A fellow reader has asked:
What kind of microscopes have artists purchased and what has been their experience with using a microscope? What tips do they have for its use? If you can not afford one, are there some places that allow you to use one?
Share your thoughts in the Comment box below.
ArtPlantae Today 
The dissecting microscope is the most useful for most artists — this uses incident light (light from above) and greatly enlarges things you can already see. They cost about twice as much as compound scopes because they are basically two microscopes in one. I bought a cheap one ($250) while I saved money and watched eBay, I tried other people’s scopes whenever I could (I know friendly bryologists, entomologists, ecologists). I liked the Wild M3Z (Z for zoom) and eventually found one for half its value. It had been adapted rather strangely and needed a bit of refurbishing by a microscope dealer in my area. Since then that it’s been perfect and I’m so happy to have it. I am also a naturalist, and I use it to look at flowers, mosses, lichens, insects, slime molds, and all kinds of other stuff. I hold a camera right up to the lens to take photographs, and keep a record of some specimens.
I use a Veho VMS-001 Digital Microscope. Inexpensive, fotos and video are stored on your computer for use at any time and you have the benefit of seeing on you computer screen. Love mine!