Looks like I need a better microscope soon. Must be up to 500x or so and top light or EPI since none of the things I am looking at are translucent. Oil immersion microscopy is generally not possible in my cases either. I guess that means metallurgical microscope versus biological (slides). Needs to have USB camera and it would be nice if the microscope wasn't the usual octopus-style monster. Color aberrations and such don't matter much.
I could not find a reasonably priced OMAX. Is AmScope good? There are often no reviews and the ones I saw are like a large octopus with protrusions and cables:
This OMAX looks really nice but no decent top lighting possible I guess :-(