Any of You Use Magnifying Glass with Ground Glass?

[RedSun]

This is for a 4x5 mono rail camera. I'm trying different focus tools. The 10x loupe I have seems to have very limited focus area. The 2x binocular seems not large enough. I tried a very old reading magnifying glass it appears better than the other two.

Do any of you use that as focus tool? If so, there are so many kinds and sizes to choose from....

[Bill_1856]

Yep. A Bausch and Lomb that looks like Shelock Holmes could have used it.

[ckeith]

I use +4.5 from the drug store they do a great job get the narrow ones since you can not see much at other than 8 to 12 inches through the lenses, Keith

[Jody_S]

I always carry a folding one in my back pocket, it's saved my bacon many many times. It's just a plastic thing, but an older one from before we starting buying crap from China.

[RedSun]

I use +4.5 from the drug store they do a great job get the narrow ones since you can not see much at other than 8 to 12 inches through the lenses, Keith

What do you mean?

[RedSun]

The one I tried is the large reading glass, about 4" diameter. Not sure if I should try smaller ones.
I remember the days with waist level finder with 6x7 cameras. The image is so comfortable to see, even better than the prism.

Is there such a close thing like WLF with LF? Actually WLF is just a loupe, not sure about the magnification ratio. But the MF focus screen can have split image microprism....

In LF, all you get is the ground glass, well with fresnel if you use one.

[Dan Henderson]

I found a pair of 5 power reading glasses in the Orvis catalog. They specialize in fishing supplies if you do not know of them. They are intended to help fisherpeople with old eyes (like mine) tie on flies out in the field. I thought they would be a perfect substitute for a focusing loupe, but it did not work out well for me. Others may have a better experience.

[Mark Barendt]

Yep.

[ckeith]

Oops I use reading glasses since they are small and light and let me use both eyes , keith

[Doremus Scudder]

One of my best tools is a collapsible (nests in its plastic case) aspherical 8x magnifying glass, which I use with my European kit (I keep a kit in Europe and one in the U.S. to avoid schlepping stuff back and forth). Small, good optics and works fine. In the states I have a 10x loupe that I usually use backwards. I do keep a small 6x magnifying glass that folds into a leather case as a backup.

FWIW, I like 3-4 diopter reading glasses for composing/rough focusing and then an 8-10x loupe or glass to check fine focus. You should see me in the field; regular glasses and sunglasses dangling from my neck on Croakies, a pair of Barney Google 4x readers on my face and a loupe in front of that, plus usually a baseball cap on backwards (so the bill doesn't hit the gg...) and my white dark cloth around me like a Superman cape... Superhero gone bad.

Back to topic; a Sherlock-Holmes-style magnifying glass would work just fine, but seems a bit heavy to lug around and, for me, would likely be a bit weak.

Best,

Doremus

[desertrat]

I use the plastic loupes from Harbor Freight. They come in a set with several different magnifications. They are supposed to fit in the eye socket, but keep falling out when I try to use them that way. The one I use is labeled 10x but I think it's more like 4x or 5x. It gives a surprisingly good image for a simple biconvex lens. There is no base to hold it at the proper focal distance, but this allows me to tip it at an angle so I can get a brighter view at the edges and corners of the GG.

[Drew Bedo]

I have used a jeweler's magnifier visor ("Optivisor"). One solution is to use an 8x10 or larger format—but then everything else is bigger too.

[Mark MacKenzie]

I have always used an old 50mm Velogstigmat Enlarging lens. Maybe not the best but has worked for me.

[Former Member 27732]

I use a range of reading glasses for general work - 1.5x, camera setup and lens settings - about 2.5-3x, and a pair specifically for GG focusing (6x). I can get very close to the screen (about 15cm) with these so I can see images clearly and have both hands free to make adjustments. The worry is that in a few years time, I'll probably be wearing these for general use!!

/Frank...

[premortho]

Yeah I use dollar store 4X reading glasses. I want to see the whole scene because I use selective focus a lot, so for me it's important to check the more or less out of focus as part of the whole composition.

[Leonard Evens]

I had an optician make for me 5 - 6 + reading glasses. Wit those I can get my eyes about 5 to 6 inches from the ground glass. That is equivalent to viewing and 8 x 10 enlargment at about 10 - 12 inches. It also provides enough magnification that I can focus reasonably well. (I use the near far method where I find the near and far points on the rail of the region I want in focus, and I set the focus halfway in between.) For more critical focusing I have a 6 X loupe and a 10 X loupe. But you have to be careful with high magnification loupes because you may end up focusing on features on the ground glass surface rather than on the image.)

