Loupe with glasses

[Sean Galbraith]

I wear prescription glasses (-4.00). Does this change which loupe I should get? (I've never used one before)

[kub]

I have the prescription and use a 4x loop happily. Anything between 4x 6x should do. I prefer is 4x, anything more you just see more the grit on gg.

[Gem Singer]

Just make sure the loupe that you purchase has an adjustable diopter setting.

Most high end loupes have this feature.

We encountered a similar problem last Sat. My friend forgot his glasses and we had to readjust his focusing loupe to match his eyesight.

His loupe had been adjusted to match his prescription glasses.

He could then see to focus, but still had difficulty composing on the ground glass without his glasses.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Being myself short-sighted I would recommend a loupe with a large exit lens element (eyepiece) so that you can use it either with glasses on or without.
Many loupes have an eyepiece with a small diameter, in this case with your glasses on, you'll loose some image field.
Suffering from astigmatism as well as being short-sighted I keep my glasses on for focusing, so some viewfinder or loupes are almost useless to me if I use too much of the available field.

And I would second Gem's advice, prefer a loupe with adjustable diopter setting, so that you can use it either with your glasses on or not.

[Warren Clark]

Sean,
My optometrist-who is also a LF photographer- recently made me an
excellent pair of flip down magnifiers for ground glass focusing. They
have a high quality lightweight titanium frame and have quickly become
one of my valued and usable accessories.

Warren Clark
Ft. Collins, Colo.

[Sean Galbraith]

Warren: Can you post a photo of them?

Looking at the price of loupes... boy, there is quite the range in prices. While I'm sure the $140 Roden would work amazingly, would a $10 one not function, albeit with compromise on my part perhaps?

[Warren Clark]

Sean,
Not able to post a photo but I can arrange something- also if you want I can
get you contact with my optometrist and he can give you further details.
send me a pm and I can contact you later.

Warren Clark

[Darin Boville]

I would be interested in a flip-down magnifier solution for eyeglasses as well. I use reading glasses (sometimes) and it would be nice not to have to go back and forth between reading glasses/loupe/no glasses all the time.

--Darin

[Sean Galbraith]

Are they essentially a higher quality version of this:

http://media.uxcell.com/i/07d/ux_a07110800ux0034_ux_c.jpg

[ic-racer]

Get a loupe with a good adjustable focus range. I'm around -4 so I can adjust the loupe and use it without my glasses for a better view. If I want to view with my glasses, I can re-adjust the focus.

[Bruce Watson]

I've used jewelers loupes for eye glasses from Donegan Optical (http://www.doneganoptical.com/eyeloupe.php) for years. Work great.

I went even farther. Had my optician make me a pair of glasses that are about 2x magnifiers (and fully correct my astigmatism). I wear these for looking at the ground glass (from about 6-10 inches back, so it fills my field of vision) for composition. For fine focusing I flip down a 4x loupe in front of my right (dominant) eye. Since magnifications add, that gives me about 6x total magnification which is just about right for what I want.

Clearly, my way isn't the only way. You'll have to experiment some to find what works best for you. But what's nice about my way is that it leaves both of my hands free to work with the camera. And I really like that. But again, YMMV.

[Leonard Evens]

You should be able to use any loupe with your glasses on. Whether or not you can use it with your glasses off depends in part how the loupe is designed.

Some loupes are designed to be used by people with normal distance vision and with one end placed directly on the ground glass. If you used such a loupe, with you glasses on, you would see the gg clearly. (If you have bifocals, make sure you look through the top of the lens.) But if you took your glasses off, the gg might be blurred, just as distant objects are for you with your glasses off.

Other loupes allow you to adjust the distance of the loupe from the gg and some even allow you to focus the other end. With such a loupe you might be able to see the ground glass clearly without your glasses by adjusting the position of the loupe, the position of your eye, and by focusing.

I have one 3.6 X loupe which is designed to be placed directly on the ground glass. I checked what I just told you by looking at it without any glasses---my distance vision has been 20/20 since my cataract surgery. I could see the gg clearly. But when I put on some 5 diopter reading glasses---which would simulate nearsighteness---the gg was blurry.

I also have one 7 X loupe which is designed to be used some distance from the gg and also can be focused. I could use that gg, either without any glasses, or with the 5 diopter reading glasses, but it was easiest to use the first way.

You may not realize it, but with a 4 diopter correction, you actually have an advantage. Remember that all a loupe does is in effect to put your eye closer to the gg while allowing you still to focus. So if you take off your glasses, you are in effect using a 4 diopter loupe. That is not the same as a 4 X loupe---diopters are different than powers---but it is about 1.5 X loupe. Your eye will then be about 8 inches from the gg, and that should be close enough for rough focusing. If you put on some drugstore reading glasses of about power 2 diopter, that will get your eye as close as 6 inches, which is equivalent, roughly to a 2 X loupe. If you use the near far focusing method, as I do, that may be good enough most of the time.

Before my cataract surgery, I needed close to 8 diopters correction, and I found I could focus without any loupe, just by taking off my glasses, but these days that doesn't work. So I had my optician make me some 6 diopter reading glasses. With these I place my eye 5 to 6 inches from the gg. I can see well enough to focus, and it has the advantage that the angle of view corresponds closely to that from looking at an 8 x 10 from about 10 to 12 inches. So it makes it easier to evaluate the scene as a whole.

[Sean Galbraith]

Without my glasses on, I can barely tell there is a camera in front of me.

[Marko]

I got a pair of these (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0024296711125a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=magnifying+glasses&Ntk=Products&sort=all&Go.y=0&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&_D%3Asort=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&Go.x=0&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1), the strongest magnification, and they seem to be working well.

I also use one of their bags. They seem to have lot of interesting gear that is quite usable for LF at a fraction of a price one would pay for strictly photographic equipment.

[tgtaylor]

I've been puttinbg it of for years but an adjustiable diopter loup is what I need. With my current loup, a Toyo which I purchased with my first LF camera - a Toyo of course - the image on the GG is too blury without my distance gasses on. On the other hand, the image on the GG is too 'strong' with my distance glasses on. So I'm always taking my glasses off - usually holding them by the frames in my teeth - to focus, and putting my glasses on to use the loup.

I really wish I had 20/20 vision without having to wear glasses.

[Jim Graves]

I'll second Marko's Cabela's clip-on suggestion. The 4x works great for me also. Link to clip-ons (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0024296711125a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=magnifying+glasses&Ntk=Products&sort=all&Go.y=0&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&_D%3Asort=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&Go.x=0&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1)

Since I don't have astigmatism ... just old eyes that require trifocals ... I bought some $10 drugstore 2x reading glasses and attached the 4x Cabela clip-ons. That way I don't have to worry about damaging my expensive full-time glasses by adding and removing the clip-ons. I carry the combination in my camera kit. I flip them down to focus and up (for the 2x) when I'm not under the cloth. Works great ... looks a little funny but keeps me from continually pulling the dark cloth off the camera as I inch farther back while trying to focus. I still carry a loupe but find I use it less and less.

[ljsegil]

Third vote for the Cablea's 4x magnifiers. Without them, I can barely tell where the ground glass is looking through my regular glasses, and my neck can't take tilting my head back far enough to use the reading portion of the lenses. They're a nice compromise, and I too now sometimes shoot without loupe focus confirmation also.
Larry

[Ben Syverson]

I use a $5 10X loupe along with my glasses... it works great