"inspection microscopes" are usually larger, more precision, offer both low and high magnification,
and have stereo vision, to provide the best possible image quality to inspect equipment for condition and
search for defects.
Due to their design, they usually have a short focal length, requiring the head to be moved in very close
to the piece being worked on, leaving little room to use tools on the piece. The optics can also be
more delicate, so they have to be handled more gently and you need to protect them from exposure to solder
and dust accumulation. Due to their weight, they're often provided on counter-weighted heads that can be
swung around and over large pieces such as computer motherboards.
These are often used in the semiconductor industry to examine wafers or manufactured circuit boards. The
magnification isn't intended to be very high, and the stereo lenses make looking at something very clear.
There's a third port at the top that you can connect by bypassing one of the eyepieces, to send to a digital
camera that can save still images or video to an SD card. The camera also has a live feed HDMI that I have
going to a flat screen on a swing arm above my workspace. It's not stereo of course, but can still be very
helpful.
I had problems initially with the camera "locking up" during use, and it turned out to be from the ring light,
which was using harsh PWM to control the intensity of the lights through its power cable, which I had
bundled together with the video cable going to the camera. It was coupling enough interference that it would
eventually disrupt the camera, requiring a power-cycle. I fixed it with a choke at the light control box.
I was planning on using it while soldering, but I've been a bit worried about splattering rosin up onto one
of the lenses in the head, (which would be extremely difficult to safely clean off) plus the head has to get
pretty close to the board, leaving little room for a soldering iron or rework wand.
For soldering, I've picked up an all-in-one screen/microscope that has an extraordinarily long focal distance,
and sits about a foot up from my work, which ends up being better for soldering.