[premortho]

You explained that all much better than I did. I tried a loupe, and went back to glasses. I do all my composing on the ground glass, so I need to see the whole pic at the same time. Then I work the diaphram to get the sharp focus/out of sharp focus where I want it. However, for looking at the grain structure of the ground glass, a loupe is hard to beat. If that's what floats your boat.

[desertrat]

I use reading glasses to see the entire GG and compose the image, but I find I need a loupe to really check the focus and get the swings and tilts carefully adjusted. This is with 8X10. With 4X5, I find the loupe I'm using is just barely adequate to get the focus properly adjusted. It seems more critical with 4X5.

[Leigh]

I often use the Opti-Visor. It does the job very well.

It's available in strengths up to 10x, all designed for long working distance, so your nose isn't pressed against the GG.

The visor is mounted on a headband, so your hands are free to manipulate the camera.
It swings up out of the way for a full view.

- Leigh

[Lenny Eiger]

I think the Opti-Visor is a very interesting idea and I look forward to trying it out. A couple of years ago when things were going very well I purchased a Rodenstock loupe. It has a very wide view vs my old Horseman. I can see about 1/4 of a 4x5 screen at any time, and the clarity is what one would expect from Rodenstock. When you have a good month you might want to take a look...

Lenny

[Jim Graves]

I wear prescription glasses ... as I suspect the majority of us do ... so I like Fisheman Eyewear magnifier clip-on flip-ups that are available in various strengths [1.5 - 4.0] for fishermen @ $14.95: LINK (http://www.fishermaneyewear.com/Fisherman_Store/magnifiers/flip-n-focus-90151) -- also sold by Cabelas. They allow me to wear my regular glasses for set up and then a quick flip down and I can focus ... then flip up for shutter setting, etc.

Because they're so inexpensive, I have one set with my 4x5 and one with my 8x10 ... so I don't get out in the field and realize they're with the other kit .... not that I'm forgetful or anything.

[Leigh]

The Opti-Visor is designed to work with regular eyeglasses.
It's far enough in front of the eyes that there's no interference.

- Leigh

[Drew Wiley]

Ansel Adams wrote a very rare additional volume to his famous how-to series strictly involving focus, but it was never published. It turns out, he was the one who invented the
Stetson hat numbers, much like the Zone System. Whenever he'd use a 3X loupe to focus
the groundglass, he'd wear an XXX Stetson cowboy hat so that the width of the brim would precisly contact the groundglass at the correct distance. For a 5X loupe he'd have
to wear a more expensive XXXXX Stetson, etc. It was a remarkable system.

[cowanw]

Amusing, but the X's refer to the quality of the hat.
"The quality of the hat body used to make a hat is the main factor that determines the X�s. In felt it is determined by the percentage of fur�s used in making the hat body. We use beaver, mink, chinchilla and other animal fur to make bodies. The mixture of which furs we use determines the X�s. In straw, the X�s are also determined by the body used to make the hat. The tighter the weave and narrower the straw reed used to make the hat, the better X quality is marked in the hat."

[Drew Wiley]

I learned about the X's from real cowboys, and at that time was told that the more X's and higher the price was strictly related to how long the hat had been worn and how strong the authentic cow/barnyard smell was! If an urban cowboy walked into the bar without the appropriate curl, stain, and aroma on his hat, he was thrashed. But contrary
to all these stereotypes, I am now in possession of Ansel's original manuscript and contract
with the Stetson company for the loupe-based numbering system. It's actually for sale.
Just contact my lawyer, a Mr. Norsigian, I believe.

[cowanw]

Ah, If only it were so; I would get a short brimmed hat for a 1x loupe and improve my eyesight tenfold.

[cowanw]

And, analogous to pornography, the more X's, the more beaver.

[premortho]

Bless you for the humor. I never saw urban cowboys getting thrashed JUST for having the hat, but not the experience. Usually they were just shunned. And it was social suicide for one of "our" girls to hang with them. One of the girls expressed some admiration for the drugstore cowboy's rig. Her girlfriend told her she couldn't tell the difference between Naugahide and cowhide.
And, analogous to pornography, the more X's, the more beaver.

[John Kasaian]

I learned about the X's from real cowboys, and at that time was told that the more X's and higher the price was strictly related to how long the hat had been worn and how strong the authentic cow/barnyard smell was! If an urban cowboy walked into the bar without the appropriate curl, stain, and aroma on his hat, he was thrashed. But contrary
to all these stereotypes, I am now in possession of Ansel's original manuscript and contract
with the Stetson company for the loupe-based numbering system. It's actually for sale.
Just contact my lawyer, a Mr. Norsigian, I believe.
ROLFMAO! Thanks, Drew!