Full frame loupes (35mm)

Hi,

I have a cheap Peak 4x that is now badly scratched. I found out how
lousy it was recently when I chanced upon a used 50mm f1.7 lens.

So now I'm looking around for a loupe that can cover a 35mm slide
comfortably and with a long eye relief. In this digital age, there
doesn't seem to be much reviews. Worse still, I can't find any online
retailers in Australia selling the more reputable ones.

My budget is around the USD100 mark. With the limited information I can
find, there seemed to be a number of choices:

1) Rodenstock 4x (is that also Calumet because it's cheaper)
2) Schnieder 4x
3) Mamiya 5x (is that also Cabin? can't find Cabin)

There is a used Peak 4x Anastigmatic that comes close to USD 100. Is
that an option too? It seems to have the biggest viewing area.

I have no chance to see them for myself. Would appreciate any comments
you have.

thanks
Matthew

If you want to save some money, find a "Horizon 4x" loupe on eBay for
$40. These are Russian made, but the quality is very very good.



Hi,

I have a cheap Peak 4x that is now badly scratched. I found out how
lousy it was recently when I chanced upon a used 50mm f1.7 lens.

So now I'm looking around for a loupe that can cover a 35mm slide
comfortably and with a long eye relief. In this digital age, there
doesn't seem to be much reviews. Worse still, I can't find any online
retailers in Australia selling the more reputable ones.

My budget is around the USD100 mark. With the limited information I can
find, there seemed to be a number of choices:

1) Rodenstock 4x (is that also Calumet because it's cheaper)
2) Schnieder 4x
3) Mamiya 5x (is that also Cabin? can't find Cabin)

There is a used Peak 4x Anastigmatic that comes close to USD 100. Is
that an option too? It seems to have the biggest viewing area.

I have no chance to see them for myself. Would appreciate any comments
you have.

thanks
Matthew

"Mike" wrote in message
news
If you want to save some money, find a "Horizon 4x" loupe on eBay for
$40. These are Russian made, but the quality is very very good.



Hi,

I have a cheap Peak 4x that is now badly scratched. I found out how
lousy it was recently when I chanced upon a used 50mm f1.7 lens.

So now I'm looking around for a loupe that can cover a 35mm slide
comfortably and with a long eye relief. In this digital age, there
doesn't seem to be much reviews. Worse still, I can't find any online
retailers in Australia selling the more reputable ones.

My budget is around the USD100 mark. With the limited information I can
find, there seemed to be a number of choices:

1) Rodenstock 4x (is that also Calumet because it's cheaper)
2) Schnieder 4x
3) Mamiya 5x (is that also Cabin? can't find Cabin)

There is a used Peak 4x Anastigmatic that comes close to USD 100. Is
that an option too? It seems to have the biggest viewing area.

I have no chance to see them for myself. Would appreciate any comments
you have.

thanks
Matthew

I have a peak 8x that allows full frame 35mm slide viewing....It is about
$40. You can get a slide viewer attachment for it, but it is cheap plastic
instead of ground glass, and mine is all scratched up. (it came that way)
The optics on the loupe are excellent, however....

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,

I have a cheap Peak 4x that is now badly scratched. I found out how
lousy it was recently when I chanced upon a used 50mm f1.7 lens.

So now I'm looking around for a loupe that can cover a 35mm slide
comfortably and with a long eye relief.
[SNIP]

1) Rodenstock 4x (is that also Calumet because it's cheaper)
2) Schnieder 4x
3) Mamiya 5x (is that also Cabin? can't find Cabin)


The only one I can speak for is the Schneider, which I can confirm is very
good. Field is pretty well distortion free to the edge of the frame, and
there is no noticeable chromatic aberration - the two banes of cheap loupes.

How long an eye relief do you need? The Schneider isn't something that you
have to jam into your eye, but I wouldn't describe the relief as being
expecially long - it's about the same as on a decent pair of binoculars, if
that gives you an idea.


Peter

wrote:

Hi,

I have a cheap Peak 4x that is now badly scratched. I found out how
lousy it was recently when I chanced upon a used 50mm f1.7 lens.

So now I'm looking around for a loupe that can cover a 35mm slide
comfortably and with a long eye relief. In this digital age, there
doesn't seem to be much reviews. Worse still, I can't find any online
retailers in Australia selling the more reputable ones.

