Good loupe, inexpensive?

It seems that the older I get, the less light there is in the world. I need a new loupe. For years, I have used a cheap little plastic 5X loupe but it is just not doing the job anymore. I think I need something closer to 10X, and I think I would like a square one, for the corners. Is a diopter really necessasry?

I would like to spend not much more than 50 bucks and I am ok with a used item. I shoot 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10. Any suggestions?

I've always liked a more powerful loupe. I use 8x for fine focusing.

A couple of comments. First, a square loupe isn't really going to help you see into the corners. You need a loupe that will tilt to match the angle of the cone being projected by the lens. The shorter the lens, the more difficulty seeing into the corners. There are tiltable loupes with length adjustments, but they are pretty expensive. Second, the "diopter" adjustment on most loupes is really just a helical focus adjustment that simply positions one or all of the lens elements farther from the end of the skirt so that you adjust the plane of focus to your eyesight.

I manage to compensate for both these by using a good quality slide-viewing loupe (Peak http://www.amazon.in/Peak-8x-Slide-Magnifier-Loupe/dp/B00009UT85) reversed so that the skirt cups my eye. I then adjust focus by positioning my head correctly for distance and angle; easy to see into the corners this way. Another of my favorites is an aspheric slide out magnifier (5x I believe) like the one Sherlock uses (https://www.amazon.com/Folding-Pocket-Magnifier-magnification-Biconvex/dp/B004KNS2BW). Again, the trick is to hold it at the right distance and angle for the best view.

Or, you can spring for one of the tiltable loupes like the Silvestri 6x (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/162584-REG/Silvestri_1683_6x_Tilting_Loupe.html), which I'm sure is really great, but priced to match.

Best,

Doremus

I'm still using an inexpensive Toyo 3.6X loupe on my 8x10 (no diopter adjustment). If you want inexpensive I agree with Doremus that you should look at Peak. Try one out and if you don't like it then mail it back.

Some people swear by some of the expensive loupes with diopter adjustment. I think a whole lot depends upon your eyes. This may be a trial and error thing for you. Good luck!

I recently purchased a 4x5 view camera kit and there was an Agfa 8x loupe included. That didn't work well for me. I've now switched to an Eschenbach 10x loupe and that works much better.
See: http://www.microscopes.eu/en/Magnifiers/Eschenbach-2628-10x-Stand-Magnifier.html
Check whether the loupe is at the right distance.... I'm wearing glasses and learned that any loupe works better for me when I keep it at a small distance from the ground glass. To do so I glued 1.5mm mat board to the bottom of the loupe. That makes a huge difference for me! I guess that is a cheap alternative to diopter adjustment.

If there is no focus/dioptric correction, you will be holding the loupé progressively higher and higher as your eyes deteriorate. It's not an ideal, though a great many people make-do just like that.

A rule of economics forbids you from paying a little and getting a lot. That said, a cheap plastic loupé would never be good for anything near critical inspection of negatives/transparencies, because of a huge range of aberrations and lack of clarity. You're not doing your eyes any favour with those cheap things, either.

Peak, Cabin and Matin (and the boutique and brutally expensive Schneider-Kreuznach marque) are four manufacturers that make excellent loupés, but a lot of them are not cheap — they really cannot be for the specific critical task; you are inspecting your work for focus/depth of field, detail, any evidence of blur etc. Some of those Schneider toys cost around $1500. I saw a very good tiny, corrected but non-adjustable 8x Nikon to cover 35mm in the shop a week ago, but it didn't have a tiny price at $160, yet I considered this cheap for the evident quality! I don't know why you would want a 10x loupé; it isn't necessary for large negatives. 4x to 8x is very, very common; 8x for 35mm usually have to be highly corrected, with or without focus. The larger the negative, the larger the loupé that is ideal, rather than scooting about the neg incrementally you can see the whole thing in one go. The other alternative is to use a 50, 80mm lens in reverse. A little unorthodox, but that is what I used as a student four decades ago!

A loupé is always used flat to the surface on which the negative/transparency is being viewed. You move it around, into the corners of any sized negative/transparency, rather than ask of it to show you everything in one go.

As said earlier, I onced used a Canon 50mm 1.4 lens reversed. Then came a plastic one which I hated. With employment increasing my cash flow, I moved up and up, progressively discarding earlier models at family garage sales. Now, my own loupé (since 2009) is a 6x4.5 / 6x6 / 6x7 Cabin 3.5x Pro asph with adjustable diopter/focus (mine eyes haven't been good since 2005, but they are stable at this time). It came with two interchangeable skirts (clear, opaque). I have never felt more comfortable and accommodated with this admittedly pricey choice for the sizes of rollfilm I deal with; yes, I squirmed at the price, even with a loyalty discount!! It might be best for you to take one of your 8x10 sheets into a dealer and do a live-test of a number of loupés until you feel comfortable with just one. And hang the price.

I have a few loupes made from defunct lenses. The best one is from the front group of an 80-200 Nikon lens. It sits at a perfect distance to look at negs and is large enough that I can use both eyes. Nothing else has ever been made like it. I also have some loupes from rear groups from telephoto lenses. They work great for high magnification for focussing on ground glass. All of them cost me little to nothing.

How about some +6 reading glasses in lieu of a loupe?

I have a 4x zenit/horizon loupe made by kmz. it's adjustable and came with different skirts. that one is largely sufficient as magnification, I had their 8x model, it was more difficult to use. they come up on ebay from time to time and they are really cheap, less than 50$.

I just got a 8x magnifier from Waltex that is great for my old eyes. It was only 9.99 Cdn and is intended for stamp collectors. I may get a better one at some point so I can check the corners but this does the trick for now.