Does A 30X Loupe Really Help To See What's Making A Nib Less Smooth?

[Jamerelbe]

Interesting. I'm pretty sure the 30x one I have is made in China and it's cheap. I compared it to the 10x loupe I got from Goulet, which is almost useless except for very very basic alignment. I have been suspicious about their magnification but never have a chance to make a comparison.

 

If you're talking about the old white 'magnifying glass' style loupe from Goulet Pens, they no longer sell it - and effectively acknowledged (in a more recent video) that it didn't offer the kind of magnification they had originally thought. I found something similar on eBay and I agree, it's next to useless (though not too bad for removing splinters from my daughter's fingertips!). Goulet now sell a more expensive loupe, that's supposed to be better quality - but I haven't tried it out for myself.

 

There are some good Chinese-made loupes, I'm sure - but it's hard to compare the cheaper ones you can get for US$5 to the result you get from using a 'triplet' loupe like the BelOmo.

 

SBRE Brown has a (now somewhat dated) video on loupes, which from memory was quite informative - though also a bit longer than some. Still, it's not a bad place to start if you're interested in exploring the topic further:

 

[woleizihan]

 

If you're talking about the old white 'magnifying glass' style loupe from Goulet Pens, they no longer sell it - and effectively acknowledged (in a more recent video) that it didn't offer the kind of magnification they had originally thought. I found something similar on eBay and I agree, it's next to useless (though not too bad for removing splinters from my daughter's fingertips!). Goulet now sell a more expensive loupe, that's supposed to be better quality - but I haven't tried it out for myself.

 

There are some good Chinese-made loupes, I'm sure - but it's hard to compare the cheaper ones you can get for US$5 to the result you get from using a 'triplet' loupe like the BelOmo.

 

SBRE Brown has a (now somewhat dated) video on loupes, which from memory was quite informative - though also a bit longer than some. Still, it's not a bad place to start if you're interested in exploring the topic further:

 

It's indeed the old magnifying glass style with a handle and it barely makes any thing bigger......

Edited February 9, 2018 by woleizihan

[Chrissy]

I have a 10x loupe and a 15x loupe. I mush prefer using the 10x loupe as it's much easier to see the detail. The 15x loupe has to be held far too close to the nib and goes out of focus very quickly with the slightest movement. I recommend you get a Belomo 10x loupe for everyday nib tuning.

[jmccarty3]

My favorite loupe is the Harald Schneider L2 10X achromatic aplanatic that I got from Amazon. Great German optics, and it comes with a leather case and a nice neck strap. Perfect for pen shows and club meets. I also have an inexpensive Chinese 40X that has a light built in, but it's much bigger and heavier. I only use it when there isn't enough light to see otherwise.

[Mike 59]

Hi, Here is a view of a nib I took through the eyepiece of a hobby microscope. (as in #10 of this thread.)

Two points, it not easy to 'fool' a camera to focus in this situation, and the view with my eye is so much better than this image shows.

But this does magnify with very good quality image, and I have done some smoothing to a couple of nibs that my usual loupes did not show up. The magnification is quoted as 30 to 40, but not easy to know.

Edited February 12, 2018 by Mike 59

[sidthecat]

The only problem with a microscope is it’s a little awkward to schlep one around a pen show.

That said, I dug out my husband’s 15x Chinese triplet and found that while it shows me more detail than my 10x Belomo, it’s hard to keep the damn thing still.

So I know which one I’m likely to take to my hypothetical pen show.

[SpecTP]

I got a macro lens my iphone and it works great.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have a 10 X good glass loupe with good coating.

My Chinese 40X cheap loupe, = my 10 X loupe in real power.

So do differentiate between good glass and cheap 'glass'.

 

I think for me a real 20 X loupe would be too strong...............perhaps I could use a 12 X but don't think I need a 15 X good glass loupe.

 

Yes my cheap Chinese loupe is lighted....more than likely cost as much as the loupe for a new battery.

My good glass loupe is a life time buy.

Edited February 17, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[lurcho]

My 15X loupe eventually arrived following a mistake that led to their sending me a 20X.

 

The first impression was the smallness of this thing. 12mm is tinier in real life than I expected.

 

However, the optical quality is just great. It's not difficult to hold steady enough to get a very clear image, though you do have to be a little careful. And the fact that the firm sent me a 20X loupe first made it possible to compare them side by side. In my opinion, the seller was correct to say that 21mm was much too big for a 20X lens when he first advised me, and the clarity and ease-of-use of the smaller lens was far superior.

 

And that's my tuppence-worth.

[ReadyFireAim]

I have to have at least a 30X

My 60X is a little much.

 

My next purchase will be a 50X

[lurcho]

I have to have at least a 30X

My 60X is a little much.

 

My next purchase will be a 50X

 

What diameter of lens do you have in 30X?

[ReadyFireAim]

 

What diameter of lens do you have in 30X?

