One of my favorite things...

[M Carter]

Edmund Scientific Loupe - I "liberated" it from a junk room of a big ad department I worked at in my 20's. I check eBay from time to time but I've never seen another. In my illustration days I assumed it was called a "retoucher's loupe".

About 10x with a huge eye element (1 5/8"), 2 white optical glass elements, disassembles for cleaning with a lens spanner - and is focusable! And the way the base is molded, you can get a paintbrush into the visible area.

So for spotting prints, it's just the shiz. And when I do my first test print of a session, I note any dust specks, refocus the loupe so when sitting on a negative carrier it's focused on the film plane. Title the loupe & holder (just takes one hand) under bright light and damn, there's the dust... a gentle swipe with a small quality paintbrush (like a #0) and the dust is loose. Even compressed air doesn't seem to loosen specks in the emulsion, but knock them free with sable hair and a puff of air does the trick.

I used to fight with dust like crazy, between cleaning negs and spotting, this sucker is a massive help for clean prints. If you spend 15 minutes or so, in many cases you don't have to spot at all.

There's my ode to a killer loupe - if you ever see one, grab it.

 

[bdial]

Looks like a similar one is still available;

http://www.edmundoptics.com/microsc...rs/edmund-deluxe-6x-wide-field-magnifier/1742

Does look nice, that cutaway base would be just the thing for spotting.

 

[Denverdad]

How does it focus exactly? Is the lens threaded into the base?

 

[M Carter]

Looks like a similar one is still available;

http://www.edmundoptics.com/microsc...rs/edmund-deluxe-6x-wide-field-magnifier/1742

Does look nice, that cutaway base would be just the thing for spotting.

Well dang, I searched their site and never found that. Over a hundred bucks... wowzah. Though if I lost mine, I'd pony up. It's optically the equal to my Schneider loupe (well, at least my decades-old version is). No chromatic aberration, no distortion in the center, etc. I compared mine to a 10x and it seems the same (this one shows 6x) but the giant eyepiece may be throwing me off.

Denverdad, it focuses as you said, threaded barrel. It also has a lock ring, but the threading is tight enough that I don't use it. The barrel, spacers, and lock ring are all metal. Class act build-wise.

And yes, it's very cool to get a brush in there and not need to hold the loupe. I just tear a hole in a kimwipe to make sure I don't scratch the print, make a little donut-pad. Great for fixing tiny things, too.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Interesting. I have a Schneider Platinum Aspheric 4x loupe, and the clear plastic base has yellowed with age. A replacement base is available for $50. I may just get my Dremel out.

 

[M Carter]

Interesting. I have a Schneider Platinum Aspheric 4x loupe, and the clear plastic base has yellowed with age. A replacement base is available for $50. I may just get my Dremel out.

That's the spirit!!!

 

[David Brown]

I'm rather partial to the Optivisor myself:

http://www.doneganoptical.com/products/optivisor

Interchangeable lenses! And it's never in the way.

 

[mike c]

David, have you tried focusing your enlarge with these glass ?