Microscope Equipment¶

Published: 14 Oct 2026

My current setup is a KAISI S8 microscope with a MaAnt XJ-2 camera for electronics work, screenshots, recordings and sharing a live view.

KAISI S8¶

After researching the KAISI TX-350, several YCS models and other Chinese microscopes, I chose the S8. I had already tried a KAISI microscope and liked it. The S8 looked promising despite having little coverage at the time, and I found it for around €450 on AliExpress.

I think the S8 is a solid choice, and the alternatives below look promising too. I have not tried those models in person, so I cannot say which is better in a direct comparison.

KAISI S8 product page

Choosing a camera¶

I wanted at least 1080p at 60 fps and low HDMI latency so I could work from a monitor. During my research, I saw several microscope cameras using the Sony IMX678, which made it look like a promising sensor for 4K60.

MECHANIC MOS-8K¶

I bought the MOS-8K because it was advertised with that sensor, but I was disappointed. In my tests, the HDMI image showed repeated frames instead of the smooth 60 fps I wanted. I also disliked the image quality and USB experience.

The remote menu stopped working when connected to a PC over USB, and the 4K USB image showed strong colour banding.

MECHANIC MOS-8K product page

MaAnt XJ-2¶

The XJ-2 was much better: a good image, the smooth HDMI output I wanted and latency that felt low enough to work from the screen. USB works well for me too. It pairs nicely with the S8, and I would recommend it.

MaAnt XJ-2 product page

My HDMI sample below was recorded at 1080p60 through a Hagibis USB capture card, using a lossless recording in OBS, then converted to MP4 with FFmpeg. The camera was mounted on my KAISI S8.

Testing methodology and latency¶

For the frame-rate check, I placed a phone playing a 60 fps test video under the microscope and filmed the HDMI monitor with a high-frame-rate camera to look for repeated images.

For latency, I recorded a light switching on under the microscope and its image on the monitor together at 240 fps, then counted the frames between the two. Each recorded frame represents about 4.17 ms: delay = frame count / 240 × 1000.

Display / output	Counted frames	Delay
HDMI to Acer ET430K	About 18–19	About 75–79 ms
HDMI to my 170 Hz gaming monitor	About 14	About 58 ms
USB at 1080p, viewed in OBS on Acer ET430K	About 19	About 79 ms

The USB result includes PC processing, OBS and the Acer monitor, yet was effectively the same as direct HDMI to that monitor. 1080p60 over USB felt very responsive; 4K over USB had noticeably more latency, which I did not measure.

4K USB comparison¶

Here is my direct comparison of the XJ-2 and MOS-8K USB images.

Recommended viewing: NanoFix¶

I highly recommend NanoFix for microscope reviews, camera comparisons and electronics tools. These videos offer a closer look at alternatives I have not personally tested.