I decided to treat myself to a good optical 'scope that was within my price range - and this did the trick! Firstly, it was dispatched very quickly and the packaging was amazing! Polystyrene inside a wooden case. When I set it up and viewed the 'sample' slides/preparations that came with it, I could not believe the clarity of the image! I have used the immersion-oil on the 1000x plus magnification and it works great! I also bought a digital camera attachment with the help of the company; Apex Microscopes [who were most helpful, I would like to add]. From an engineering point-of -view, it is a work of art! All the controls are precision built and really smooth. I would highly recommend this 'scope or any other from Apex to the buyer. It is lab-quality available to the home-user! Cheers all!