Loupe for wide-angle lenses?

[Leigh]

OK. I was thinking it was 8x, but it's only 6x.

Good luck in the quest.

- Leigh

[John Kasaian]

I've used a 9x Agfa for many years and it works fine as long as I don't heed the wierdness on the fringe.
Ron Wisner uses a linen tester instead of a loupe, that might be worth considering---look at Anchor Optics or Edmund Scientific on the web.

[Doremus Scudder]

I use 8x and 10x loupes, often in conjunction with 4-diopter reading glasses. What helps me is having a loupe I can tilt when examining the edges of images from short focal-length lenses. Tilting loupes are nice, but I just use the shorter Peak/Nikon loupes meant for slide viewing and hold them reversed and not touching the ground glass. Yes, you have to move back and forth to find the plane of focus, but this is pretty easy. Once you have the loupe at the right distance and the right angular orientation, focusing is really a lot easier.

Best,

Doremus

[Kodachrome25]

This is exactly how I have been doing it with my small Peak 10x and 15x loupes. Now I have my 45N-2 with the fresnel and protective layer which adds evenness and brightness, but takes away a lot of snap...not so sure I am digging it as much as a regular ground glass...

I use 8x and 10x loupes, often in conjunction with 4-diopter reading glasses. What helps me is having a loupe I can tilt when examining the edges of images from short focal-length lenses. Tilting loupes are nice, but I just use the shorter Peak/Nikon loupes meant for slide viewing and hold them reversed and not touching the ground glass. Yes, you have to move back and forth to find the plane of focus, but this is pretty easy. Once you have the loupe at the right distance and the right angular orientation, focusing is really a lot easier.

Best,

Doremus

[Ari]

Thanks to all for your help and insights.
I should be ordering the 12x loupe from Edmund Sci. Co. but please keep sending any recommendations.

Thanks

[John Kasaian]

Don't use a loupe and just call it "bokeh"

[Ari]

Don't use a loupe and just call it "bokeh"

I've been doing that for years; maybe when I'm 80 people will recognize my avant-garde genius.

[Peter Hamilton]

May I make a suggestion that some LF users may find useful? Instead of a loupe I use off-the-shelf reading spectacles, the strongest I can find (usually +3.5 diopter but you can get +4.00) with all my cameras (Technika, Kardan Color, and converted Polaroid 110A - and I've also tried this with a borrowed 10x8). It means I can do very critical focus on the ground glass (even without a focusing cloth if the light conditions are right) and yet see the whole picture. Such glasses are very cheap to buy anywhere and pretty much disposable - whereas if I lost my Schneider 4x Loupe that would be a big hole in the pocket to replace!
If you are committed to loupes my suggestion is to use a low-power one (i.e. the Schneider 4x) for two reasons. One, it offers a larger field of view, and secondly it is is a big enough object not to be too fiddly in use and readily droppable.

[Ari]

Thanks, Peter; I already use a cheap but excellent Peak 5x, and reading glasses are out of the question for me.
I find I am not nailing the focus when using wides, hence the need for more magnification.

[Steve Barber]

I have the same problem as you and he and what Peter Hamilton suggests is what works for me. If you have not tried it, take a suitable test target to your local drug store and try it with a pair. If it does not look like it will help, don't buy them--just don't reject his suggestion out of hand without trying it.