Microscope for SMD rework
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 10:48 pm
Hello,
I wanted to know which microscope (or zooming tool) are you using to do SMD rework?
I personnaly was soldering up to 0603 parts by eye (without any zoom). At work, I was using a sterio-microscope with x10 zoom (and x20 or x40 for checking).
I'm looking at buying an amscope SE400xyz and wanted to know if anyone of you have any feedback about it. I'll for sure be mainly using x5 for soldering (it give large field of view) and x10 or x20 for checking.
Beyond that, today I have done a small test using a Raspberry Pi and a Raspberry Pi Camera. I only exchanged the camera lens with a lens coming from DIYINHK lens. Their lens has the advantage of being focused to give you a working distance of about 15cm between the lens and the target board.
Here are first results (images took using my smartphone, I could have saved images directly on the raspberry tought). I tried to move a screw driver near small parts to mimic a soldering iron movements, and with a scene perfectly illuminated, at only about 24 fps, I don't notice any image bluring.
While I think this solution can give a nice HDMI microscope for hobbits, I really hated the fact that this "digital" microsocope don't give me the depth sensation. I'm accostumed to the work sterio microscope, and I think I can't find a better option than the Amscope SE400-XYZ (or SE400-X version) sterio mircoscope.
NB. I didn't fixed the camera firmly on a handler, so the images are not 100% perfectly focused, when I was doing my trials, I could have really better images than those. I'll try to make a clean setup on true modular handler and will publish better photos in upcoming days.
I wanted to know which microscope (or zooming tool) are you using to do SMD rework?
I personnaly was soldering up to 0603 parts by eye (without any zoom). At work, I was using a sterio-microscope with x10 zoom (and x20 or x40 for checking).
I'm looking at buying an amscope SE400xyz and wanted to know if anyone of you have any feedback about it. I'll for sure be mainly using x5 for soldering (it give large field of view) and x10 or x20 for checking.
Beyond that, today I have done a small test using a Raspberry Pi and a Raspberry Pi Camera. I only exchanged the camera lens with a lens coming from DIYINHK lens. Their lens has the advantage of being focused to give you a working distance of about 15cm between the lens and the target board.
Here are first results (images took using my smartphone, I could have saved images directly on the raspberry tought). I tried to move a screw driver near small parts to mimic a soldering iron movements, and with a scene perfectly illuminated, at only about 24 fps, I don't notice any image bluring.
While I think this solution can give a nice HDMI microscope for hobbits, I really hated the fact that this "digital" microsocope don't give me the depth sensation. I'm accostumed to the work sterio microscope, and I think I can't find a better option than the Amscope SE400-XYZ (or SE400-X version) sterio mircoscope.
NB. I didn't fixed the camera firmly on a handler, so the images are not 100% perfectly focused, when I was doing my trials, I could have really better images than those. I'll try to make a clean setup on true modular handler and will publish better photos in upcoming days.
(at least for me, my eyes are not as good as when I was 20 years old 
)