Loupe recommendations for viewing 35 & 120mm negs.

[Mike Kennedy]

I must have been a good little analoger this past year because Santa left me a nice 8 by 10 light box under the tree. What sort of a loupe should I be looking for and what kind of $ can I expect to be paying?

Most Grateful,
Mike

 

[Dave Parker]

Hi Mike,

One of the best loupes I have ever used and continue to use to this day, is actually at finger print loupe that was used by the local police department, I picked it up for about $10 at an estate sale, it has better definition and correction than my $200 Rodenstock loupe, one of the best investments I have ever made, you might drop into your local police lab and see if they have any gathering dust on the shelves as most of the labs now use digital imaging for finger prints now a days.

Dave

 

[Mike Kennedy]

Hi Dave,

Great idea for two reasons. The local P.D went digital. I know the exact date because I purchased a Nikon FM2 from their IDENT. department AND the station is right across the street from the photography store.

Thanks Dave
Hope you and Yours had the very best time this holiday season.

PS: The bulk loader I got from you is now full of Pan F+. Life is grand.

 

[Robert Budding]

Mamiya loupes are very good. I own the Mamiya 3.5 X and it covers 6x6 nicely.

Robert

 

[Phong]

I bought a Rodenstock 4x loupe way back when, to view 35mm and 120 slides and 35mm proof sheets. Now I use a 50mm camera lens.

- Phong

 

[Brac]

I have had an Agfa 8x lupe for years. It seems to be made out of some kind of plastic but it is very effective. I recall it was very cheap and if you could find one on ebay or similar it could be a useful bargain.

 

[baronfoxx]

I must have been a good little analoger this past year because Santa left me a nice 8 by 10 light box under the tree. What sort of a loupe should I be looking for and what kind of $ can I expect to be paying?

Most Grateful,
Mike

Hi Mike
try using a 50mm lens reversed i.e. view thru the front of the lens, I find this the best means of looking at slides and prints.
you can try out a 35mm lens the same way

happy new year to you all

 

[Mike Kennedy]

Just tried the 50mm reversed lens. Wicked!

Thanks All,
Mike

 

[Earl Dunbar]

I use an old Nikon E series 50mm that was disassembled by a friend of mine. He cut a cylinder from a Fuji translucent film cannister and glued it to the backside of the lens, providing a standoff and base. Works really well.

Earl

 

[Charles Webb]

I love my Hasselblad Chiminy viewer, use it for transparancies and as loop with 4x5 up. I stick a piece of tape over the edges so as not to scratch my Satinsnow.

Charlie.............

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I've used my old Bronica S-series chimney finder as a loupe as well, both for transparencies and on the groundglass. It's Nikkor glass, and the square base is nice for getting in the corners of the groundglass.

For transparencies and groundglass viewing I like the Schneider 4x. The current one is much better than the old one. You can see a whole 35mm slide with it with no distortion and completely even illumination, and less eye strain as a result.

To check sharpness for enlargement potential, you might want to have a 10x as well.