Thanks for the video. Apexel should name that product "Apexel 20X LED Mobile Microscope Lens" to not mislead customers. The best "lingo" or naming convention is the one that conveys products as they really are.
@@kyrollos0208 The extra 10X to magnifications is done across the board with many products it seems. Figured I show people how it really works so they can be aware
That was a cleaver way to show the lens is 20x magnification by comparing pixel size. Not bad for the price and you can take nib pictures with it. Thanks, DB!
The discrepancy between 10-20x and 200x zoom might stem from whether you're measuring length or area. 10x magnification in length is 100x magnification in area. 14.4x magnification in length is 200x magnification in area. That is, the area of the image goes as the square of the length of a line in the image.
Magnification isn't expressed by the increase of the area. If you want to learn more here is an optical engineer giving a good explanation from Edmonds Optics: www.edmundoptics.ca/knowledge-center/video/tutorials/how-to-determine-magnification-of-an-optical-lens-setup
You are right that magnification isn't usually expressed by the increase of the area, but in this case I think that is exactly what Apexel is doing since 200x sounds more impressive than 14x. It''s the same reason hard drive manufacturers decided a kilobyte was 1000 bytes when the rest of the computing world had settled on 1024. @@Doodlebud
It's not nearly strong enough. Like I showed this is only 20X magnification. You need around 400X to see some bacteria, but for most bacteria you need 1000X. That work requires a proper laboratory microscope
@@Doodlebud I did the same for years. I use Arkansas stones for my knives now and I finish my razors on a Belgian yellow coticule now. I’d love to go down the Japanese natural stones rabbit hole if I ever win the lottery.
Hi! Since you most definitely have red ink, you may want to peel a bit of that transparent skin off of an onion for it is only one cell thick, put it in alcohol for a minute or so, so it sucks the water out from the cells, and than soak it in red ink. Rinse. It will dye the cell membrane and nucleus. Onion cells are very large and easy to prepare. If you want, you can drop a drop of iodine on it. It will dye starch purple, and since it is packed in mitochondria, you'll be able to see it. I'd be very interested in seeing how would that look like using that little gadget. Cheers!
It being April1st today, I was waiting for a jump scare when you zoomed in on the money lol Thank for another always-thorough, always-engaging video! 👏👏
About 8:30 and "200X" mark vs the 20x magnification that it really has. My opinion is they mark it as 200X because of: a) marketing reasons; but there is an actual ground to the 200X because b) smartphones usually have the digital magnification of up to 10X. So they're using that fact to "boost" their marketing pitch because actually, technically and in theory - in the best case scenario - you should be able to combine 20x magnification from the gadget lenses and 10x digital magnification that your smartphone SW can achieve to get close to 200x magnification. But... There are problems, digital magnification isn't as good as optical, you have to have a good sensor in your camera, high resolution of the smartphone screen etc. etc. to be able to make that kind of stunt usable in practical terms. It certainly shouldn't be marked as "200X" if nothing else because not all smartphones are capable of doing 10x digital magnification that is usable for anything useful.
Switching brightness modes of the LED backlight is barely noticeable. That is, in the second brightness mode it shines almost the same as in the first (the difference in brightness is barely noticeable). Do you also?
Great review! Curious, you mentioned having to lay the lens directly on top of item to be magnified - when looking at nibs, I assume you can view it better when holding the lens above the nib, right? Meaning you're not putting it directly on top of the nib? Thanks again for ALL your amazing content!
i want to experiment with my phone it already has an amazing telephoto macro camera that can zooms 2x and focuses up to several milimeters in front of the camera and i wonder how it would look with this on top and if i could reach similar magnification with my 50mpx main lens, since the macro camera has less
Hi Doodlebud. This is unrelated to your video but I figured I'm most likely to catch you on a newer video than an old one. I'm wondering what is your favorite notebook/notebook cover/planner setup? Do you use a planner or journal? I've recently bought a roterfaden taschenbegleiter notebook cover but am wondering what kind of setup for writing/note taking/planning you prefer. Totally understand if you don't have time to respond, I have bothered you enough in the past through TH-cam comments and email lol
I've got the same case. Good case. The lens isn't bad too. Not greate but not bad. P.S. if you have any zoom lense put it on it, ex. S22 have x3 base zoom and I put this x20 and it takes pretty nice photos around x60.
