I usually use an optical microscope at work. Makes hand eye coordination better so even if my hands are shaky, I can solder 0402 easily. Digital scopes are pretty hard to use on account of the lag
SMT ICs I check back with the microscope after reflow / rework
Considering getting one for home use but I dont have the space. Need to make like 20k more a year to be able to afford renting somewhere and got knows how things will go the next couple of years
I work in an electronics plant and the optical scopes we use there are super nice. Back when I was an inspector I regularly used them to hand solder stuff as small as 0201 LEDs. I’ll grab a pic and a model number on monday when I go back in. The ones we use are ancient at this point (I wanna say they were purchased in the 90s) so you could probably find that exact model second hand for super cheap.
I agree on the digital scopes too. They can be nice just for inspection, but when it comes to actual rework they’re basically unusable. We don’t use them at all, of course that’s mainly because all of our non rework inspection is done using AOIs. If you frequently have to hand inspect small quantities without doing rework then maybe a digital scope would still be worthwhile.
Update: So I can’t post pics because I forgot we have our company logo on the asset tags on all the scopes and I don’t feel like doxing myself too much. But the scopes are the Meiji EMZ-5 model. Unfortunately it looks like that model still goes for $500 used at the bare minimum goes for around $2000-$3000 new. I figured they would be way cheaper than that considering how old they are but I guess not. For lighting we use Scienscope IL-LED-R2. Apparently those are also not cheap but they do work pretty well.