thermometer for those of us starting to play the trombone...

77seriesiii · May 27, 2010

Ok, the eye doc cracked a few jokes at my expense during my last checkup. Asked me if I play the trombone?...Uh no, why? You know when you read, she then made the sliding motion with her hand and trying to get a book into focus and told me to start considering BI-FOCALS

So there I said it, getting old. On top of that, I need to purchase a few darkroom thermometers...any suggestions out there from those already afflicted with crappy short vision?

Primarily doing B&W work and am now delving into prints.

Denial...just not a river in Egypt.

Erick

David Brown · May 27, 2010

77seriesiii said:
...any suggestions out there from those already afflicted with crappy short vision?

Get the bi-focals.

bsdunek · May 27, 2010

I love my Verilux glasses. They focus at all distances, and, I didn't find them hard to get used to. Work great in the darkroom, focussing a camera, playing my horn, flying, and other endevors.

5stringdeath · May 27, 2010

When I wear my contacts my near vision is awful. When I wear my glasses, I just look above them and can see up close fine! Natural bi-focalness

ic-racer · May 27, 2010

I just got a Kodak Process thermometer. It has a wide flat indicator column around 2 to 3 mm wide and 2 to 3 mm spacing between the degree marks. Plus there are arrows at 68(20c) and 75(24c).

tkamiya · May 27, 2010

I *think* your best bet is to get bi-focal. I have a few pairs and they are great. There is no need to delay getting them if your optometrist is recommending them to you.

That said.... I have a dial type thermometer. They are much quicker to respond and far easier to read than the regular alcohol/glass type. Digital kind may be good, too.

Neal · May 27, 2010

Dear Erick,

In addition to the bifocals, consider a second set of glasses. I have a second set of glasses that is optimized for desk work. It gives me a full field of view when working at my desk (and mill and lathe!) but I can also read easily (including a micrometer).

Neal Wydra

Rick A · May 27, 2010

How about the largest dial-faced thermometer you can find, and calibrate it to your lab thermo. Or a digital, calibrated as well. If I cant read it with my reading glasses(+1.5) then I get my magnifying visor out(x10 mag.). I have a 2-1/2" dial face thermometer, dont need glasses for it.

77seriesiii · May 27, 2010

I dont wanna get bifocals!...my dad has bifocals, shit I'm still a teenager chasing my girlfriend...I mean wife around...damn, I'm a dirty old man.

Big dial it is...and hit a drug store for some cheater glasses. A question about the glow in the dark dials, do they fog black and white paper? I'm going to give it whirl and check my darklights as well, but just wondering.

Thanks,

Erick

markbarendt · May 27, 2010

I just went through this too, real bifocals are real nice.
Tried the Varilux/no-line style and they literally hurt me to use.

You know how parallax changes in your camera when your shooting architecture, imagine a bad version of that every time you turn your head to read a line of text (yes you have to turn your head, scanning with your eyes is no longer an option if you get no-line lenses) the the page, or whatever else is around your subject, distorts and twists.

The only thing I'd caution you on with bifocals is that you need to tell your doc what your normal reading distance is. My first set of normal bifocals was set with to strong a magnification which made the DOF real short and put the normal focus distance too close to my face, 14 inches +/- about 2. With a bit less magnification I'm comfortable from 14 to 24.

thisismyname09 · May 27, 2010

77seriesiii said:
I dont wanna get bifocals!...my dad has bifocals, shit I'm still a teenager chasing my girlfriend...I mean wife around...damn, I'm a dirty old man.

Big dial it is...and hit a drug store for some cheater glasses. A question about the glow in the dark dials, do they fog black and white paper? I'm going to give it whirl and check my darklights as well, but just wondering.

Thanks,

Erick

In my experience, anything glow-in-the-dark doesn't affect paper at all. The darkroom in my school was covered in glowing tape (so you know where everything is) and I've never had a fogged print. My timer at home also has glow in the dark numbers, and it's not even fogged color paper, which is far more sensitive than B&W.

tkamiya · May 27, 2010

Hey, today's bifocals aren't like your parents'. Most are made "progressive no line" that you won't be able to tell apart from regular glasses. (that's the kind I have). They just make your life far easier for no change in appearance. Be aware though, some people take a while to get used to changing optical power within frame. I had no problem with mine.

