Julie, One of the biggest mistakes one can make when first starting out in LF is to mess around with one's ground glass. The advice given about not using too strong a loupe seems sound to me, but I would hold off for a bit before changing the screen you have or adding a Fresnel. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once your eyes have become accustomed to the darkness under the cloth, you will find it increasingly easier to focus. When you get into changing the gg or adding "brightening" screens, you run the risk of altering your gg alignment. If the plane on which you focus is not coincident with the surface of the film, you will never get a sharp image! I've witnessed people trading lenses like junk bonds, endlessly searching for a sharp one, when all the while, it was that confounded brightening screen they added to make it easier to focus that was causing the results of any lens they used to appear soft! Some folks have trashed piles of perfectly good film holders for the same reason, thinking that was the problem! I'm not saying this can't be done. I would just caution anyone replacing or changing a gg to consult with someone experienced in this area before proceeding.
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