Maybe more detail than you wanted but.

We have an Olympus MX50 with a Dage MTI color CCD sensor, a Prior XYZ stage
and Image Pro for image analysis.

The Olympus is great.  An erect, stereo image (when you move right, the
image moves right).  We have a 5 turrent scope with computer control of the
turrent so you can  find a feature at low res, than switch to 500 or 1000x.
The optics are excellent IMHO and the local rep (Leeds) has provided very
good optical microscope support.  If you need back lighting, be sure to
specify it.

The Dage MTI camera is good though I may be having a problem tiling
multiple images into a single larger image due to a subtle degradation in
the sensor.  I tile images to acquire a large area at high resolution for
inspection/documentation purposes.

The Prior XYZ stage is very good for precision but the RS232 serial line
for computer control [log in to unmask]  Strongly ask for a computer interface board
for control.  We purchased an XY stage with absolute encoders so there is a
absolute (0,0) accurate to about a micron over 6 inches.  Z is relative and
I am trying to get better Z resolution using a shorter working length
objective.

Image Pro is a general image processing language which is quite powerful
once you get over the learning curve.  You can write macros in visual basic
to do repetitivetasks which has been quite useful for quality control. Of
course you can save pictures for pre or post failure analysis.  I have
found that saving many images of a part before testing is very helpful
since I at least don't know where flaws will appear.  Image Pro sells Scope
Pro which should drive the scope hardware though I was dissatisfied with
its performance and we have an alternative.

The bad news is that the MX50 is quite expensive, but as with most things
you get what you pay for.

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