My budget is around the USD100 mark. With the limited information I can
find, there seemed to be a number of choices:

1) Rodenstock 4x (is that also Calumet because it's cheaper)
2) Schnieder 4x
3) Mamiya 5x (is that also Cabin? can't find Cabin)

There is a used Peak 4x Anastigmatic that comes close to USD 100. Is
that an option too? It seems to have the biggest viewing area.

I have no chance to see them for myself. Would appreciate any comments
you have.


I use the Rodenstock 4X but wouldn't recommend it. That's because it
doesn't fit your requirement "for a loupe that can cover a 35mm slide
comfortably". It just cuts off the corners. I also use a Schneider
8X which doesn't cover anywhere near the whole frame.

Whatever you buy, I suggest you should consider buying both 4X *and*
8X loupes. The 4X will enable you to see the whole slide and the 8X
(or a 10X) will enable to you inspect detail.

It is also best to buy the same brand, because colour rendition will
be constant. I find the slight difference between the Rodenstock and
Schneider loupes something of an irritation, but not enough to make me
replace the Rodenstock with a 4X Schneider.

Anything from Peak, Cabin and Mamiya will be more than adequate. The
Russian "Horizon" loupes are also worth considering.

Thanks for all your recommendations.

Is the Horizon known by any other names (like the Cabin/Mamiya for
example)?

I hear that the Peak 8x doesn't cover the full frame and has some
noticeable distortion at the edges. Is that correct William?

Guess the Schneider is out for me as well as I'm looking for a loupe
that will allow me a distance of at least 20 cm, the longer the better.
I suppose 30cm is good.

When I look at the specs, there are 2 attributes - aperature, and
field-of-view. The aperature is usually 30mm while the other one can be
46/49/58 mm etc. Which one describes the diameter of the lens you look
through?

The Peak Anastigmatic has a field of view of 58, and that is very wide
indeed if it is really what I thought.

thanks
Matt

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for all your recommendations.

Is the Horizon known by any other names (like the Cabin/Mamiya for
example)?

I hear that the Peak 8x doesn't cover the full frame and has some
noticeable distortion at the edges. Is that correct William?

No. It definitely does cover the full frame. As to edge distortion, I haven
noticed any, but then, I'm not sure I could discern it if it was
there....For one thing, probably all of my lenses have some edge distortion,
so how would I know where the distortion was coming from?

William Graham wrote:

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for all your recommendations.

Is the Horizon known by any other names (like the Cabin/Mamiya for
example)?

I hear that the Peak 8x doesn't cover the full frame and has some
noticeable distortion at the edges. Is that correct William?

No. It definitely does cover the full frame. As to edge distortion, I haven
noticed any, but then, I'm not sure I could discern it if it was
there....For one thing, probably all of my lenses have some edge distortion,
so how would I know where the distortion was coming from?

Move the loupe so that it's edge would be showing the
center of the image?
--
Sander

+++ Out of cheese error +++

"Sander Vesik" wrote in message
...
William Graham wrote:

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for all your recommendations.

Is the Horizon known by any other names (like the Cabin/Mamiya for
example)?

I hear that the Peak 8x doesn't cover the full frame and has some
noticeable distortion at the edges. Is that correct William?

No. It definitely does cover the full frame. As to edge distortion, I
haven
noticed any, but then, I'm not sure I could discern it if it was
there....For one thing, probably all of my lenses have some edge
distortion,
so how would I know where the distortion was coming from?

Move the loupe so that it's edge would be showing the
center of the image?

Yes.....To my tired 70 year old eyes, there is no distortion. The Peak has a
three lens magnifying element, and it looks fine to me. At about $40, I
thought it was a very good buy. - I just wish the auxiliary slide viewer
thingie that goes with it (at additional cost) was made with real ground
glass instead of that scratch prone milk plastic that they did use. I am
thinking of cutting the plastic off and gluing a piece of real ground glass
to it. - But I have to find a piece that's the right size first, or make my
own out of clear glass and steel wool......

wrote:

Thanks for all your recommendations.

You're welcome.

Is the Horizon known by any other names (like the Cabin/Mamiya for
example)?

No, as far as I know it is sold only as a Horizon. I have a vague
recollection that there is another former Soviet brand but that the
loupes are inferior.

Ohnar is another good brand, similar to Cabin and Mamiya.