The Apex Practitioner Microscope

This microscope was packed very well and delivered in double quick time. I opted for the Free delivery which should take longer, but I ordered this item on Saturday and it arrived on the Monday. Really tip top. The microscope itself is a robust item that has the feel of a quality instrument and this proved to be reinforced by the performance. This model dose not only come with 2 eyepieces, a 10x and 20x, 3 Objectives, a 4x, 10x and 40x, it also has a whole range of features one would expect from a much more expensive model. From top to bottom it has, a 360 degree rotating head, mechanical stage with adjustable stop, under-stage Abbe condenser with iris diaphragm and focus control plus filters, coarse and fine focus and adjustable illumination. Now to performance. The Apex Practitioner dose not disappoint, in fact it impresses. It is made easy to start using the microscope as it is supplied with two sample slides, I do not know if they are the same slides for every instrument but mine came with a Mantis leg and the leg of a Honey Bee. It is worth noting at this point that the package is also supplied with a box of 50 blank slides and a box of cover slips. As soon as you place one of the sample slides on the stage and peer down the eyepiece, you know this is quality, and it just carries on through the objectives. I took some time deciding which make and model to go for with my budget of £100, and I am so pleased I opted for this one it will I believe provide me with many years of pleasurable viewing. If you are a student on a tight budget of a parent wanting to provide your offspring with their first microscope, you will not be going far wrong by purchasing the Apex Practitioner.

Having taken in a pair of underweight hedgehogs I discovered that it was necessary to have a microscope to check for parasites. Hedgehogs live with parasites but the stress of being captive reduces their ability to supress them. So a bit of poo exploration is necessary. After some research I settled upon the Apex Practitioner and what a good choice that was. It is well made and has everything you could need in a microscope. Adjustable brightness LED, an Iris to change depth of field. A couple of coloured filters that fit over the LED. A quick action slide holder, with up/down left/right movement. Coarse and fine focus. About 5 samples and 5 unused slides + cover slips (extremely thin glass to go on top of a sample), just enough to get you started. 2 x very acceptable eyepieces x10 and x20. It also has a couple of coloured filters that go on top of the LED. 3 x object lenses As with any optical device very high magnifications are not as good as lower ones. I use the lowest x40 the most with the x 100 sometimes. At x40 you can easily see plant cells and the little nasties that invade poor old hedgie. The supplied eyepieces work well but I found the exit pupil wasn't great for my elderly eyes so I bought a x10 wide angle spectical wearers E/P which is better. This is not unusual, I have telescopes and the supplied E/Ps are OK but you can buy better ones. It keeps the initial purchase price down. I've sucessfully used it to make photos using a DSLR. I also made an interesting discovery. Normally the E/P is removed and replaced by the DSLR with a 23.2mm adapter but I found that if the E/P is left in place and the DSLR (without lens but with E/P adapter) is placed close to the lens, it captures all of what the lens sees. The scopes focusser can be used to focus. This works with all magnifications. For a stable setup you'll need a tube that holds the DSLR + adapter (23.2mm) and fits over the E/P and the microscope support. What I like most about this scope is that all of your money goes on the scope, no kits or accessories. This is a serious microscope and not a toy but it would be good for an older child. I'm amazed at what you get for the price. n.b. between them the hedgies had roundworm, lungworm and Fluke. One was quite poorly having the last 2. After treatments both are now well, getting fat and looking forward to their release in Spring. They think the Apex Practitioner is Magical :-)

I never write reviews for products, but I seriously felt like I should for this! I'm a second (going into third) year Biomedical Science student, so I picked one of these up for home use, and to help with my histology dissertation. It arrived the next day, and I have to say this microscope is absolutely amazing (especially for the price!). It is extremely robust and well made, the quality of each component is fantastic, it has the qualities of a very high-end microscope that we'd use in the labs for such a low price! Every single feature of the microscope is of a VERY high quality, from the course/fine focus, to the objective lenses, and produces fantastic images. What I received: - Apex Practitioner Microscope - 10x and 20x eyepieces (although the description says it comes with 10x and 15x?? Not that I'm complaining!) - A spare fuse - A blue and green filter - A plastic microscope cover - 50 Blank Slides - 100 Cover slips (although these arrived opened and some smashed, which was a disappointment, but it didn't lower my opinion as a whole) - 5 prepared frog specimen slides I would highly recommend this microscope to anyone from a basic level, to degree level, looking for a high-end quality microscope for a low price! I'd been on the fence for a few weeks before finally deciding to order one, and I couldn't be happier with it! However, a couple of people have stated that they received a spare bulb, which I did not, so I was wondering if someone could guide me as to where I can acquire one (and how to replace it), if I ever need to! Thanks in advance.

