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Thread: What is the best grain focusing loupe (for under the enlarger) ever made by man?

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    Question What is the best grain focusing loupe (for under the enlarger) ever made by man?

    I want an ultra-high magnification, super bright, and comfortable to use from a distance grain focuser for under my enlarger.

    Right now, I use something like this. My unit requires you to twist a knob until a line in view becomes "sharp." I dislike that feature because it's hard getting that line as sharp as it should be. Also, the image is too small for me. I have to bend over like a contortionist to see it because of my cramped space. I'd love something that I could look at from a distance. I'd also prefer not to have to focus with that line method.

    Do you have any recommendations?

  2. #2
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    Re: What is the best grain focusing loupe (for under the enlarger) ever made by man?

    What you want doesn't exist, specifically the "view from a distance" criterion.

    For my taste the best grain focuser I've used, by a fair margin, is the Micromega/Peak Critical Focuser Type I. That's what's sitting on my enlarger baseboard right now. I have the Bestwell Microsight that you linked. It's OK, but has been sitting in one of my darkroom cabinets since I got the Micromega.

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    jp's Avatar
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    Re: What is the best grain focusing loupe (for under the enlarger) ever made by man?

    I like my Peak grain focuser, but it does require putting your eyeball near the focuser. If you want to view grain from a distance, the Bestwell Magnasight is great.

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    bob carnie's Avatar
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    Re: What is the best grain focusing loupe (for under the enlarger) ever made by man?

    Quote Originally Posted by jp View Post
    I like my Peak grain focuser, but it does require putting your eyeball near the focuser. If you want to view grain from a distance, the Bestwell Magnasight is great.
    I agree the Peak grain focuser has been my go too for a very long time. When I first started out printing there was a unit we used that allowed you to see a bit from the distance but I have not seen one of these units for over 20 years now.

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    Re: What is the best grain focusing loupe (for under the enlarger) ever made by man?

    Re the Magnasight: I guess it depends how much of a distance the OP has in mind. Jason, how far are you able to get with the Magna?

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    Re: What is the best grain focusing loupe (for under the enlarger) ever made by man?

    I've had a grain focuser like you describe with the wavy line and I could never make it work. I got a Peak Type III. It was a huge improvement. Eventually a Peak Type I fell into my hands and it's nicer than the Type III, but not more capable if you focus in the center of the image. I don't know of any option that doesn't require you to put your eye down by the easel. But there are extension focusing knobs for some enlargers.

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    ic-racer's Avatar
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    Re: What is the best grain focusing loupe (for under the enlarger) ever made by man?

    My unit requires you to twist a knob until a line in view becomes "sharp."
    All "bright" focus devices will be aerial image based. So no getting around that.

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    Re: What is the best grain focusing loupe (for under the enlarger) ever made by man?

    Quote Originally Posted by Oren Grad View Post
    For my taste the best grain focuser I've used, by a fair margin, is the Micromega/Peak Critical Focuser Type I. That's what's sitting on my enlarger baseboard right now. I have the Bestwell Microsight that you linked. It's OK, but has been sitting in one of my darkroom cabinets since I got the Micromega.
    Totally agree! I've had the Peak Focuser for over 40 years and the Bestwell unit (which I also own) is not used. Yes, depending on your specific enlarger you do have to bend and contort in odd ways to use a critical grain focuser, but IMO it's what ya gotta do, if you want critically sharp enlargements. My Beseler 45MX, for example, has a long, flexible rod that attaches to one focus knob eliminating the need to contort. Don't know if other enlargers have this capability and/or could be "rigged" that way, but it does make using a standard grain focuser much easier.

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    Re: What is the best grain focusing loupe (for under the enlarger) ever made by man?

    Although I haven’t used one personally, the Patterson Major focus finder might work for you and allow a more comfortable focusing experience. It is a bit taller than most focusers. I like the peak but I mostly use a non descript Scoponet the most. For whatever reason it allows me to easily see the grain snap into focus compared to the peak when doing small enlargements from 8x10 negs where the grain is very hard to detect. For smaller formats or larger enlargements from 8x10 the grain is much easier for my eyes to see with the peak or scoponet.

  10. #10
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: What is the best grain focusing loupe (for under the enlarger) ever made by man?

    Quality of optics and precision of manufacture is way more important than sheer magnification. And higher magnifications mean dimmer viewing. Having learned these things the hard way, with disappointments along the way, as far as I'm concerned, the Peak Critical Focus version with the tilting head and front-surface mirror is the ONLY one to get.

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