Documentation? I suppose so. Assembly? Just what do you have in mind?
Soldering iron, tweezers, that sort of thing.
For photography, you will need macro spacers. I don't know what
terminology Nikon uses, but the idea is you increase the distance from
the back of the lens mount to the camera, which allows close focus but
ruins focus at infinity. If you google macrophotography could should
dig up something useful.
Yes. Some lenses have macro capability built in (a switch, for
example).
A crude equation to figure out the field of view is
[Focal Plane] / [Field of View] = [Focal Length] / [Distance to
Target]
"focal plane" is the dimension of the CCD sensor
"field of view" is the dimension of what you are photographing.
This equation is true at infinite distance, but it should get you in
the ball park for macrophotography. Generally a ring strobe is used to
illuminate the object. If the board is relatively flat, you might get
by with high intensity lights at each side.
You want some working space under the lens whatever the device is. A
ring illuminator (fiber optic, fluorescent or LED) is a possibility.
I really encourage you to get a microscope. I don't see how you can
repair a PCB with surface mount parts without one. A stereo scope is
about $300 or so at an electronics fleamarket, say B&L Stereozoom 3.
For example:
<
http://cgi.ebay.com/Olympus-SZ3060-Stereo-Microscope-on-Boom-
Stand_W0QQitemZ330199090722QQihZ014QQcategoryZ48740QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
What about this kind of thing?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-SMZ-2T-Trinocular-Stereo-Zoom-Microscope_W0...
Modern wirebonders seem to use monitors as well.
I'd really suggest trying to find one and play with it in person
rather than ebay, even if the cost is a bit higher. This is the kind
of item you buy once. Should you need more magnification, you can get
20x eyepieces.
I'm myopic so I can just get very close for moderately tiny parts, and
I've placed quite a few that way, but it's not convenient and risks
flux splashes in the eye or worse, and I end up inhaling more flux
fumes than I'd like. For micromachining I use one of those magnifying
lamps mostly to keep some glass between the sharp stuff and my eyes.
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
The macro lenses don't allow much working room. That is why you are
better off just using a "normal" lens and a spacer. The spacers are
just "air" and a bit of electronics for a modern camera.
I have some of the older "ring" CCFTs for illumination. I think today
you could just roll your own out of white leds.
The B&L Stereozoom are really designed for the assembly task. Lots of
working room. The Nikon you linked may not have enough working
distance.
I'm probably stating the obvious here, but you need a clear glass
filter over your optics, otherwise the optics will accumulate vapors
from the flux.
I still prefer the long arm and heavy base setup. You can place
"boxed" electronics underneath it.
Some of the "higher number" B&L Stereozooms have cheesy plastic parts
inside. I don't know the break point. I do know the Stereozoom 3 is a
battleship. If you work at it, you can probably piece together a
system, i.e. get the scope, arm, etc. individually. in my case, I
found one all set up, got to play with it in the flesh, and paid top
dollar. [$300 about 10 or so years ago.]
The video hookup is ok when you are interfacing with another person.
You know, you point at the screen, stuff like that. But there is
nothing like looking through optics directly
The magnifier you mentioned sounds like a Luxo (or Chinese copy). They
have their use, but since I got a microscope, the Luxo doesn't see
much action. ;-) They do get used on CSI all the time.
