Recommendations for Grain Focusers, Loupes, and Light Tables

[dickgillberg]

My favorite is the Kienzle precision x10 focus finder. It's not cheep but you got what you pay for, the best in my opinion. And I have a Peak focuser also. My loupe is a Peak anastigmat x7 for 24x36 and is wonderful.

 

[miha]

Then there is also the Leica 5x. Also optically excellent. I decided against it at the time because it wasn't suitable for me as a bespectacled person (I couldn't see the whole image field).

I eventually got the Elmo Macromax 5x which evolved into the Leica loupe.

 

[Henning Serger]

I eventually got the Elmo Macromax 5x which evolved into the Leica loupe.

View attachment 380994

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I hope you are satiesfied, Miha.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[miha]

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I hope you are satiesfied, Miha.

Best regards,
Henning

Absolutely! The loupe provides amazing clarity. Thanks for all the helpful tips.

 

[Henning Serger]

Absolutely! The loupe provides amazing clarity. Thanks for all the helpful tips.

My pleasure, Miha. I am very glad to hear that you are satiesfied with the quality.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Randy Stewart]

I still use the Bestwell MicroSite. Not very expensive, if you can find one, and works perfectly.

Over the years, I started with a smaller Paterson focus unit. It gave me eye strain. It was a piece of junk; I gave it away. Then, I bought a Bestwell, probably the best combination of quality and cost you'll ever find. In the early 1990s, when all darkroom equipment was being sold off for pennies or junked, I paid $50 for a minty Peak unit. Its only advantage over the Bestwell is that it rotates to focus in the corners of a print rather than just in the center area. So, you can waste your money on a Paterson for $50. Bestwell went out of the business; but someone else picked up making the focusers, about $100. Peak (aka Omega Micro...) where and as found used. New, I think they are still sold in the $250 range. If you are serious about it, it is a once in a lifetime purchase. Treat yourself to a Peak.