Celestron Labs CB2000CF Compound Microscope

Good microscope let down by poor quality control and very few accessories

The microscope needs a small amount of assembly, easy to do. Dirt and dust is the enemy of a microscope. Before assembling the head to the main body I noticed fine grit inside. It looked like it was from the casting process. There were also fingerprints or similar on the two 10X eyepieces. You get 10 permanent slides of various subjects, but for the price you would think you would at least get a dust cover, some plain slides and cover slips (worth a few dollars), so you could at least use it when it arrives. Very inconvenient not to have them. So if you decide on this microscope order yourself some slides and cover slips at the same time, because you won't get any with the microscope. You do get a small amount of oil for the 100x objective. On the positive. Mechanically all the controls are smooth and the range of magnifications are useful. The unit comes with a few lighting options (Abbe condenser, iris diaphragm and variable illumination), to modify the light source which is a really great feature. I am not sure how useful a microscope would be without these features, as they can really enhance the image. Overall I think it is a good microscope let down by attention to cleanliness and lack of accessories. I expected more from a brand like Celestron.