Macro and Photomicroscopy ( using a microscope )
In the production of photomicrographs
Here you can see a pair of Single BC108 NPN transistors, each inside its own metal protective 'Can' arranged on a PCB to form a simple AND Gate there is a human hair in the shot which gives some indication of scale and the need to remove as much dust and debris from subjects before photographing.
When you need to image the actual transistor inside the 5mm diameter metal 'Can' magnifications greater than 10x actual size are required.
This is when using a Microscope or similar techniques become a much more practical proposition, you can see below a photograph of the actual 'NPN' transistor.
Slightly more complex transistorised integrated circuit
In 2011 the latest Intel 'Poulson' chip has eight cores and a total of 3.1 billion transistors on a chip measuring 18.2mm x 29.9mm.
http://www.microscopyu.com/sitemap.html
http://www.olympusmicro.com/primer/photomicrography/index.html