What Loupes Are Best?

[LeftyJim]

The title says it all.

 

I find myself in need of doing some tweaking and before I buy a random loupe I thought I would ask what others use first. What magnification? Head band or hand held?

 

All opinions welcome.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Belemo/Belamo??? 10x triplex costs or costed @ $35...it is good coated glass lens. Once in a life time buy.

I could see up to 12 X....but not any higher.10X will do just fine............20X many who have them say, the field of view is too small...some say similar about 15 X.

 

There are cheap Chinese 40X (actually only = 10X in reality) loupes that have a light and probably cost more than it cost for a new battery.

I have both and my no name good glass 10X gets more use. It's slightly clearer.....but in some one gave my wife two of the Chinese ones, shows how cheap they are.....and do count on buying a new one often..............that's the problem with buying cheap.....got to buy it often.

Edited May 19, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[JonSzanto]

I put up with a couple of cheap loupes for years. I have a couple of other things for close work, but I always figured I could find a better loupe. I looked around at suggestions and ordered a Belomo 10x "Triplet" loupe on Amazon. The optics are so much more clear and it is a real improvement. Worth just the tiny bit more, so I'd offer that for your consideration.

[JonSzanto]

GAH!!! I hate it when FPN double-posts!

Edited May 19, 2019 by JonSzanto

[SpecTP]

I also prefer the 10x belomo; also note the 20x belomo has too much distortion, imo

[OMASsimo]

Any decent watchmaker's loupe will do. Then you have your hands free to do the work.

[Honeybadgers]

cheap is fine. Mine was like six bucks and I have no complaints.

[JonSzanto]

cheap is fine. Mine was like six bucks and I have no complaints.

 

Not real great to give a ringing endorsement on a one-off, you should know that. Optics are important, and it is possible that people with less-than-great eyesight can benefit by better quality. I have 3 inexpensive loupes, all slightly different, and when I decided to get an actual decent one the difference was... substantial. I can see things with this one that I could not clearly see with the bargain ones.

 

I leave open the possibility that there are adequate cheap loupes out there, but how would a person know? I think in this case it might be penny wise, pound foolish.

[JonSzanto]

Any decent watchmaker's loupe will do. Then you have your hands free to do the work.

 

If you are speaking of the kind that sit right in the hollow of your eye (honestly, I don't know how to say this!) and you hold it in place sort of like a monocle... I can't wear those. Maybe bone structure or something, but they've never been useable.

[Chmara]

As an aging tri-focal wearer I have tried many looks and magnifying rigs and have not been happy with any one for all tasks. Switching pieces and stand magnifiers is frustrating at best and very awkward to keep in focus/perspective.

 

I have just switched to a very inexpensive USB powered electronic microscope that throws up a big image on my Mac screen and can focus in closer (as well as further) than any of the straight optical loupes I have tried or own. Tain't something you carry around in a pen show, though.

[JonSzanto]

I have just switched to a very inexpensive USB powered electronic microscope that throws up a big image on my Mac screen and can focus in closer (as well as further) than any of the straight optical loupes I have tried or own. Tain't something you carry around in a pen show, though.

 

Precisely. I also have one of those for occasional use, but moreover a friend gifted me with a marvelous Fisher Scientific binocular stereo microcsope. Amazing way to look at nib tipping!

 

Anyway, I use the loupe for casual and desktop examinations but also as you said: to have with me at pen gatherings.

[LeftyJim]

Fascinating. Never thought of a digital. Are they hard to use/set up/maintain? I have zero experience with them.

 

Also interesting that 10x seems to be enough. I assumed you needed much more.

 

Glad I asked. Thanks folks.

[Charles Rice]

Mine is an Agfa 8X. Used in photography

[XYZZY]

Fascinating. Never thought of a digital. Are they hard to use/set up/maintain? I have zero experience with them.

 

Also interesting that 10x seems to be enough. I assumed you needed much more.

 

Glad I asked. Thanks folks.

 

Even with a 10x loupe, the depth of field is so small that it's tedious to hold focus when you're hand-holding both the loupe and the pen.

 

I don't keep links, but I occasionally notice nibmeisters with websites mentioning a 90x microscope. Or maybe I just keep re-noticing the same nib-meister :-) That doesn't mean you need a 90x to do nib work. Hobbiest vs professional.

