Digital USB microscopes are quite popular, but integrated digital cameras are usually a bad idea! Even in the old days, photomicroscopes with built-in camera systems meant that if the camera had problems, the whole microscope had to be sent in for repair. These days, that potential problem is compounded by the fact that digital camera technology changes so rapidly that they become obsolete in just a few years, whereas a good microscope should last a minimum of ten years, and many are still in use after 20 years or more.

It costs just about the same to get a trinocular microscope with a separate camera and C-mount. Then, if the camera dies or is incompatible with the next big computer operating system upgrade, you can just replace the camera and keep working.

Despite the popularity of these, we typically do not recommend a microscope with a built-in digital camera.