@wohali Actually my biggest hurdle right now with some SMD is seeing the parts. Do you own a USB viewer or do you have the full stereo microscope?
@wohali I missed out on a bunch of scopes years ago at a liquidation here. :-( I'll go look on epay since it's a PITA without.
@Dianora My vision is nearly perfect, just a correctable astigmatism in one eye. So I can see these 3216 resistors and capacitors just fine. I'll probably be OK down to 2012 and 1608 unaided.
But I do have an antique stereo microscope that I can use if necessary, a Bausch and Lomb Stereozoom 4 with an X-Y boom stand that I got from a warehouse liquidation. It's a bit misaligned and needs some TLC. Looks like you can get 'em for $100 on eBay if you hunt.