Are Loupes neccesary For Focusing 5x4 (Newbie)

[dustym]

Do I need a loupe for landscape photography, I do wear spectacles as I am long sighted and can find focusing a little dificult on my Mamiya RB without the magnifier.
Also ia blackout cover or jacket needed for field work


rgds

 

[John Bartley]

Do I need a loupe for landscape photography, I do wear spectacles as I am long sighted and can find focusing a little dificult on my Mamiya RB without the magnifier.
Also ia blackout cover or jacket needed for field work


rgds

I am also farsighted. I have to wear reading specs. I bought a "loupe" and I gotta' say that it's the absolute worst thing I've ever used. I chucked it out and now I use a lens from a slide projector as a magnifyer. It's mahvellous! The magnifyer and a dark cloth are essential to me.

cheers

 

[bobfowler]

I'm farsighted (been in bi-focals for 10 years as well), for me, a loupe is an absolute necessity for 5X7 and 8X10. For my 4X5 Toyo, I have one of those rubber monocular viewers that clips onto the GG back - works like a charm!

 

[photobum]

Overheard at a workshop. "Whoa, nice loupe, why don't you use it?"

 

[Early Riser]

As far as I'm concerned a good loupe is a necessity. It's not even a matter if you're near or far sighted, it's just that if you really want to get your monies worth on your lenses, or even just get a sharp image, you need to see a magnified view of the GG.

 

[matt miller]

I find that I only use a loupe on about 1 in 25 shots, and that's usually only because I need the help focusing in low light.

 

[John Kasaian]

I always get better results with a loupe, though just about any magnifting device like a linen tester or magnifying glasses(or glass) will work. I think the important thing is if the devise you choose is handy to use or not. Of course if you're using the sports finder on a speed graphic, you won't be fine focusing on the gg.

I also find using a dark focusing cloth of some kind also gives better results and certainly more consistent results than say, a coat or parka (which is certainly usable in a pinch, its just not IMHO as desireable) A lot of people have reported good results using sweatshirts, doubled t-shirts and the new "black jacket." I'd recommend making a homemade dark cloth to start out with(directions are in Steve Simmons' excellent guide "Using The View Camera" so at least you'll experience what a dark cloth is supposed to be like. If you find you've got problems with that then explore other routes to see what fits your style. I think if I were relying on the folding hood of a press camera I might be able to get by without a dark cloth, but even then there are times when a black t-shirt sure comes in handy.

I hope this helps.

 

[Dave Parker]

I always use a loupe, it provides the extra I need for focusing the fine detail on the ground glass. One thing to take into account is a bad loupe is worse than no loupe at all, and a loupe is a very personal matter to most shooters, so if you choose to use one, make sure and see if you can try as many as possible, in addition as was mentioned many use items that were not designed as loupes but give the magnification and flat field viewing that can really help.

Dave

 

[seadrive]

I have (and use) a BlackJacket, but I don't use a loupe. I'm very nearsighted, and I can no longer focus on close objects with my glasses on, so I take them off to focus. Provided there's enough light to fully illuminate the scene, I don't have any trouble finding the spot where the image snaps into focus. You go a little too far, until it becomes fuzzy again, then pull it back the other way, until it snaps back into focus.

I cover any focussing error by stopping down as far as I can, given the amount of light I have, and the minimum necessary shutter speed.

That said, my subjects are usually between 15ft and "infinity". If I were doing tabletop photography, I would definitely use a magnifier.

 

[Donald Miller]

I wouldn't consider wasting a sheet of film because of not using a loupe.

 

[marktweedie]

If I didn't use a loupe on my Pacemaker Graphic only 10% of my shots would be in focus, so dim is the view on the glass. I really don't know how anyone could consider critical focus without one. I've just ordered a new ground glass, I hope this will help brighten things up.

 

[vet173]

Yes

 

[Dan Fromm]

If I didn't use a loupe on my Pacemaker Graphic only 10% of my shots would be in focus, so dim is the view on the glass. I really don't know how anyone could consider critical focus without one. I've just ordered a new ground glass, I hope this will help brighten things up.

Mark, I couldn't focus reliably by eye on my Graphics' ground glasses. I replaced them with ones Dave Parker made. Dave's are usefully brighter than the OEMs, no doubt about it, but I still focus much better with a loupe than by unaided eye.

Unlike other posters, I'm basically near-sighted. I'm also old enough that my unaided near vision has pretty well gone away. I use trifocals, do better with a loupe.

Cheers,

Dan

 

[David H. Bebbington]

I absolutely loathe using a loupe - all I ever saw through a loupe was the grain of the focusing screen. It is a myth that you can check sharpness on a GG, all you can do is establish the point of best focus (the grain of any screen is too coarse, to check sharpness you need a device for viewing the aerial image with no screen). I also hate viewing cloths, and so have fit my main camera (Crown Graphic) with a Beattie Intenscreen (expensive but worth every penny) and use the pop-up hood. With this set-up, I have no difficulty focusing, even at twilight, even though I am nearly 60 and wear multifocal glasses. In the studio, where my Sinars have normal screens, I can also focus these without a cloth if the camera is shaded, but in this case I would keep a focusing cloth handy if needed. If I take the Sinars outside, I would clip a spare bellows to the back and use that as a viewing hood. For viewing processed film, as mentioned elsewhere, an old slide-projector lens makes a great loupe - it usually gives a focus about 3/4" from the end of the lens barrel, which helps avoid scratching the film.

 

[jovo]

One great value of the darkcloth for me at least, is that I can stand quite far away from the GG and see comfortably. If I were only able to use a focusing hood, I'd have a much harder time. The loupe (the Toyo one for about $40 American) works very well, has a rubberized collar at each end so it doesn't damage the GG or my glasses, and hangs by a cord around my neck. I'd never risk focusing without it.

