Stereo microscope magnification is a combination of the eyepiece magnification (most commonly 10x) and the objective lens magnification (typically anywhere between 0.7x - 5x). If you are using a stereo microscope with 10x eyepieces and the zoom knob is set to 4x, the total magnification formula would look like this:
10 x 4 = 40x magnification
![stereo microscope magnification image]( "Calculating stereo microscope magnification") |
| Eyepiece Magnification x Objective Lens Magnification = Stereo Microscope Magnification |
The other addition that can alter total magnification is if the stereo microscope has an
auxiliary lens added to it. If this is the case, the auxiliary lens is also multiplied into the equation. Say you are using a stereo microscope with 10x eyepieces, the zoom knob is set to 5x and you also have a 0.3x auxiliary lens on the microscope. Total magnification would be determined with the following formula:
10 x 5 x 0.3 = 15x magnification
![stereo microscope auxiliary lens image]( "stereo microscope auxiliary lens") |
| Stereo Microscope Auxiliary Lens |
![microscope eyepiece magnification]( "Microscope eyepiece magnification") |
| Microscope Eyepiece Magnification of 10x |
Often the magnification of the microscope eyepiece will follow the letters "WF", depicting a Widefield eyepiece.
![zoom microscope knob image]( "Stereo zoom microscope adjustment") |
| Stereo Zoom Microscope Knob for adjusting Zoom Magnification |
The adjustment for the zoom objective lens value is found on the side of the microscope and the corresponding objective number is printed on the knob.
On a basic stereo microscope setup, to determine total magnification simply look at the magnification on the eyepiece and on the zoom knob. Stereo microscope auxiliary lenses are only usually used when the
working distance needs to be adjusted or in some cases if magnification is being pushed quite high. For questions about stereo microscope magnification
contact Microscope World.