I required a microscope to help identify parasites on my Koi. Originally I tried a National Geographic with objectives upto x1200 magnification. I took it back after several unsuccessful attempts at seeing anything, even from their samples. I turned to Amazon to find something more suitable. After reading reviews of the Apex I took the plunge. Full marks Amazon - I ordered at 4pm and it had arrived the next day at 10am. After a short read of the instruction manual to find my way around this microscope, I set about testing it out. Removing it from the packaging, I was very impressed with the quality. It looked sturdy and was obviously built to do a job. I was not disappointed. Images are very clear. I tested the enclosed locust samples and was struck by the clarity. Within minutes I had taken a couple of scrapes from my Koi and could clearly see the body flukes that were causing my fish distress. The glass slides are not placed under spring clamps but sit securely on the stage held in place by a 'claw'. The stage can be moved backwards and forwards and left to right to allow positioning of the slide. There is a course and a fine focus dial and the mains lamp can be dimmed as required. The contrast can also be adjusted by use of the refractor lever. Again, very impressed with this equipment and would recommend to anyone - Koi keeper or not. The only negative point I have now is where to store the additional eyepiece , slides and cover glasses safely as the enclosed polystyrene packaging is not an ideal long term solution.

Having just recieved my Apex Practitioner I have to say, I couldn't be happier with my purchase. Being an avid science enthusiast and a biomedical sciences student, I have long considered purchasing a microscope to indulge my interests. This microscope is perfect for the job. Echoing previous comments, the microscope is very well built, with a solid metal construction and robust components.I use microscopes frequently in my university labs and the Practitioner preforms just as well, it is a high quality scientific instrument with all the necessary features one would expect as such. It produces some brilliant images, in a wide range of magnifications. The lenses are clearly of very high quality. The microscope comes with a range of extras not highlighted in the description, including everything you could possibly need to begin enjoying your microscope right away! The item list is as follows: 100 x Cover slips 50 x Plain slides 2 x Cavity well slides 2 x Slides with raised aluminium square attachment 2 x Pre-prepared slides 1 x Slide box 1 x Plastic dust cover 1 x Spare lamp bulb and fuse 1 x Blue Filter For under £100 you could not do better. A similar instrument may well set you back over £200 anywhere else. The item arrived two days following my order, brilliantly packaged. Would recommend this to anyone!

I ordered this as a gift for someone and it did seem like a fantastic piece of kit. It was well built with some weight to it but it never got used. It would have received the full 5 stars but I had to return the item as there was an eye piece missing out of it and didn't have the time to get a replacement part from the manufacturers or a replacement item from Amazon. Luckily the person it was bought for received a microscope off another family but it didn't seem to be of the same quality of this one.

Having had the chance to use the Apex Practitioner microscope for a few weeks, I can say that my initial impression of it being a wonderful instrument offered at a very satisfactory price was entirely accurate. See the other reviews and product description for detailed specifications, and be assured that you won't be disappointed in any way by this product. I'm very pleased that one can purchase a microscope of this quality at this price. Using it, I was able to complete a college assignment (tissue drawings) in my own time at home instead of rushing it in class. I've also discovered the fascination of seeing live paramecia, rotifers, euglena, etc in soil samples taken from the garden. The package includes amongst other things, a dust-cover, x10 and x20 ocular lenses (I particularly like the combination of x20 ocular and x10 objective), and seemingly a lifetime's supply of spare slides. Any regrets? I wish I'd seen the version with the built-in camera and x100 objective before deciding - I may have been tempted, even at twice the price. At the risk of nitpicking, a tad more 'fineness' on the fine focus control would also have been very nice - I'm not complaining, though. One other thing; isn't there supposed to be a grub-screw in the tiny hole for holding the ocular lens in place? In its absence, at any rate, gravity is an acceptable substitute (see 'comment'). Well done Apex on a great product!

I have just received this microscope and for the price (£99) it's a serious instrument! It's weighty and solidly built. I dabble in microscopy and I wanted a good but fairly inexpensive instrument, and this definitely fits the bill. It arrived in less than 48hrs after ordering. However, I was disappointed first of all when I opened the package. The eyepiece turret was not screwed in place and came away in my hand! Fortunately, I had a jeweller's screwdriver of the right size (cross-head) to tighten the three retaining screws (I later had to loosen the turret and retighten to get a full light field!) Anyway, after that was done I couldn't focus the instrument! I thought at first I'd been sold a damaged one but realised I had to adjust the focus stop! Now it does say in the instruction booklet that one has to do this but I never gave it a thought. I think the focus stop could have been set at the factory! All that aside, I would still recommend purchase. It looks the part and the mechanical stage is excellent after I've been used to a simple stage with two grips and no movements! I've still got to learn more about the instrument and probably 'tweak' some things on it; but if you want a serious microscope for less than £100, get this one now! It also arrived with a box of blank slides, a box of cover slips, 2 prepared specimens, spare fuse (for the illumination), and plastic dust cover. And I've also been able to utilise two eyepieces and a Barlow lens from my old microscope!