Levenhuk 5ST Stereo Microscope

The 5ST is a binocular stereo microscope for looking at solid objects in 3D, and it's the one to choose over the 2ST if you want the light built in. It has LED lights above and below the stage with adjustable brightness, so it shows a beetle or a coin lit from above and a leaf or a thin slice of mineral lit from beneath. Magnification is 20x and 40x, from 2x and 4x objectives and two 10x eyepieces.

The working distance is 160 mm, against 60 mm on the 2ST, so a fossil, a watch movement, a piece of jewellery or a folded textile fits on the stage with room to work around it, and the focus wheel travels 100 mm to match. The body is metal, the eye spacing adjusts from 54 to 76 mm, and the stage takes a matte glass plate or a black and white plate depending on which way the object is lit.

It runs from mains power with no battery option and weighs just over 5 kg boxed, so it belongs on a desk rather than in a bag. Levenhuk says the magnification can't be raised above 40x and the eyepieces are built in. For cells and pond life you need a compound microscope instead, and our types guide explains the difference.