 

Back to small depth of field: there is a youtube video that I can't locate right now where Brian Gray of Edison mentioned that he had a 15x loupe with a cool little skirt on it that helps you position the object relative to the loupe. I thought that was a nice idea, so I bought one of these, which may or may not be the same model he uses: http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=51092&cat=1,43456,43351,51092.

 

That skirt is indeed nice to have, making it faster to find focus and easier to hold focus. But it can also get in the way depending on the angle you're trying to achieve. It's lit, but the super-bright LED reflecting off of a shiny nib is often too bright, so more often than not I use it off.

 

It's a nice tool, but I would not advise it as a first loupe. It's about the same price as a Belomo, and I don't regret spending the money on it. But if I was going to have just one loupe, and spend just $30, then I'd get the Belomo first.

Edited May 20, 2019 by XYZZY

[PaulS]

I'd agree with the suggestion of X8 power, which Belomo offer for something like £20 plus p. & p. I have a X10 but it verges on being a tad too powerful for casual, out and about use, and for when you want something quick and easy - remember, the higher the power, generally the more light you need to see the subject. But the brand appears to have universal recommendation for an easy to use and reliable loupe.

If you do get one, remove the screws, insert a drop of epoxy/araldite and return the screws - it saves looseness which can occur when the lens section is popped in and out a few thousand times.

[OMASsimo]

The title says it all.

 

I find myself in need of doing some tweaking and before I buy a random loupe I thought I would ask what others use first. What magnification? Head band or hand held?

 

All opinions welcome.

 

This threat is getting bizarre. The OP obviously asks for a loupe to do some work on a small object (not getting more specific though). Most suggestions here are for magnifiers which are decidedly not meant or suitable for that particular purpose. I suggest to all posters here to take your favourite loupe to take the swiss movement of your favourite expensive mechanical watch apart, clean it, and then resemble it flawlessly. Good luck with just one hand. I've done it countless times with both hands using the kind of magnifier that a watchmaker uses. And the magnification, though it varies, usually is closer to 2.5 than 10. Why? Because you also need some space for your tools to work on the object. A quality 10x magnifier is great for inspection but it's pretty useless for doing work because you have roughly 20 mm between lens and object and you lost one hand.

[XYZZY]

 

This threat is getting bizarre. The OP obviously asks for a loupe to do some work on a small object (not getting more specific though). Most suggestions here are for magnifiers which are decidedly not meant or suitable for that particular purpose. I suggest to all posters here to take your favourite loupe to take the swiss movement of your favourite expensive mechanical watch apart, clean it, and then resemble it flawlessly. Good luck with just one hand. I've done it countless times with both hands using the kind of magnifier that a watchmaker uses. And the magnification, though it varies, usually is closer to 2.5 than 10. Why? Because you also need some space for your tools to work on the object. A quality 10x magnifier is great for inspection but it's pretty useless for doing work because you have roughly 20 mm between lens and object and you lost one hand.

 

To be clear, I observe under loupe, decide what I'm going to do, then do it without the loupe. Rinse and repeat.

 

I agree that a 10x loupe does not afford room to work with a tool while observing with the loupe, but it hasn't occurred to me that I would want to do that.

Edited May 20, 2019 by XYZZY

[PaulS]

I'd be interested to know what the op means by doing 'some tweaking' - on a pen I assume, not a watch. I wasn't aware that, generally, we carried out pen repair whilst peering through a lens ……………. We use a loupe initially to ……………. assess damage or otherwise - read small nib and barrel imprints of brand etc., but repair is done manually without a lens. Perhaps I've been doing it wrong these past few years

[LeftyJim]

To clarify:

 

I am one of life's awkward left handed fountain pens users. Some nibs work for me and some do not. Visually (naked eye) they look the same at the tip so I figured a loupe would clear up what really makes the difference in the nibs that do/don't work for me. And thus I can tweak so some of my pens become usable.

[Christopher Godfrey]

May we expand the topic -- slightly, then? What recommendations do folk here have for a <wearable>, illuminated magnifier? There seem to be masses of them available from China (of course!); but I suspect that quality will be low. Using a wearable one means two hands free, doesn't it? Easier. Ideas?

 

I do use one of those little hand-held loupes (10x, I think?) from Goulet and the LED illumination is <good>; but, after about a year's use, the electrical contact is becoming of dubious reliability. I also do use a 7X jeweller's loupe from Germany (Eschenbach)