in double quick time. I opted for the Free delivery which should take longer, but I ordered this item on Saturday and it arrived on the Monday. Really tip top.The microscope itself is a robust item that has the feel of a quality instrument and this proved to be reinforced by the performance. This model dose not only come with 2 eyepieces, a 10x and 20x, 3 Objectives, a 4x, 10x and 40x, it also has a whole range of features one would expect from a much more expensive model.From top to bottom it has, a 360 degree rotating head, mechanical stage with adjustable stop, under-stage Abbe condenser with iris diaphragm and focus control plus filters, coarse and fine focus and adjustable illumination.Now to performance. The Apex Practitioner dose not disappoint, in fact it impresses. It is made easy to start using the microscope as it is supplied with two sample slides, I do not know if they are the same slides for every instrument but mine came with a Mantis leg and the leg of a Honey Bee. It is worth noting at this point that the package is also supplied with a box of 50 blank slides and a box of cover slips.As soon as you place one of the sample slides on the stage and peer down the eyepiece, you know this is quality, and it just carries on through the objectives.I took some time deciding which make and model to go for with my budget of £100, and I am so pleased I opted for this one it will I believe provide me with many years of pleasurable viewing.If you are a student on a tight budget of a parent wanting to provide your offspring with their first microscope, you will not be going far wrong by purchasing the Apex Practitioner.