There are numerous microscopes on Amazon that appear to be identical to the Apexel reviewed just under the different brands. Anything unique about the Apexel? Or is this just a generic Chinese made part that others buy and sell as their own. Nothing wrong with that if it works well. Just want to get a feel from others who tried the other brands.
@@3DEditor Macro lens can only do macro. Telephoto means to take far away objects and bring them closer, which cannot be done with a macro. You can do macro style shots with a telephoto but not the other way around. With this macro the object has to be almost touching the lens to get a clear image
@Doodlebud explaining the difference between macro and telephoto wasn't necessary. I've been filming and taking photos since the early 1980s, well aware of the difference. I asked the question, because there's an advertising video on social media that claims it can be used as a telephoto lens as well. I just wanted to see if the one you have is actually capable of telephoto.
@3DEditor oh ok no problem. Didn't know of your extensive background. Most viewers don't have that expertise with optics and toss around terms loosely. This is why I like to test claims because well... this sure wasn't 200X LOL. If someone is saying this macro can do telephoto I'd suspect they're talking BS or conflating terms. Sometimes postings or product listings just post all the buzzwords into one to get search engine results. Still a decent lens but no macro & telephoto 2-in-1. I have their 100mm macro lens too and I prefer that one as the working distance is better. I use that one the most frequently and only this one when I really need to get in there
Amazon advertises with device "with CPL" or "without CPL" but nowhere in the description doesn't it say what "CPL" is. What is "CPL"? Also, my Samsung S23+ has a .6, a 1x, and a 3x lens. If I place this device over my 3x lens does that mean I'll get 600x (advertised) but actually 60x magnification? Sorry for my ignorance but my degree is in Culinary not engineering or optics. 😁
Well they're vastly different. This is a pocket style accessory that clips on to a phone and has a fixed working distance. The Andonstar is a full stand-alone microscope system with monitor, multiple lenses, adjustable hight, and adjustable magnifications. Working distance has a huge range as well.
Yes, micro lens 20x only, but your phone can zoom in 10x so when zoomed in 10 times with your phone plus the micro lens makes it 200x, so it is misleading
The "10X" in the phone is not a real 10X. I believe beyond 2X its pixel interpolation. Proper optics should tell you the magnification the lens and the lens alone generates.
Even Trump admitted is was real, eventually. Off you go and check birth certs of Bush , Reagan and Clinton. Two of Trumps wives were not born in the US or his granddad.
Very cool. I'm impressed with how well that shows detail, even if it isn't 200x zoom.
It's a great portable clip on accessory
Im more impressed by your method of pixel measurement to calculate the true magnification
Its all pixels. If you can bring the problem you're trying to solve back to the lowest level or fundamental, the solution usually reveals itself.
Thanks for the video. Apexel should name that product "Apexel 20X LED Mobile Microscope Lens" to not mislead customers. The best "lingo" or naming convention is the one that conveys products as they really are.
@@kyrollos0208 The extra 10X to magnifications is done across the board with many products it seems. Figured I show people how it really works so they can be aware
@@Doodlebud Indeed. The method you showed where you compared the number of pixels in the images to determine the true magnification was useful.
That was a cleaver way to show the lens is 20x magnification by comparing pixel size. Not bad for the price and you can take nib pictures with it. Thanks, DB!
There's other software I could use but I like doing everything on my phone. So this was a quick easy way to do it 🤓
The x200 is a marketing term, they all lie.
Thank you for the review! I was looking for info on the real magnifying power of it.
it's not a blatant lie but another calculation method which doesn't make it much better
The discrepancy between 10-20x and 200x zoom might stem from whether you're measuring length or area. 10x magnification in length is 100x magnification in area. 14.4x magnification in length is 200x magnification in area. That is, the area of the image goes as the square of the length of a line in the image.
Magnification isn't expressed by the increase of the area. If you want to learn more here is an optical engineer giving a good explanation from Edmonds Optics:
www.edmundoptics.ca/knowledge-center/video/tutorials/how-to-determine-magnification-of-an-optical-lens-setup
You are right that magnification isn't usually expressed by the increase of the area, but in this case I think that is exactly what Apexel is doing since 200x sounds more impressive than 14x. It''s the same reason hard drive manufacturers decided a kilobyte was 1000 bytes when the rest of the computing world had settled on 1024. @@Doodlebud
@@elharo Well when I did my pixel measurement test to check things, it showed the magnified image increased the measurements by 20X not 14.4X.
