Is the Bausch and Lomb Stereozoom 4 a good microscope to buy?

Question

I am looking at an older model (30-40 years old) that has been refurbished by a professional and backed with a warranty. I was wondering how the optics compare to more expensive and newer scopes.

Answer 1

Stereomicroscopes are fairly low mag, so a slight inferiority in the lenses won't make a huge difference for most of the applications that such a microscope is used for.

Also, I would guess that lens grinding has been pretty well figured out for a hundred years or more, and probably the technology used 30 years ago for that wouldn't be so different from today's.  So, unless their is a scratch on a lens or something, probably it would be a pretty good deal.

The warranty is probably more for the mechanical parts, like the gears and tracks.  If it moves smoothly, and things rotate properly, etc., then those things are probably OK.

There are two other things which might help you make a decision:

A lot of times for this sort of equipment, the salespeople allow you to test it out.  Perhaps you could set it up and use it for a week or two to make sure you are comfortable with it.  You could also ask the same of Leica or Olympus and make a direct comparison.

Or, if you have the opportunity, perhaps you can make a sample that you can carry around and have a look at with various scopes.  Then you could look at it on your prospective 'scope and on other nearby scopes, and see if you feel there is a big difference.

Good luck.