I'm looking for a high quality loupe for examining negatives and prints. My Focusing aid is a Peak Model II which provides a 10x magnification. I'm looking at these 2 loupes:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ale_Loupe.html and https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ale_Loupe.html.
What do you think?
Thomas
For examining negatives/prints IMHO we need different loupes of different power.
We want a powerful loupe to see the negative ultimate quality but we also want to see the negative with the magnification that matches the enlargement we plan, just to guess if at that enlargement the print will look sharp at reading distance.
So, IMHO, best is having a good 10x loupe, but also a collection of some (say) x2 to x60 very cheap loupes that at least are acceptable in the center, say some 6 loupes in total.
I find that:
x10: the workhorse
x60: It allows to see the grain structure of different films, and we require that to know how crazy sharp is a 8x10 contact copy beyond what human eye may see. For roll film it may be substituted by a semi-toy microscope.
x2: IMHO it is perfect to see if a print is perfectly sharp at reading distance, for "quality control", a 1.5x also it would be good, this can be substituted by cheap reading glasses.
X other: Useful to preview how sharp the print will be at reading distance with a planned enlargement factor.
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We also can preview in a monitor how the enlarged print will be from an scan...
Neither one is for checking focus or transparencies. For these you need a loupe that does not have a clear bottom you need an opaque base.
Normally a 4 to 6x loupe is all you need. 6x is like looking at a 24x30” print.
IMO, best loupe made was the Schneider 6x Aspheric, Second to that would be the Schneider 4x. Decades ago when the better loupe had great value, Schneider 4x was the industry standard of excellence. Then Schneider offered the Aspheric 6x, which was that much better than the 4x. The Schneider 6x Aspheric was excellent from center to edge of the entire loupe image. Both loupes had a interchangeable diffusor or opaque base which is mandatory for viewing film on a light table or print in controlled lighting. These are no longer made by Schneider, do look for a good used one.
Rodenstock also made an Aspheric loupe, it was not good.
Peak made and continues to make a variety of loupes, they were OK.
Horseman makes a 7x ground glass focusing loupe, it's good.
Nikon offered an interchangeable base opaque or diffusor base loupe for a short time.
Fujifilm gave away free 4x loupes with purchase of their film. These were surprisingly good in many ways.
Short focal length lenses (less than 35mm) can make VERY GOOD loupes.
2.5x to 4x microscope objectives also work as good loupes, but generally too small.
Cemented achromats from a number of optical suppliers can be made into good loupes.
There were loupes with higher magnification made by Schneider, Peak and a host of others. Magnification is no where as important as loupe image resolution, contrast, color fidelity, distortion, overall clarity. For any magnification larger than 6x, get a proper high quality microscope which is the proper optical tool for that specific type of subject viewing.
Bernice
Rodenstock made 4x and 6x aspheric loupes and they were very good, so good that after they became available Schneider had to update their older loupes to catch up. So good that manufacturers like Sinar sold them under their name.Originally Posted by Bernice Loui
Used / had a Rodenstock 4x Aspheric loupe, did not like it at all. The Schneider 4x has a better image.
Regardless of brand and all that, Loupes for photographic work must have a opaque and diffusor base and focusable.
Bernice
You may not have liked it but thousands of others, pros, labs, libraries, museums, government, business, newspapers, art directors, magazines, amateurs, etc. did.
Among other benefits there was no skirt to lose and much greater eye relief.
I'm sure Rodenstock sold thousands of them. How many Agfa 8x loupes and others like them were sold?
Kinda depends on user expectations, experience and much more, no?
Bernice
Just to be clear, I am not looking for a loupe for checking focusing on the GG - I have a Toyo 3.9x loupe that does that job and the general consensus is that magnification beyond 4x on the GG is counterproductive. I am looking for a loupe to examine negatives and prints with. I use a 10x focusing aid to focus on the easel and my initial inclination is that a 10x loupe would be a good match as it would seem to show what the focusing aid will show. At this time I can't see the benefit of a 15x loupe.
Bob: I have a Cabin loupe for looking at 6x7 slides.
Thomas
for negs on a light table, I use a Pentax 5.5x loupe. crisp, huge view and adjustable.
notch codes ? I only use one film...
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