Celestron 44302 Handheld Digital Microscope 1.3MP
by Celestron
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List Price: Our Price: $41.97 You Save: $37.98 (48%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $35.23 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Celestron 44302 Handheld Digital Microscope 1.3MP
Customer Review: fun to play with
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a pretty cool little tool to have around. My only complaint would be the lighting. I wish there was a way to adjust it as sometimes it's too bright and other times I wish it was brighter. For the price I can't really complain though.Customer Review: Not bad for the price
Summary: 4 Stars
It is a little touchy, but does a decent job. This one was used and the lights didn't work, but from what I read that's not a bad thing. Getting the light to the work surface is a little tricky but once achieved, works great for pictures.Customer Review: Daughter Likes it.
Summary: 4 Stars
The product is constructed well. It takes both pictures and video. The product is a little difficult to use, however my daughter really likes it.Customer Review: Adequate Digital Camera for the price.
Summary: 3 Stars
This microscope works surprisingly well for the price. It takes very clear pictures. I do have a few issues with this, though most I can attribute to the low price, you get what you pay for.
The biggest problem I have with this product is that the LED lights do not work. You see this issue time and again if you read the reviews, this is obviously an issue that Celestron needs to address! If not for this fact alone, I would be buying 4 more, but since this seems to be a consistent problem, I will be looking at other brands.
The remaining issues I will list here, but they would not stop me from purchasing more, I feel that for the price that is paid, you can't expect better.
The microscope is advertised to be 10X 150X power. This may be true, but it is not the way I would expect it to be. I was expecting to be able to set my sample and zoom into the sample and focus it anywhere between the two powers. But in reality the zoom is the focus. If you set your sample 2" from the microscope, you can only focus it at one zoom level. The only way you can zoom in and keep it in focus is to move the sample closer to the microscope.
The next issue is that the slightest movement knocks it out of focus. Moving the focus nob easily shakes the camera, so it takes some patience to get a steady clear picture. Once you get the hang of it, it's not too difficult. But the stand is pretty cheap, it doesn't keep the microscope in a fixed position.
Overall, if the LED's worked, I could live with the other issues.
Customer Review: Good Resolution, but choppy video is a dealbreaker
Summary: 3 Stars
My video reviews of the Celestron Microscope are short and to the point, and can be viewed at
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Summary up front: If Celestron could fix ONE THING: Make the video record smoothly!
I love how the resolution is superior to the Digital Blue QX5: the most comparable handheld in my experience (I acknowledge that the Digital Blue is a child's toy, but it outperforms the Celestron in many ways). But the video becomes choppy, especially after running for a few minutes. That's is just about my only complaint, but it's huge. I can't have choppy video in the middle of a presentation! I have 2 gigs of RAM and I shut down as many processes in the background as possible, but it still produces a choppy video.
I like how it also records the videographer's voice, so I can narrate what I'm looking at.
I like how the video is easy to work with, even in simple video editing software apps: the Digital Blue is Impossible to work with due to some obscure codec.
I dislike the transition between 10x and 100x. I would accept a fatter, clumsier housing in favor of the smooth transitions between 10x 60x and 200x of the Digital Blue.
I have found the table mount to be impractical and never use it.
I would like to be able to expand the viewable size of the picture. Otherwise, I find the software to be fairly intuitive and much, much less buggy than the Digital Blue's OS.