High power or Compound microscopes are used for examining slide preparations of very thin objects, or slices through larger objects, flattened objects or things which are themselves microscopic. Even at their lowest magnifications they have virtually no depth of focus and cannot be used for examining whole objects with any degree of success. Slide preparations are illuminated from beneath and have to be thin enough to be transparent. Compound microscopes have a turret arrangement to allow different objectives to be rotated into use, a stage for holding the slides and some form of under stage lighting such as a mirror or in built illumination. A typical magnification range may extend from x40 upto x1000.

Monocular, binocular and trinocular forms are available and the binocular and trinocular forms are often confused with stereomicroscopes simply because they both have two eyetubes. The choice of compound microscope really depends on the budget figure and the magnification required. However all have standard RMS glass lenses irrespective of price. Binocular compound microscopes are much more expensive than monocular instruments because of the prism arrangement in the head to allow both eyes to be used is a fairly complex system. Binocular microscopes do not necessarily give a better image than monocular, but they do prevent eye strain if the microscope if to used for very long periods, and they are generally only available on the more expensive models. The choice is related to budget and monocular types can be perfectly adequate for most amateur applications.

The choice of a high power or compound microscope can also be effected by the range of applications available and whether or not more specialised techniques such a phase contrast and dark ground work are required. A scan of the accessories list for each model will show the potential applications. Photography and CCTV can be carried out on virtually all the microscopes in our range and the various attachments are listed.