Today I took some photos from common SMD components using a microscope. From naked eye, this components look so tiny and fascinating perfect. Looking at them using a microscope, they do not look that perfect anymore.

I cropped the pictures to make the picture better visible at lower resolutions. I always put a scale, which measures 1mm, on each photo. See each picture caption for a description of the component and more details.

Resistor with 0603 package. Dimensions are 1.6 mm × 0.8 mm.

Resistor with 1206 package. Dimensions are 3.2 mm × 1.6 mm.

Diode with 1206 package. Dimensions are 3.2 mm × 1.6 mm.

Red LED with 1206 package. Dimensions are 3.2 mm × 1.6 mm.

A SOP16 IC. 16 legs with a spacing of 1.27 mm.

ESD foam.

A “regular” through hole resistor for comparison.

The precision of a laser etching on a smart phone for comparison.