Deciding on a Loupe

I am at a point in my landscape and nature photography where I need a loupe to evaluate slides. I have read the information at photo.net about loupes and recognize the Schneider 4X is a highly recommended loupe. Neither of the camera stores where I live carry them. I am reluctant to purchase a loupe of that cost without trying it. Since I do not have access to to a Schneider loupe I would appreciate information on how to compare loupes I can try out. Thanks.

When I went through this, I ordered the Rodenstock 4x, the Schneider 4x, the NPC 4x, and I borrowed a couple of 8x full view loupes that were available at the local camera store.

 

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I evaluated the loupes by looking at around 1,000 slides. I eventually settled on four slides that allowed me to judge color, contrast, center sharpness, and edge sharpness, and I did a detailed comparison. I wrote it up and Philip has it, but he didn't think it was interesting enough to post.

 

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The conlusion of my study was that none of the full view 8x loupes were worth even the $10 to $40 that they cost (I actually didn't address these in my write up). The Rodenstock was the most user friendly, but wasn't capable of simultaneously delivering sharpness at both the edge and the center. The Schneider was the most fragile, but gave uniform center to edge sharpness. The NPC was the most rugged, gave uniform center to edge sharpness, but was harder to look at than the 4x Schneider, especially with eyeglasses on (which generally isn't an issue for me in this kind of work).

 

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I ended up keeping both the NPC (for its higher power) and the Schneider (for its very pleasing view). When I evaluate slides on the light table, I tend to reach for the NPC first, but I like them both. If you wear glasses, you probably want the Schneider. If you are a klutz and tend to break your stuff, you probably want the NPC.

I meant the NPC 5.5X. Sorry. I don't think there is an NPC 4X.

I was reluctant to buy the Schneider 4x without trying it first, but I figured I could always return it if I didn't like it. I wasn't disappointed. Let me put it this way: I can't imagine a 4x loupe being better than this.<p>

 

That's not to say I haven't tried, though. Since I got it I've had the chance to compare it to many other loupes. I still haven't found one that comes close.

I've never used a real loupe because of the expense. I always use

a 50mm f/1.4 photo lens reversed with a rubber lens hood taped to

the camera mount side. The hood rests on the transparency at just

about the right distance for focussing. It is rugged, cheap and

has highly corrected optics with good sharpness overall, in fact

some people use this kind of setup for doing high quality macro-

photography.

Go with either the Schneider or Rodenstock. Both are good and are used by editors across the world. Schneider especially. If you do have someone come in or go to their office to view slides you will discover that handing them the Schneider to view images will get a positive response. Quality shows & since you hand them an acknowledged quality standard to view images with it helps. Use what the people you are trying to sell to use and you can't go wrong. If you are looking at images you might as well use what the guys you are sending to use. And yes, I have both a Schneider & a Rodenstock as well as a couple of graphic arts lenses. I have found that the Schneider gets positive comments. Don't know if it actually helps, but it doesn't hurt to have some editorial types handling a piece of gear they know is good to look at images I feel are good.

The Schneider is well worth the $109 it costs at <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/">B&H Photo and Video</a>. The total cost of loupe and light-table is held to a reasonable level if you follow Glen Johnson's <a href="http://db.photo.net/com/philg/photo/evaluation.html">advice on buying a Porta-Trace light table</a> rather than the breathtakingly expensive JUST models.

I have yet to find a loupe that I really like. For some reason most of the loupes I have used do not focus clearly on the slide. I ended up taking my old Peak 8x and looking at the slides with from the opposite end of the loupe (ie. the rectangular side). This gives me a very sharp image. For some reason I can't get loupes to focus correctly when I use them right side up. Strange, but true.

I have used both the Schneider and the Rodenstock. Both are very good loupes. However, I found the Wetzlar (EMO) to be a bit better. It's costly, but not a whole lot more than other fine loupes, nad offers a little more magnification than some at 5x. But I find that a 4x or 5x loupe is not enough to judge the quality on slides that will be enlarged to 16x20 or more. I usually give all my slides a quick check with the 5x to judge exposure and composition and to eliminate all those that are soft enough to see at this magnification. For those that pass the above test, I use a 28mm lens mounted on a rubber tube to check for sharpness in the eyes of animals and the fore and background of landscapes. The 28mm lens will not allow you to see the entire frame, but will allow you to check for detail at about 10x or so. The point here is that 4x or 5x is not going to be enough to really check those images for being sharp. You do need a bit more to do a thorough job.

