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What Loupe for Groundglass Focusing

torger

Active member
Mueller and Anders: I'm really surprised that the old Linhof GG and fresnel solution is so clumsy. 4mm seems a very, very big gap?
The gap between the glass and fresnel is not 4mm, but the gap plus the fresnel thickness is about 4mm, ie you need a 4mm shorter base than if using the new ground glass with integrated fresnel.
 

torger

Active member
it seems the 20x might be useful in some situations for me but that I'd probably end up using the 12x in 95% of situations regardless.
Yes, I would certainly say that the 12x is what most will like and find sufficient, a nice tradeoff between magnification and field of view. If several users would test them both side by side I think only a small part would like me prefer the 20x, so it's special.

The 20x is a focusing tool only, put it on a spot on the ground glass and focus, it's not useful for looking around in the picture as the field of view is too small for that. I rarely find a need for that though, I'm pleased with the unmagnified view for overview, and then just need to focus on a spot, and then I feel just a little bit safer with the 20x, for now at least. Maybe when I get used to the 12x I'll start using it more.
 

tjv

Active member
I have this loupe too, but never used it as it arrived at the same time my 12x did. It's nice though, very small if not slightly low mag.

Coming into this late, but I use this Schneider 8x loupe that is no longer in production:



I borrowed the photo from someone showing it at the large format forum (mine is missing paint!). It is a strong loupe (not 12x or 20x though), but it has served me well for 20+ years; it makes focusing on the grain of the ground glass a breeze. I think I paid about $75 US new and I am sure you can find them used for much less.
 
Hello Guys,
i ve heard, that the kapture group sliding back with Maxwell groundglass is behind a glass for protection. This is fine. But could there be a problem with high magnification loupes like the silvestri 12x? Is anybody useing this sliding back?
Thank you.
 
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