Just about everything I am building these days is SMD. Parts a cheap, you can get parts that would other wise be hard to find in through hole versions and there are still some large size packages around of nice parts to use that you just cannot find in through hole. And because I am building a hand held, SMD is compact is the order of the day. In fact, going forward I do not think I will be building anything through hole at all. I have really gotten the hang of this SMD stuff.
That said, as you get older, the eyes are not what they used to be. I wear glasses and often when working with smaller stuff its not the size that is the issue, its not enough lighting. I have been using this LED ring lamp for sometime, mostly as an over head light. But of late, I have been using its magnifying lens as well, its 8 or 10 times magnification and for hand soldering SMD parts its really come into its own and I do not think i could live with out it.
The lens is 5 inches in diameter, so you get a really nice field of view, i mean, i can stick my face right up to it and look through with both eyes and see everything I am doing, plus, the LED light is bright and white, with very little shadow, so its just about perfect. So if you are like me and need to get your eyes checked and reading prescription adjusted every couple of years, add in a magnifying LED lamp and make your life that little bit easier. From here the next step if a microscope and I think that is overkill unless you are doing much finer pitched work than this. If i ever want to use some of those really cool leadless package IC’s i might need one, but for now, this will do.