 

This is my 30X / 60x

Cheap but seems to work ok

 

http://www.all-spec.com/Catalog/Lighting-Magnification/Magnifiers-Accessories/Illuminated-Magnifiers/230-005?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIs7K4n7e02QIVEbXACh1Dmw59EAQYBSABEgL0K_D_BwE

 

I have a 20x also that I never use.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Nail-Bender

[Brianm_14]

None of the reputable loupe manufacturers (which are: BelOMO, Eschenbach, Nikon, Zeiss, and even B&L to a degree) sell a loupe of greater than 20X magnification. One can find higher powers offered on Amazon and eBay, of course, but these are inferior Chinese goods, and usually heavily mis-represent their actual magnification.

 

A good place to check is a one of the well-established geological supply houses, such as www.amateurgeologist.com or u s geological supply (the official importer and distributer of beLOMO loupes). None of these places carries any loupes with magnifications above 20X, nor do they carry any loupes with built-in illumination. If good loupes were available with these features, geologists and amateur rock hounds would be lining up to buy them.

 

As a trained, professional microscopist of more decades experience than I care to admit, I can tell you that properly corrected loupes (such as the coveted Hastings Triplet) cannot be made on the cheap. A low price always means low quality. Also, professionals tend to use lower magnifications, and insist on ensuring lighting is more than adequate. Attempts to use loupes claiming to magnify as high as 30X or 60X make no sense, as the focal length would be impractically short. How would you hold both the specimen and the loupe perfectly still, as required at that magnification? No, buy a 10X, 15X, or maybe a 20X loupe made by a good, recognized brand, and learn to observe things closely. It is a skill, not simply a matter of more magnification! To claim otherwise is like saying buying a guitar makes you instantly a guitarist!

 

I wish I could be more positive about higher magnifications in loupes, but I cannot modify the laws of physical optics. The reputable manufacturers seem to agree!

 

High-quality, lower-powered loupes, when used with good lighting, and with an emphasis on learning to look for detail, will do the trick in most cases. If you really need higher magnification, any trained professional scientist such as a geologist will tell you that at even 30X, your best bet, your only real choice, is picking up a decent used stereomicroscope on eBay or GoodWill Online for under $100, so you can steady the pen and get a really close, well-lit look at nibs.

 

Decent used scopes can be had for under $75 (or less) if one is patient. This isn't all that much more than a good Hastings triplet will run! (If anyone sees a likely scope and wants an opinion, just post and I'll try to help.) I've bought over 75 used scopes for my university, for friends, and myself, at excellent prices and have had uniformly good luck; only in a few instances was a return to seller necessary. In fact, I usually have a stereo microscope or two for sale hanging around here as well, because I always need cash for yet to another microscope I am customizing as a project. Just stay away from the ubiquitous Chinese scopes! They have very serious QC issues, to say the least!

Edited November 7, 2018 by Brianm_14

[Brianm_14]

My favorite loupe is the Harald Schneider L2 10X achromatic aplanatic that I got from Amazon. Great German optics, and it comes with a leather case and a nice neck strap. Perfect for pen shows and club meets.

Another great choice of an instrument made to high standards! Money well spent!

[Bo Bo Olson]

US$5 to the result you get from using a 'triplet' loupe like the BelOmo.

At $35 the BelOmo is a fine well coated glass, once in a life time buy. $5.00 for a 40X=10X in reality, lighted Chinese loupe is good enough and it's lighted. So the batteries will cost you near as much or more than the loupe. A buy once, buy again type of thing, and again. After a few decades one would have spent as much as one would have for a good glass like a BelOmo.

 

Over the years reading about loupes here, some folks say a 20X...real magnification not a Chinese lie, is too much....that 15 X could well be....or would be a max.

 

I am satisfied with my 10x good coated glass loupe, &Chinese 40 X which is not quite as good; but close enough fro government work.

If I was going to go back in time, I'd tell my self to get a 12 X BelOmo.

The coating of a well ground lens makes a world of difference.

 

So if the guy who has 60 X and 40 X and is looking for 50X, is not using Chinese loopes, his field of view would be so tiny one couldn't see the whole nib....or it would be hard to hold the nib in the field of view. 60=15X, in my Chinese 40X = my 10X good glass loupe. So IMO he's looking for a real 12 X magnification....when he's looking for 50 X in Chinese.

 

(Had to go look at my Chinese loupe that is kept in the living room, both of them, in I get by with my old 10 X one most of the time. It was 40X not the 30X I had thought. Either way, it's a lie that it's 40X magnification.

 

There are head band goggles that might be the way to go, if one can spare the cash. I know little about them, but some folks are very enthusiastic about them.

But I have enough pens with good nibs that I don't have to worry about the junkers, so don't need that tool. It would be nice if one was going to be repairing whole pens also.

[Karmachanic]

BelOmo 20x. As BoBo says, buy it once and you're done.