 

[joeyk49]

I've never used one...and I've been thinking that I should. So far the eight or ten shots that I've developed with my Crown Graphic have all been soft; can't seem to get them sharp.

Now all I need to do is find one for a reasonable price ('cause I'm cheap!).

 

[Whiteymorange]

I took a Series VI screw-on close-up lens that had rim issues and taped it into the end of a plastic tube cut to about 6" (I checked the focal length by looking down a ruler.) This allows me to put the tube on the GG and look through the lens from a distance that works with my glasses (progressive lenses.) Cheap, sturdy and quite functional. I can't focus without it.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I agree with Mr. Bebbington, in that all I can generally see through a loupe is the ground glass grain. Perhaps that means I need to send off an order to SatinSnow, since the glass in my Aletta seems a lot coarser than that in my 70-80 year old plate cameras -- but being strongly myopic, and verging on bifocal age, I find it much easier to take my glasses off and, if necessary, wear a pair of +2.75 readers that I bought for working on shutters and focusing my enlarger.

I might have to change my habits if I go back to contact lenses, as I've been considering, but if I do, I'll surely want more magnification than the 8x loupe I have.

 

[Charles Webb]

Hmmmmmmmm,
Now I know the truth! I have been following and practising a "myth" for the past fifty plus years. I have always figured I must be doing something wrong since my negatives regardless of what f stop I use are extremely sharp and have been known to enlarge to some pretty good sized murals in several museums. I have taught in my classes and workshops over the years, to use a sturdy tripod or solid camera support and never fail to use an optical device to insure the best possible focus point on the GG. It is very easy to see near sharp, with the naked eye, but not quite as easy to pin point it without an optical aid. Any one not able to see anything but the grain of the GG with an optical aid simply has refused to learn how, and in my mind are trying to re invent the proven system to fit themselves!

My opinion!
Charlie.......................

 

[Dave Parker]

Hmmmmmmmm,
Now I know the truth! I have been following and practising a "myth" for the past fifty plus years. I have always figured I must be doing something wrong since my negatives regardless of what f stop I use are extremely sharp and have been known to enlarge to some pretty good sized murals in several museums. I have taught in my classes and workshops over the years, to use a sturdy tripod or solid camera support and never fail to use an optical device to insure the best possible focus point on the GG. It is very easy to see near sharp, with the naked eye, but not quite as easy to pin point it without an optical aid. Any one not able to see anything but the grain of the GG with an optical aid simply has refused to learn how, and in my mind are trying to re invent the proven system to fit themselves!

My opinion!
Charlie.......................

Charlie,

I am sure glad you mentioned this, I have been sitting here for two hours trying to figure out the myth practice I have followed for the last 30 years, and this is not a plug for glass, I have only been doing that for 2 years, I shoot alot of macro work and if I was only focusing on the grain of the glass, my clients would not be paying me, and even without my glass, I have still made a living, so I must be focusing on something else...

Just my .02 as well..but it has worked for me.

Dave

 

[Brook]

I have an old f1.4 50mm Nikon 35mm lens I like better than my loupe, and it was just laying around.

 

[photomc]

Have to admit, that the GG on a couple of the older cameras I have did show too much of the grain of the GG...but replaced by some SS GG and the world is much brighter (Thanks Dave). That said, without a focus aid (I use a too strong Peak loupe - 10x) nothing I do would be in focus. The darkcloth I use is better than nothing, but hope to pick up a Blackjacket soon, which will be great to use on those windy days. Besides, the darkcloth doubles as padding when transporting the camera..so it serves a dual purpose. Can't speak for anyone else, but I would be lost without either of these...as a matter of fact, not sure I would even bother trying to shoot without either...required just like a light meter IMO.

 

[David H. Bebbington]

I've never used one...and I've been thinking that I should. So far the eight or ten shots that I've developed with my Crown Graphic have all been soft; can't seem to get them sharp.

Now all I need to do is find one for a reasonable price ('cause I'm cheap!).

If you have a Crown Graphic that won't take sharp pictures, the first thing to check is the assembly of the ground glass - fresnel lens underneath with etched side facing out (i.e. to the back of the camera), GG on top with etched side facing in (towards the front of the camera). It's more than possible someone has put the fresnel on top of the GG.

 

[Struan Gray]

I use a loupe if I have it, but really only to check focus, not to set it. I find that by focussing back and forth and seeing the image go into focus and back out again several times I can get a mental memory of where the sharpest mid point must lie and stop there. Yes, I allow for backlash in the focussing gear.

This is for f22 distant landscapes. If I am using wide apertures, or taking closeups I use a loupe more rigorously, but on the other hand, forgetting my loupe doesn't stop me photographing. Oddly, the times I have felt in most need of it are when photographing with a soft focus lens at wide apertures. Then, there is no point of best focus, and I really need to look in detail at the ground glass image to get a feeling for how he almost-in-focus blur is distributed.

My loupes are a 10x wafer inspection loupe given to me as a present by a visiting Japanese professsor (apparently they are ten-a-penny in Shinjuku) and the 50 mm lens off my Pentax 110 SLR. Frugal photographers should look at the lenses for old amateur movie cameras and c-mount CCTV and video lenses. They tend to be more compact, lighter and cheaper than lenses for 35 mm cameras or projectors.

 

[df cardwell]

If you're detail obsessed shooter, then for goodness sakes get a perfect glass ( with a hole drilled in the center to check the aerial image ) and use a loupe.

If you're sort of taking it all in, watching where the light's going... maybe you don't need the loupe.

Whatever works. I'm in the reading glasses hanging around my neck phase. Maybe that's why I like shooting 8x10 more tha 4x5.

Whatever works.