Choosing a microscope

definitely the first one

swift is a Chinese brand - but at least its one with a semblance of brand recognition and some resale value

its also the only one with a proper condenser which will impact image quality

the things you will be looking at will be near the resolution limit for light microscopy - and this is where the quality matters most

by the way the 2000x and 2500x magnification is a sales gimmick - the image will be larger than the image at 1000x - but the resolution is no better

the other feature i would highly recommend is the ability to take photographs of what you see
the reason you need these is you will need to educate yourself and compare details of what you see with reference images - and since this takes time and you really need what you saw in front of you while you do it - and to be able to come back to it later - you need a photograph - may not seem like it now - but trust me on this.

you may also wish to share image here or with others for input - and again need a photograph for that

its possible to make a rig to mount an iphone - but its a hassle and not ideal from an image quality perspective - so if buying a new scope and know you need photos you may as well buy one with a trinocular head and camera in the package as they are cost effective to do this way.

Swift will do suitable packages with camera - 5Mega pixels is enough

also helps selling on later

there is a v long microscopy tread on here that documents my own learning curve from total novice to reasonably skilled - and definitive diagnosis of bartonella using microscopy along the way - will save you many many hours of discovering it all for your self from scratch - link in my signature

hope its of some help

well done!

just some basic reagents / lab supplies
- giemsa stain powder* - suppliers on ebay
- immersion oil ( some should come in the kit with the scope ) - if not 5ml of thick type synthetic is best
- lab grade 99.99% methanol to dissolve stain in - and for fixing slides prior to staining - ebay labs supplies
- some clean pipettes for drip staining - disposable are fine - ebay or AliExpress are the least expensive
- some clean glass jars for rinsing slides in after staining - i used jam jars thoroughly cleaned
- filter paper for straining stain - if mixing own
- glass or plastic funnel to hold filter paper for filtering stain
- a Koplin jar - its much better for staining via immersion vs dripping - but you can start with dripping - i just
found it causes way more artefacts ( and these are in general the bane of microscopy work on blood )
- the guides say to use pH Buffered distilled water for rinsing and developing the colours in the Gimesa - but its not typically far from the range most tap water will be in - so you may be able to get away with that - i did

*i have not found a good place to buy ready mixed stain - so i have been mixing my own - which is a bit of a PITA - i recall DCD found a supplier of ready mixed giemsa type stain in the USA
suppliers of stain powder on ebay -
you will need glass beads to aid the mixing process

i think the link to the WHO guides on mixing the stain and using it may be in that post i mentioned - if not let me know and i will find them

top tips
1, be sure to go to town on cleaning the slides well with washing up liquid and water and then again with methanol prior to doing smears - as otherwise the blood will "fish eye" with any trace of grease

2a, buy some slides with ground edges - you need at least one of these for doing the smears - as rough as-cut edges will not smear evenly enough to be useful.

2b, learn the technique for doing a thin blood smear - practice it many times before getting acceptable smears to stain - see youtube for instructional vids - again i think there is a link in the thread i linked

3, cleanliness / avoiding any contamination is important as every spec of dust, fibre or contaminant can look like bacteria or parasites and lead you astray - so you need to be certain what is on your slide came from you blood - not the reagents or the environment

its a learning curve - but a rewarding one...

good luck!