Best place to get a good loupe

[Lenny Eiger]

I saw a nicer loupe than mine the other day and thought it might be nice to upgrade. (Being a good tool junkie.)

Can someone tell me where the best place to et a great loupe is? It would be nice if there was a store in the Bay Area that had Rodenstock, Schneider and Mamiya loupes that I could see.

Barring that, maybe some great view camera store?

Ideas?


Lenny
EigerStudios

[tgtaylor]

I've been eyeing this loupe for several years now - ever since it was priced at $99 - but so far have stuck with the $39 Toyo loupe that I purchased with my first LF camera - a new Toyo 45CF. You may possibly find this at a bay area supplier such as K&S in Palo Alto, Looking Glass in Berkeley or Adolph Gasser in San Francisco.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._4x_Loupe.html

[Leigh]

A great loupe? Depends on your budget.

A nice Rodenstock 6x Aspheric lists for about $500, although you can find it cheaper http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ric_Loupe.html

- Leigh

[Daniel Stone]

for camera, or darkroom use?

I have a schneider loupe that I use, but I've personally been considering buying a $25 PEAK linen tester. It takes up much less room in the bag.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...en_Tester.html

-Dan

[Richard Mahoney]

Dear Lenny,

I saw a nicer loupe than mine the other day and thought it might be nice to upgrade. (Being a good tool junkie.)

Can someone tell me where the best place to et a great loupe is? ...

Barring that, maybe some great view camera store?

Ideas?

To my mind this is about as good as it gets, with the ground glass or with a transparency in front of a lamp



I bought one from this crowd for next to nothing:

Linen Tester TT61 :: Conservation Supplies
http://www.conservationsupplies.co.nz/lines/487.html

The fellow who sometimes makes drum scans for me seems to have one permanently in his pocket, though I think the bottom part of the stand has (been?) broken off.


Kind regards,

Richard

[Bob Salomon]

Bear Images, Keeble % Schuchat, Cameras West

[Preston]

A nice Rodenstock 6x Aspheric lists for about $500...
- Leigh

Boy, now that would throw your pocket book for a loupe, wouldn't it!

--P

[Bob Salomon]

A great loupe? Depends on your budget.

A nice Rodenstock 6x Aspheric lists for about $500, although you can find it cheaper http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ric_Loupe.html

- Leigh

The 4x Rodenstock Aspheric full frame 35mm loupe, with sliding skirt, lists for $213.99 and a Wista 5X Focusing loupe with clear and opaque skirts lists for $65.00 and the 7x Telescoping one lists for $140.99 so there are ones for all budgets. The Gepe 8x Agfa type is less then $15.00.

[Lenny Eiger]

for camera, or darkroom use?
I have a schneider loupe that I use, but I've personally been considering buying a $25 PEAK linen tester. It takes up much less room in the bag.
-Dan

That would be for the ground glass....

I have a Mamiya for the light table, a big 6x7 one I got in a rebate once... It's amazing in contrast to the plastic junk I used to use. Nothing like glass....

Lenny

[Mark Tweed]

Lenny,

I have the Rodenstock 4X loupe, the one listed for $150 at B&H, and have been extremely pleased with it. With nicely coated glass elements, it's lightweight, sharp, focusable and compact. So that I could snug it up into the corners of the ground glass even tighter, I removed the sliding outer black shade (it moves up and down allowing or blocking light as desired) and simply added carefully positioned black craft tape to the inside of the frosted sleeve to achieve the same effect.

Fortune smiled on me as I found one on Craigslist for a song.

wishing you a similar find,


Mark