I have glow-in-dark dial type. It doesn't affect my paper or film. Of course, I don't stick it right up the paper/film and hold it there for hours at a time.....

Jeff Searust · May 27, 2010

Do digital-- The only two items of camera gear that I own that have batteries are my thermometer and my light meter. Both are digital and more expensive than most of my cameras. The digital thermometer has the ability to give instant temps rather than having to settle or waiting any length of time. I have small temperature probe covers that go in the corner of trays and then I can put the probe into the covers without getting chemistry on anything.

holmburgers · May 27, 2010

I have a Jobo thermometer like this eBay item #320537793178.

It's in celsius only, which I don't mind, and it reacts incredibly quickly. It's actually not "easy" to read, that is, the lateral angle has to be just right, but it's really easy to read close up. Also, very accurate and apparently... CHEAP. Just my .02 dollars

ac12 · May 27, 2010

I was at the photo shop a few weeks ago and saw an analog dial termometer with a LARGE dial, not the small dial that I used in high school.

Martin Aislabie · May 27, 2010

I don't find Bi-Focals particularly pleasant to use in the Darkroom.

End up cricking my neck to be able to look up through the lower half to see the illuminated aperture setting of the Enlarging Lens

I bought a cheap over the counter pair of reading glasses from my local pharmacy which are strong enough to see thermometers up close without making stuff a couple of meters away (across the darkroom) too blurred

Just my $0.02

Martin

fschifano · May 27, 2010

77seriesiii said:
I dont wanna get bifocals!...my dad has bifocals, shit I'm still a teenager chasing my girlfriend...I mean wife around...damn, I'm a dirty old man.

Don't kid yourself. If you need 'em, you need 'em. Hell, I've been using them since my late 30's. I was glad to get them because it made reading so much easier. I had a brief affair with Varilux and my feelings about those things are exactly as Mark described. As far as I'm concerned, they're more vanity items than useful ones. In my case, the barrel distortion and chromatic aberrations were just awful. If someone tried to sell you a camera lens with those qualities, you'd laugh straight in their face. Why on earth would anyone consider that acceptable for eyewear?

77seriesiii · May 29, 2010

Wow, got more of a response off of this than I thought.

So the reading glasses as found in the Drug store are no good? I'm pretty eye sensitive so maybe I'll forgo that pain. used to be a pilot for the military and have actually had cheap sunglasses (found out later, the plastic lens on one side was an unintentional 'script) give me headaches until I threw them in the bottom of my kit bag. then no more headaches.

1.) for the bifocals...will take a look at what the Doc prescribed and plunk down the dosh...not happy about it but age is age.

2.) Local store, Conrad's, has digital thermometers, simple digitals all the way through laser versions. I'll take a look at a few of them, rough $ conversion is btwn $15 ~ 35, at least what I am willing to spend. I'll take a look and see what they have. If I dont like them, than a large dial thermometer.

Didnt think the glowing portion would fog paper, but need to ask.

./e

fschifano · May 29, 2010

Don't worry about the glowing part fogging the paper. You don't need to worry about temperature so much for B&W print making. Color prints and all film development needs total darkness, so you won't be able to see it anyway.

tkamiya · May 29, 2010

The drug store stuff isn't bad, as long as you don't buy the cheapest possible ones. I spent about $30 US and I'm happy with it.

IF you are considering bi-focal though, that would mean you have near sightedness already, and you are now developing far sightedness. The drug store stuff is for far sightedness ONLY. Bi-focal work little differently. They have prescription on top half for near sightedness and REDUCED correction of near sightedness at the bottom. Mine is made like this.

I have store bought one because if I am wearing contact lens, the correction is too much for near reading. So I wear store bought one to reduce the correction.

Go to store and try it. Or even buy one if you think it might work and try one. They are cheap.

I have the no-line type and they are great. According to my eye doc, some people just can not get used to it no matter how hard they try. For those, he recommends the traditional type with line in the middle. I got used to it immediately and I don't even think about it now.

michaelbsc · May 29, 2010

77seriesiii said:
I dont wanna get bifocals!...Erick

You prefer, perhaps, to die young?

Kids these days, jeez.

ic-racer · May 29, 2010

This article describes some "care and feeding" of glass thermometers. It also covers a freezing-point recalibration that can be done at home.

Maintenance, Validation, and Recalibration of Liquid-in-Glass Thermometers

thermometer for those of us starting to play the trombone...

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