Loupe Recommendation

[Steve J Murray]

Hi Jeff,

My camera store didn't have the Toyo or Silvestri, so I've never seen them. I ended up buying a 50 dollar loupe for viewing slides (8X) and found it required perfect alignment of my eye for sharp viewing. That was frustrating under the GG. Instead of spending hundreds on a really good high power loupe, which is what I wanted, I designed and fabricated my own using a used 28mm lens from a 35mm camera. The result is perfect, sharp optics, view from any angle or distance, nice adjustable focus range for use with or without reading glasses, and about 16X, which leaves not doubt when something is in focus or not. I posted the idea with photos on Photonet here: http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005cZe

A lower power loupe could easily be made the same way using a 35mm or 50mm lens, BTW.

[Paul Butzi]

One loupe worth considering (and, as it happens, my current favorite) is the Calumet 7x focusing loupe. $45 from calumet. It comes with a spiffy leather case (which I threw in the junk drawer), and both clear and opaque skirts. The focus of the loupe is adjustable, which is nice. 7x seems just about right to my eyes.

Before I bought this loupe, I used the Toyo 4x long barrel thing, which I still use in cold weather since it keeps your face a bit farther from the GG and thus cuts down on condensation.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

To Steve Murray : I agree that a photographic lens designed for 35 mm photography and used reversed (focus->infinity) is a good choice as a high performance loupe, you could not find something better corrected from aberrations to cover a 24x36 mm format. Excellent suggestion when you see those tons of used 35mm lens equipment that nobody wants.

However I do not understand where your "16X" magnification factor comes from. The "commercial magnification" factor engraved on loupes is, to the best of my knowledge, simply another way to tell what is the focal length, and, at least in France, the rule is : 1x / f=250mm, 5x / f=50 mm, so for a 28 mm I would expect something like a 9X loupe. The idea is to compare the angle under which an object is seen through the loupe with respect to the same object seen with the naked eye from a conventional distance of 250mm.

[Graeme Hird]

I am another that uses a junked lens from a 35 mm camera. Mine is a 50 mm yashica lens cut down and mounted in a black 35 mm film canister. It works beautifully and cost me nothing.

Cheers,

[Jon_2416]

>You should put some tape (masking, plastic, paper, or otherwise) on the base of >all loupes and trim the excess. Some plastics are harder than other plastics and >will scratch softer Fresnel lenses. I have tape on the base of my Silvestri.

>--Steve Baggett, 2003-11-05 01:08:18

Nope. I have to say this is where Silvestri dropped the ball. I don't think I should have to do anything to a $70 loupe designed for ground glass viewing in order to use it.

The Toyo has a rubber base--you don't need to add anything to it for it to work correctly.

[Steve J Murray]

In response to Emmanuel, I only estimated the 16X based on a side by side comparison with the 8X commercial loupe I have. The same image on the ground glass with the 8X loupe is about twice as big/close when viewed through my home made loupe with the 28mm lens. There is definitely a lot more magnification. I think when you look through a lens backwards, the calculations are different from the intended viewing direction on a camera. Just casual testing with 50mm lens looking through it backwards gives much less magnification than the 28mm. In other words, the smaller the focal length, the more magification when looking through it backwards. A person with familiarity with lens physics could probably tell us why it works that way.

[Ron Bose]

Hi All,

I have the same Rodenstock which Neil has, but my favorite is the all rubber Corfield sold by Ted Bromwell.

It's eye piece is a magnifier lens from an RB67 viewfinder.

It's also big enough to look at 6x7 negs too ...