Viewing / evaluating (Pentax) 6x7 slides?

I am a newbie to MF and very pleased with my first 6x7 slides, but I have a problem

with viewing and evaluating the slides. How do You other 6x7 users go about it? Do

You use loupes and a light box or projectors or something else?

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LOUPE

- VIEW AREA: Can anyone recommend a loupe of good quality that permits viewing

the entire area of an 6x7 slide or, if those do not exist, at least avoids 2standing2 on the

film stripe.

- QUALITY: How important is the loupe quality? Of course the viewing pleasure

increases with better optics / higher price but what quality do You really need for correct

selection of the best slide to make an Ilfochrome copy from?

- MAGNIFICATION: What is the best magnification for 6x74s?

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LIGHT BOX

I use clear acetate filing sheets with room for 4 stripes of three 6x74s. The sheet size is

260 x 310 mm (Hama no 2289). It would be nice to view an entire roll at once but:

- SIZE: What is the most practical size of a light box? Is larger always better or does the

light from the unused area of the light box strain You eyes? What is the minimum usable

size?

- COLOR TEMPERATURE: How important is the color temperature for correct selection

of the best slide to make an Ilfochrome copy from? What is the color temperature of an

enlarger?

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PROJECTOR

- AS SELECTION TOOL: Does anyone use a projector for 6x7 slides and mount them in

8.5 x 8.5 cm frames for selection purposes, besides the obvious viewing pleasure?

- ENLARGER INSERT FOR 8.5x8.5 MOUNT: If You would mount the slides in 8.5 x

8.5 cm frames, do anyone know if there is an enlarger with inserts for mounted 8.5 x 8.5

cm frames or do You have to demount them to make an Ilfochrome ? Perhaps the flatness

is better with an insert for unmounted slides anyway ?

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OTHER:

Do anyone have another good way to view and evaluate 6x74s?

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To avoid duplicating information please see and refer to and Jack Ngans question (Uncategorized: Which loupe is good for Medium Format Camera/Slide/Negative?) before answering. Perhaps just add view area information.

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OOPS! This ended up to be a lot of questions but it IS an interesting subject and the

ignorance of a newbie is LARGE. Please bear with me and answer the questions of Your

interest. To simplify for me and other interested readers perhaps You can use my

indexing above to relate the answer to the question, for example:

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LOUPE- QUALITY: I think that . . .

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Thank You All!

Mikael

Hi,

I use a loupe (10x for sharpness control) and a lightbox for selecting the slides. Then I mount the good ones in 8,5*8,5 frames. Then I can view the slide with my Goetschmann slide projector. This projector use no slidemagazin, you must insert one by one (the magazin version is veeeryyy expensive!). But the quality makes you happy evertime you look this slides.

I select the slides before mounting, because of the price of the 8,5*8,5 frames.

Mikael: Loupes--- Trying to find a loupe that fits your criteria is almost impossible. You should use a loupe of at least 6x that is well corrected (minimal astigmatism and spherical aberration; preferably achromatic with a flat field). An 8x that is well corrected that can view an entire 6x7 slide would cost a fortune. My suggested solution is to try a 6-10x that is well corrected but does not cover your entire slide. Edmund Scientific's optical division makes a 6x that uses two achromats that meets my recommendation above. The cost- $80. There phone is (609)573-6250. They are in New Jersey, USA.

Steve R.

For 6x7 coverage, there is not much choice, Kenko and Peak, both with low magnification. The Kenko x3.6 is a good quality loupe. For full coverage, you don't need any higher magnification because the field of view will become too large for the human eye.

I also use a x20 Hakuba (maybe different brand name outside Japan) loupe for looking at small details and judging sharpness.

My slides come in a sleeves with two slides per row (5 rows) and my light box is wide enough for evaluating one row each time. I just have to shift the sleeves vertically.