Silvestri tilting lupe...is it worth it?

[john_miller16]

Hi all,

I read that this lupe can be tilted at an angle while holding it on

the focusing screen, which is suposed to make focusing easier

especially with WA lenses since the light rays when using a WA lens

do not hit the screen in a perpendicular fashion.

My question: Does it really worth the extra cost, since this lupe is

very expensive?

[gary_ferguson1]

I use this loupe on a Master Technika and I can assure you that viewing with the new 58mm Schnieder XL in the focusing mount is still a complete pig! The Silvestri's a fine loupe, but it's no magical solution.

[john_kasaian1]

Rick, I've use a 8x Agfa for four years---I think I paid about $5 for it---and it served me well. Last year I bought the Silvestri after consulting the with the Wise on this forum. I'd narrowed the field down between the Toyo and the Silvestri---and bought the Silvestri(about $75 at B&H) since 1) 6x is closer to the 8x I've been using than the Toyo's 3.?x. 2) It really wasn't all that much more expensive than the Toyo and really considerably less than the Schneiders and Rodenstocks which were outside my modest LF budget. 3) I am fond of most things Italian(especially food, but thats another story!) The tiltng feature is indeed useful, and even more so now that I've added a 240 G-Claron to my 8x10 kit. If you find its not for you, Silvestris come with a regular base so you can change bases as you please. Its a very cool optic and IMHO a fine upgrade from the garden variety Agfa types. That said, IMHO just about any loupe will "get you there" even, I've been told, a modest linen tester or dime store magnifying glasses. If I were just starting out, I'd go the cheap route(well, I did, actually!) and spend my cash on film and chemicals until I felt I needed to upgrade. The Silvestri just makes focusing "funner." Good Luck!

[cxc]

No.

[tim_atherton2]

Absolutley - though probably more so for 8x10 than 4x5. It costs no more than most other loupes (except the cheapo Toyo and Wistas - the former happens to work exceedingly well imo though). You can either have the tilting or the standard base.

 

I find it especially good with the 159mm f9/12.5 on my 8x10, but also very good for 210 and 250.

 

I use it for 4x5 and it does help a bit with the 75mm and the tilting base.

 

But if you find it a bit costly, quite frankly, the Toyo loupe is hard to beat!

[brian_ellis3]

I've never used the Silvestri loupe but I have the Toyo loupe and a Peak loupe. The Toyo is somewhere in a closet I think, I haven't used it in years, the Peak goes everywhere because it has a square base whereas the Toyo is round. A square base makes it much better for checking along the sides (and corners, if they're not cut out) of the ground glass, which is often the area in which you're most interested. I don't know whether the Silvestri is square or round but if it's round I'd forget it.

[david_haynes]

I've not used the loupe you're refering to, but for my 8x10 work I've

found what I consider the ideal solution.

 

It's a pair of jeweler's glasses that have an adjustable headband

similar to that inside a welder's helmet. The lenses are on a

hinge that can be flipped up or down and are interchangable with

varying degrees of magnification. I use the ones that focus at

about 4 inches.

 

This, for me, has several advantages over a traditional loupe:

 

1) both hands are free... one to focus and the other to

clasp/close the bottom of the focus cloth.

 

2) I can see a larger, magnified area (about 3x4 inches) on the

ground glass. This makes adjustments in tilt/swing, etc easier

and faster.

 

3) because of the flip-up design, I can flip up the lenses to

compose (this prevents the focus cloth from sagging down),

then flip down to focus.

 

4) it's a cinch to check all the way to the corners, because I'm

several inches away.

 

5) again, because of the distance, I never have problems with

fogging the GG in cold or humid conditions.

 

6) I can use without removing my eyeglasses.

 

7) it's cheap... less than $30 including lenses.

 

Just my 2¢.

[geoffrey_james]

Rick,

 

I use the Silvestri on an 8 10 and find it extremely efficient. For me there is a problem when the magnfication is too great -- you end up staring at the grain in the ground glass and fiddling endlessly in the search for a meaningless perfection. With the Silvestri the little corner widget works well, and is particularly useful for Dagors, which do not have flat field of focus.

[andrew pell]

I've got two Silvestri loupes - the 4x and the tilting 6x. I liked the idea of the tilting bit but found the base stiff to tilt. I loosened off the screws a bit but still have a fear of hoping the ground glass is strong enough to take the force needed to tilt the loupe and then finding it isn't... :-(

 

I use the 4x nearly all the time - great construction with metal body and dioptre correction that can be locked in place - the rodenstock / calumet one I tried hasn't this little nicety and was very flimsy / plasticy in comparison and not worth the price IMHO (approx 55 gbp opposed to 35 gbp for the Silvestri a couple of years ago).

 

The 6x can be taken off it's tilting base and used as a normal loupe if you want but I prefer the strength of the 4x over the 6x...

 

If you want to look at prints, the rodenstock has the slide-over sheath rather than having to change to a translucent base with the silvestri but the one I tried seemed as though it slid back down very easily.

 

This might seem very anti-rodenstock but it didn't suit my needs and I got something that did for approximately half price :-)

BTW tilting 6x were approx 70 gbp when I got mine.

 

I'd second what somebody mentioned about using a tilting loupe on a 8x10 - from my experience on 4x5 I'd have thought you'll have a lot better chance due to the larger gg area i.e. not being as pushed to see into the corners / working with a pokey viewing area ;-)

 

Andrew

[john_luke]

I bought one, but don't use it. It's 6X, so I end up seeing too much texture on the GG. My 3.5X Toyo works much better. Also, I just read an artical on the Wisner site about fresnels, and if you have a fresnel on the inside, such as an Arca like me, it can be dicey when using ultra wides such as the 47mmXL. According to the artical, if you try to loupe the corners of the GG, which is what the tilting loupe is for, with an inside fresnel in place, you may be in for a surprise. Apparently, due to the extremely close proximity of the lens element to the fresnel, and the fact that at the corners, it is extremely off axis, the fresnel no longer gives an accurate indication of true focus. When I use my 47XL, I zero the camera movements, I focus by using my Toyo loupe placed flat in the middle of the GG, (or if I have used a shift, or rise, I place the loupe flat and centered over the lens element) and I rely on hyperfocus or depth of field to take care of me.

[upscan]

Rick's question however is about the tilting Silvestry. I have heard technical arguments in its favour particularly when using Fresnels. With Fresnels the tilting Silvestry is 'supposedly' the best thing but I have never had the opportunity of verifying those statements. As its magnification is too low for my liking I do not think I'd bother.

 

John and Geoffrey: If at 6X you start finding the GG too grainy, you should get yourself a better groundglass. With my Linhof GG I find myself perfectly comfortable at 10X and with it I am able to get greatest sharpness than with lower magnification loupes. I use a Silvestry 10X which I find great. It is sharp and of the right length and bulk.

[john_hennessy1]

I have a loupe that is not often mentioned but it sees into corners well. It is a Peak (or Peake?) 4x that is a very large square about 50-60mm. Since it is so big, you just look through it obliquely to see a corner. As an added attraction, it works reversed too (many loupes do, of course) which allows me to magnify and thus see the focus

scale of my camera under the dark cloth.