Focusing loupe

[cowanw]

ALso, I wear progressive eyeglasses. Are fixed focus loupe's OK or will I need one that has an adjustment on it?

Regarding the eyeglasses, you will set up the focus of the adjustable loupe for one spot of your glasses, likely infinity, which for practical purposes is the top half. If you use the bottom half of your glasses because the camera is at a short height for example, the ground glass and image will never be sharp but the sharpest is the correct camera focus and if you get that then move your head to use the infinity spot of your glasses, you will find it is spot on. Sharpest is sharpest and your glasses are beyond the film plane and do not alter the correct camera focus. (although it is much more pleasing and reassuring when you are using the correct part of the glasses)

[LabRat]

In the studio I'm always grabbing a 50mm Nikkor and looking through it backwards for a loupe.

Someone long ago gave me a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 that was very worn out from hard press duty,that I promptly took apart to harvest it's organs... The front element assy ended up on a Polaroid Prontor shutter as a soft focus lens for my 2x3 SG, the focusing mount was modified for a 65mm Angulon for use with a cut out modified 35mm stereo camera enlarged to a 3 5/8" wide panoramic format custom camera, the AI f ring went to another non AI lens, the F mount went on a custom adapter for a 75mm B&L/Edison projection Petzval for Nikon cameras, the rear element assy made a perfect loupe for small format negs!!! Not a bad haul from a junk lens!!!

Also add non bifocal 2.5X reading glasses (about $1.50) from the bargain store... Great to see entire GG at once...

If you get a loupe too strong, you only see one tiny spot on the GG and hard to tell where you are, and the GG grain is blown up too much, so the image looks like boulders with many GG's... I think 5X is enough for me...

Steve K

[Bernice Loui]

Decades ago a Foto bud gave me a Contax Zeiss 50mm f1.4 lens that got dropped. It was done for...
This Zeiss 50mm was taken apart, front and rear elements have been used as a magnifier for decades...
Works good.



Bernice

[Mick Fagan]

Almost anything will work, and I have used many things, but the Peak square 4x focusing loupe has been my go to loupe for about the last 8 or so years.

The square base allows you to slide along the edge of the focusing screen and right into the corners without needing to lift it off the glass and move it over the edge of the glass frame to see into the corners and along the edge.

As for focusing, you can also focus one of these, or any other loupe, without your spectacles. Once you have set the focus adjustment, simply lift your glasses onto the top of your head (under a hat helps heaps) then focus away to your hearts content.

They come supplied with two bottom parts, a semi clear and a fully opaque shroud.

https://www.google.com/search?q=squa...cO_HdPkVnLqSM:

Mick.

[Alan Klein]

Regarding the eyeglasses, you will set up the focus of the adjustable loupe for one spot of your glasses, likely infinity, which for practical purposes is the top half. If you use the bottom half of your glasses because the camera is at a short height for example, the ground glass and image will never be sharp but the sharpest is the correct camera focus and if you get that then move your head to use the infinity spot of your glasses, you will find it is spot on. Sharpest is sharpest and your glasses are beyond the film plane and do not alter the correct camera focus. (although it is much more pleasing and reassuring when you are using the correct part of the glasses)

Just ti be clear. Do I understand you;re recommending I get a loupe that has an adjustable focus ring? If so, any recommendations?

[Two23]

Just ti be clear. Do I understand you;re recommending I get a loupe that has an adjustable focus ring? If so, any recommendations?

Those are very handy, especially if you normally need glasses. Lots of good suqgestions already above.


Kent in SD

[esearing]

Carry a cheap 4x plastic loupe for going anywhere near raging water or cliffs, Loupes are apparently drawn to them. Somewhere at the end of the Amicalola and Etowah rivers is a nice collection I have dropped.

[Doremus Scudder]

Alan,

Loupe power is a personal preference; some like more powerful, some less.

The issue of seeing into the corners of the images arises when using very short focal lengths or lots of movements. For this a tilting loupe may be good. However, I prefer a free-floating loupe without a skirt. My current preference is a 5x stamp viewing loupe that collapses into its housing for easy transport. Yes, one has to learn to hold the loupe the right distance from the ground glass, but there's never any need for adjusting to your eyesight with or without glasses. Sometimes I use mine with both progressives and a set of 4x clip-on magnifiers attached. Easy to find the hot spot anywhere on the ground glass.

As for the Fresnel: your Fresnel should have a protective glass cover. If not, you will need to be careful not to scratch the Fresnel screen since it is plastic. I don't know the configuration on the Chamonix cameras.

Best,

Doremus

[Tin Can]

Doremus, like this?

https://www.zoro.com/bausch-lomb-mag...33/i/G0276096/

[Armin Seeholzer]

Hi I prefer the long Horseman Loupe 6x 25614 its good with the folding back bellows of Horseman and Linhof Technika!
In cold air it gets less troubles, with fogging the screen!

Cheers Armin