So, I'm a cheapskate, and my vision isn't the best. Add the fact that SMT soldering is really hard without magnification, and I decided to buy one of those crappy 14$ USB microscopes on ebay, and it was kinda disappointing.

The lens mechanism and focal distance was pretty nice, but the sensor is only 640 by 480 and has really poor light characteristics. I also however have an old lifecam studio that picked up on sale a while back, and I never use it.

I looked around online to see if the lifecam had been converted to a microscope, and it has. There is a kit out there you can buy, but the lens cost $50!!! And its only fixed focal distance! Jeez, what a rip off. After taking apart the crappy microscope, I noticed that it would be possible to Frankenstein the two together and create the exact thing that is being sold, a fixed focal distance microscope that gives you plenty of room to get soldering tools under, and has a full HD picture with decent response time!