 

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Bill

<P>If you are unsatisfied with your photographic equipment purchase from <A HREF="http://www.bhphotovideo.com">B&H</A> there is a 14-day return period (7 days for video equipment).

 

<P>Another loupe to consider is the Carl Zeiss Triotar T* Loupe 5× from Contax. The housing is made of metal and comes with threaded black shading and plastic lighting sleeves. Made by Contax, it is naturally expensive (US$187 at B&H).

I recently went out to buy a Schneider 4X loupe. The shop I visited had just taken delivery of a new Nikon APO 4X loupe. It is much more sturidily, and stylishly, constructed, a natty combination of brushed metal, and heavy rubber. I could not tell any meaningful difference in performance between it and the Schneider. It was also 30 UK pounds cheaper. I bought it, and it is simply wonderful.

I've worked with many loupes but the one that I like the best

is sold by Edmund Scientific's. They sell a 6X loupe that

has over a 1" distance under the lens cell, and it also has

a huge 220 degree cutaway base for better hand access.

 

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Here are the specifications:

 

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Eye Lens Diameter: 1 1/2"

Height: 3"

Weight: 6.6 ounces

Field of View: 1 1/2"

Working Distance: 1"

Lens System: Double Achromatic

Price: 79.00

Catalog # T42,769

 

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They put out a mailorder catalog.

Phone - 1-609-547-8880

I happened to have a 10x Schneider lupe in my pocket this morning when I went by the local camera store. For those who aren't familiar with it, the Schneider 10x does not allow full frame viewing, and the skirt is opaque, so it is also useless for viewing prints. However, several people swear by these lupes for the evaluation of the sharpness of slides. Someone recently suggested that a 10x lupe will show off more about a slide than 40x projection, and I think that, under most typical projection conditions, that this is true.

 

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In any event, I wondered how this nearly $250 piece of glass would compare to the stuff in the cabinet at the store, so my buddy behind the counter lined up their goodies, and we took a look. The store carries a cheapo Canon 8x, a store brand 8x, Peak 8x, Horizon 8x (a Russian made Peak knock off), something called a MaxiLupe 8x, an unbranded Japanese 12x eye lupe, and a few other nondescript coke bottle bottoms that masquarade as lupes.

 

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The only lupe in the store that came close to the Schneider 10x, was the lowly unbranded Japanese 12x watch eye loupe. And it held up quite well. It breaks into two pieces, so it is actually two lupes, one at 12x, and one at a lower, unknown power. It fits into your eye socket and you focus it by moving closer to or farther from the slide. It is like what you have probably seen a jeweler use to check out a stone, or to work on a watch with mechanical works (how many have seen that recently?). This little gem sold across the counter for $6.12.

 

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The salesman hadn't even wanted to show it to me, because it was so cheap, and because they were using it by setting it down on the slide, with the eye end at the slide, and the viewing end at the eye. It was horrid in this mode. When used correctly, which I figured out by remembering my grandfather's jeweler's loupe from my childhood, it was very capable of showing off the degree of sharpness in a slide. They had two of them in the store. I bought one, and the salesman bought the other.

 

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This is the first genuine bargain that I have run across in photography. It is called a Double Lens Watch Eye-Loupe. The white box is stamped V-360 on the lid, and there is a sticker that says "12 Japan." Inside there is a small sheet of paper that explains how to take it apart in a single paragraph, duplicated in English and in Japanese.

 

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If you don't have a high power loupe for slide evaluation, this would be a good one to try to find. The camera store where I found mine is Malone's Camera Stores, Inc., 937-293-2442. Ask for Dave.

 

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The other loupe that wasn't absolutely horrid was the MaxiLupe 8x. This lupe stood out from most of the others, because it was possible to actually focus it so that it presented a crisp image. Most of these cheap leaps just don't discriminate well enough between sharp and not sharp. The MaxiLupe was OK in this regard.

I've tried several loupes over the years while teaching photography here. I use 35mm slides. I eventually settled on a PEAK anastigmat 7x (no. 1990-7) which I purchased from B &H Photo. It gives excellent definition, good lighting, and full frame viwing. I recommend it.

My favourite loup is EMO Octoscope.<p> It is a combination loupe

with eight different magnifications from 2x to 28x, design and made

by EMO-Optik Wetzlar Germany

<p>Emo-Optik also made Macromax 5x loupe, the forunner of Leica 5x loupe.<div></div>