Solid review. It's amazing what a cheap gadget can achieve these days.
Great review, can the Apexel 200X see bacteria ?
It's not nearly strong enough. Like I showed this is only 20X magnification. You need around 400X to see some bacteria, but for most bacteria you need 1000X. That work requires a proper laboratory microscope
I am very amazed at the clarity of the images that thing gives. Speaking of razors what stones do you use for your straight razors?
Same ones I use for my nibs & knives. For razors usually all I need is 4K & 8K and then stropping
@@Doodlebud I did the same for years. I use Arkansas stones for my knives now and I finish my razors on a Belgian yellow coticule now. I’d love to go down the Japanese natural stones rabbit hole if I ever win the lottery.
Hi!
Since you most definitely have red ink, you may want to peel a bit of that transparent skin off of an onion for it is only one cell thick, put it in alcohol for a minute or so, so it sucks the water out from the cells, and than soak it in red ink. Rinse. It will dye the cell membrane and nucleus. Onion cells are very large and easy to prepare. If you want, you can drop a drop of iodine on it. It will dye starch purple, and since it is packed in mitochondria, you'll be able to see it.
I'd be very interested in seeing how would that look like using that little gadget.
Cheers!
LOL that is a very specific test! Sounds like you're much more qualified than I am to do that test 😉
It being April1st today, I was waiting for a jump scare when you zoomed in on the money lol
Thank for another always-thorough, always-engaging video! 👏👏
I totally forgot it was April 1st!
@@Doodlebud Lol!
About 8:30 and "200X" mark vs the 20x magnification that it really has. My opinion is they mark it as 200X because of: a) marketing reasons; but there is an actual ground to the 200X because b) smartphones usually have the digital magnification of up to 10X. So they're using that fact to "boost" their marketing pitch because actually, technically and in theory - in the best case scenario - you should be able to combine 20x magnification from the gadget lenses and 10x digital magnification that your smartphone SW can achieve to get close to 200x magnification. But... There are problems, digital magnification isn't as good as optical, you have to have a good sensor in your camera, high resolution of the smartphone screen etc. etc. to be able to make that kind of stunt usable in practical terms. It certainly shouldn't be marked as "200X" if nothing else because not all smartphones are capable of doing 10x digital magnification that is usable for anything useful.
It's all about marketing. They should put a hot chick on the box as well.
They are lying. There is no justification.
Went in looking for opinions about this product and found a helpful way to estimate the actual magnification of my "15x" macro lens :p good stuff!
I come form the world of measurement systems so just had to test this out 🤓
Switching brightness modes of the LED backlight is barely noticeable. That is, in the second brightness mode it shines almost the same as in the first (the difference in brightness is barely noticeable). Do you also?
Yes I mentioned the in the review. It's at best about 10% stronger. The regular brightness I find is strong enough
A well done blade edge!
I try to keep them sharp 🔪
Great review! Curious, you mentioned having to lay the lens directly on top of item to be magnified - when looking at nibs, I assume you can view it better when holding the lens above the nib, right? Meaning you're not putting it directly on top of the nib? Thanks again for ALL your amazing content!
I had the phone in my tripod then held the nib very close up to the lens
@@Doodlebud perfect, thanks! That's what I was hoping to hear.
can this be used for taking picture of things real far away? used like binoculars?
No, as I showed this is meant for close up macro work. You need a telephoto lens for that
i want to experiment with my phone
it already has an amazing telephoto macro camera that can zooms 2x and focuses up to several milimeters in front of the camera
and i wonder how it would look with this on top
and if i could reach similar magnification with my 50mpx main lens, since the macro camera has less
Excellent review. I purchased one. Thanks!
Interesting, thank you!
Hi Doodlebud. This is unrelated to your video but I figured I'm most likely to catch you on a newer video than an old one.
I'm wondering what is your favorite notebook/notebook cover/planner setup? Do you use a planner or journal? I've recently bought a roterfaden taschenbegleiter notebook cover but am wondering what kind of setup for writing/note taking/planning you prefer.
