A compound light microscope uses two lenses at the same time to view objects-the objective lens, which gathers light and magnifies the image of the object, and the ocular lens, which one looks through and which further magnifies the image. ... it also allows light to pass to the ocular lens.
The classic compound microscope magnifies in two steps : first with an objective lens that produces an enlarged image of the object in a "real" image plane. This real image is then magnified by the ocular lens or eyepiece to produce the virtual image. Two convex lenses can form a microscope.
