Microscopes, any in Calgary?

[photon]

Any ideas on where to get a decent microscope in Calgary? I want something better than the junk toy stores sell, and ideally something with a digital camera built in or one that you can add on (so you can see the stuff on a computer screen).

I've found an online place that seems to have what I want:

http://www.microscopenet.com/compoun...e-c-25_35.html

But can't find anything local, and I don't know if the prices at that site are good or not (anything with a half price sale makes me suspicious).

Use is for a kid who's interested in microbiology, and want something that will actually give good views of stuff rather than the cheap ones which are far too finicky and crappy to give a good view.

[DownInFlames]

PM Hobby

[transplant99]

What about geological supply places?

[Svartsengi]

Princess Auto has a digital microscope for $80.

www.princessauto.com/pal/product/8401358/Scopes/Tasco-Digital-120x-USB-Microscope

[Daradon]

I got one, and a tele.

But probably not the scope you are looking for. Got the micro at 6 and the the tele at 11 (I had to save up)

Just stroking before I get to...

Online buddy. You know this.

[Canada 02]

Ebay is a very good option. I bought some lab equipment off ebay when I was starting my lab

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Professional...item1c280802cd

If you know someone in a research lab at the UofC or a government lab, then Fisher Scientific Canada or VWR maybe an option. They are kinda on the low end for research labs, but for home use and teaching your child, they will have more than what you need. You need the connection in order to get contract pricing, otherwise the prices are over inflated

[Codes]

I'm not sure how feasible it is to acquire equipment from government labs. There is a whole surplussing process that has to be initiated and completed when discarding old, broken or unwanted research instruments.

Incredibly wasteful.

I would check with the UofC, MRU or SAIT, though.

[GGG]

At the U of S they had a surplus store. It contained everything, lab equpiment, computers, chairs, desks, cleaning supplies. Also one summer they had a scanning tunneling electron microscope for sale for a few thousand dollars. I am not sure if there is something similar at the U of C but it would be worth checking out. At the U of S it was run out of he facilities management group.

[Rerun]

I think you might have to go with the place you found on the net. I see they operate out of Ontario as well as the USA.

This looks like a pretty good deal here...

http://www.microscopenet.com/40x2000...ra-p-9110.html

[Sr. Mints]

I was looking at microscopes the other day, cause I have no life and nothing better to do.

Not to be condescending cause I'm sure you know this, but getting one from the US seems a much better bet.

This one I was looking at is $170USD from Amazon, or $270-300 from anywhere I've looked in Canada.

The only local brick and mortar shops I can think of are the Science Centre's gift shop and that telescope place in Didsbury (?).

[REDVAN]

I got one from these guys for my job...

[photon]

Originally Posted by Svartsengi

Princess Auto has a digital microscope for $80.

Didn't even think of those guys, that one is cool but a little underpowered for what my kid wants to look at.. need more around 400X

Originally Posted by Daradon

Online buddy. You know this.

Yeah yeah Just wanted to maybe actually try it or at least see it before buying.

Originally Posted by Codes

I would check with the UofC, MRU or SAIT, though.

Good idea, thanks!

Originally Posted by Rerun

I think you might have to go with the place you found on the net. I see they operate out of Ontario as well as the USA.

This looks like a pretty good deal here...

http://www.microscopenet.com/40x2000...ra-p-9110.html

Yeah that's kind of the one I was looking for, the only downside was 640x480 for the camera, but that's better than nothing.

I wonder if a binocular scope would be easier to look through for a kid?

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

I was looking at microscopes the other day, cause I have no life and nothing better to do.

Not to be condescending cause I'm sure you know this, but getting one from the US seems a much better bet.

This one I was looking at is $170USD from Amazon, or $270-300 from anywhere I've looked in Canada.

The only local brick and mortar shops I can think of are the Science Centre's gift shop and that telescope place in Didsbury (?).

Yeah the telescope place didn't seem to have microscopes, and the Science Center has a plastic beginner kit.

Thanks guys, I was hoping there was a hidden gem out there, I'll check the educational places but otherwise I'll order online.

[billybob123]

LabX.com is also a potential source but shipping is pricey. The U of C has surplus sales every Friday afternoon, though it's mostly office stuff. It's at the shipping/receiving near ACH.

(I'm a microbiologist so I can understand the curiosity - I was the same. Just don't let your kid become one for a job!)

[Smartcar]

I bought one on ebay. It came from a school lab, a few scratches on it but everything worked fine and it was a fraction of the cost of a new one.

[pylon]

http://www.pmhobbycraft.ca/ADVANCED-...COPE-CSN44104/

http://www.pmhobbycraft.ca/LAB-COMPO...COPE-CSN44102/

PM Hobbycraft stocks them. If the quality of the Celestron Microscopes is anywhere near the quality of my telescope, I cannot see an issue.

Plus it gives you an excuse to check out their new south digs.

[icarus]

My old supervisor at U of C, Dr. Michael Cavey, would probably be proud to be called a microscope nerd and being a histologist is about as big a microscope nerd as you will find in Calgary and knows a lot about the cameras too. He may have some old equipment for sale but if not I'm sure he'd be happy to have someone with whom to talk about it. He's in the biological sciences department.

[Sliver]

Hey Photon, I was in PM Hobby on Sunday and checked out the microscopes for you. This one was $285 and seemed to be the closest to what you were looking for (iPhone pic).

[photon]

Nice, thanks! Yeah like Sr. Mints says, that you can get that one for half that from the US drives me nuts!

I ended up getting the one that Rerun linked, I called the site and the free shipping will get it to me on time. Not a built in LCD like the Celestron, but still has the digital USB camera and is a bit cheaper.

[Kybosh]

Put your boy in touch with any number of medical/biological/physiological research groups. I'm sure any number of researchers would love to have a lackey sort through eggs and what not under a microscope!

[photon]

Lol, he's 8 so might have to wait a few years before for that, but he'd probably actually like that! For 10 minutes anyway, then he'll see a butterfly, or decide he wants to be a geologist again, or whatever.

Anyway want to give props to microscopenet.com (with the awkward URL), called them and asked if they had in stock and they said yes and they'd ship same day guaranteed. Shipped free via UPS, got here in 4 days (and UPS just left it at my door, thanks UPS), was packed crazy well, and they even included a free gift of a screen protector for an iPhone 4 (???).

Unpacked, best microscope I've used in my very limited experience, just put it together and everything worked great. Awesome visual quality, very wide field of view that's in focus, slide retention mechanism is awesome, stage x/y adjustments are awesome, has an adjustable hard stop to prevent the slide from crushing the objective (which I did in school at least once that I can remember).

Spent a few hours looking through it with my kid, he really really liked it, and he was very happy to see the stuff he talks about all the time with his own eyes.