I’m thinking of making a soldering microscope from a Raspberry Pi (either a spare B+ I have or maybe a ZeroW). I had looked at Andonstar ADMSM201 or Lapsun 14MP HDMI 180x scopes, but they each have their limitations – crap software, tiny focal length requiring additional lenses, £200+ pricetags…..

So looking at it, I just have to buy a Pi camera module with a CS mount and a decent lens. Then I can either stream the display or plug into a HDMI monitor. Even without a Barlow lens I should get at least 20cm working area beneath the camera.

The only problem is how to mount it. I’m thinking of a threaded rod from a 3D printer attached to my wooden 3rd arm board and some sort of 3D printed bracket. I only really need up/down not left/right or forwards/backwards (I can just move whatever I’m soldering). I even thought of a laboratory retort stand.

I’m going to try without illumination initially, and potentially make something from a Neopixel ring that could be controlled by the Pi and potentially powered from the same USB supply.

BOM is currently:

I’ve made a pi camera to CS mount adaptor and I’ve also modified my Pi ZeroW case to include a screw-on CS mount adaptor and holes for a shutdown/reset button and wires for a Neopixel ring which I’ll probably use instead of a regular LED ring, or I may use a 12v PSU and some spare LED strip.