Totally understand if you don't have time to respond, I have bothered you enough in the past through TH-cam comments and email lol
I like my Muji notebooks a bunch and don't do much journaling. But this I enjoy for that type of stuff.
th-cam.com/video/pWSPUVaAgeM/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for an extremely interesting video.
Wowie Zowie! Pretty neat Mr. DB. Gotta spend some money! One question: Is there any danger of scratching your Phone Screen with the attachment clip?
It's all plastic and there's also a foam pad where it clips on to the screen
I've got the same case. Good case. The lens isn't bad too. Not greate but not bad.
P.S. if you have any zoom lense put it on it, ex. S22 have x3 base zoom and I put this x20 and it takes pretty nice photos around x60.
Nice video!
There are numerous microscopes on Amazon that appear to be identical to the Apexel reviewed just under the different brands. Anything unique about the Apexel? Or is this just a generic Chinese made part that others buy and sell as their own. Nothing wrong with that if it works well. Just want to get a feel from others who tried the other brands.
Same make and model is called NanoZoom now. I wonder if it can do both macro and telephoto?
@@3DEditor Macro lens can only do macro. Telephoto means to take far away objects and bring them closer, which cannot be done with a macro. You can do macro style shots with a telephoto but not the other way around. With this macro the object has to be almost touching the lens to get a clear image
@Doodlebud explaining the difference between macro and telephoto wasn't necessary. I've been filming and taking photos since the early 1980s, well aware of the difference. I asked the question, because there's an advertising video on social media that claims it can be used as a telephoto lens as well. I just wanted to see if the one you have is actually capable of telephoto.
@3DEditor oh ok no problem. Didn't know of your extensive background. Most viewers don't have that expertise with optics and toss around terms loosely. This is why I like to test claims because well... this sure wasn't 200X LOL. If someone is saying this macro can do telephoto I'd suspect they're talking BS or conflating terms. Sometimes postings or product listings just post all the buzzwords into one to get search engine results. Still a decent lens but no macro & telephoto 2-in-1. I have their 100mm macro lens too and I prefer that one as the working distance is better. I use that one the most frequently and only this one when I really need to get in there
@Doodlebud I agree, and it's always good to do further research before believing any product claims.
I'm curious what phone are you using ?
I switch phones when my plan renews. When I did this video I think I had a Samsung but now I have a Pixel. They all work about the same
Amazon advertises with device "with CPL" or "without CPL" but nowhere in the description doesn't it say what "CPL" is. What is "CPL"? Also, my Samsung S23+ has a .6, a 1x, and a 3x lens. If I place this device over my 3x lens does that mean I'll get 600x (advertised) but actually 60x magnification? Sorry for my ignorance but my degree is in Culinary not engineering or optics. 😁
How would you rate this microscope compared to your Andonstar?
Well they're vastly different. This is a pocket style accessory that clips on to a phone and has a fixed working distance. The Andonstar is a full stand-alone microscope system with monitor, multiple lenses, adjustable hight, and adjustable magnifications. Working distance has a huge range as well.
Yes, micro lens 20x only, but your phone can zoom in 10x so when zoomed in 10 times with your phone plus the micro lens makes it 200x, so it is misleading
The "10X" in the phone is not a real 10X. I believe beyond 2X its pixel interpolation. Proper optics should tell you the magnification the lens and the lens alone generates.
1:50 ahahah best comment :)
I like how the little ant legs are sticking out from under it LOL
Does this work with Droid phones?
Yup, thats what Im using
Their advertisements says they could act like a telephoto lens. How?
Loop or Loupe?
Thx! That's what I get for editing my videos at 2am 😴
@@Doodlebud No worries! Great content!
That's not Chinese on the back. It's Japanese. Made in China, though....
Arigatō
Can I see micro organisms like amoeba?
Depends on the size of the amoeba. They can vary from 0.3mm down to a few microns. Again, this is only a 20X magnification
second
You talk too much and too long, waisting time. Why you don't come to the point and keep it short and clear all?
Boring !! Talk and do at the same time it`s! like a rerun every 30sec. UR Welcome
Would that work on Obama, barrack. Birth certificate look how ink bled in paper
Even Trump admitted is was real, eventually. Off you go and check birth certs of Bush , Reagan and Clinton. Two of Trumps wives were not born in the US or his granddad.