Larger Format Photography

[Shadowleong]

Hey guys, I need help again! I've been trying to find a good loupe and light box to view my negs, Been using a blank powerpoint slide with laptop max brightness.

I think a loupe with 4x mag would be good, been using the 10x daiso one and i can see the glass grains more clearly than the image, The strain hurts as well.

What features is there to look for in a loupe other than magnification? My eyes get so tired that sometimes i just focus with the naked eye.

 

[losheng]

Recently I bought the Pentax 5.5x loupe, and I think it's great! It has large eye relief, so you don't have to stick your eyeballs right onto the lens, and it has very good edge to edge sharpness. Very reasonably priced too! The original Schneider 4x loupe is excellent too, and you should be able to snipe one off ebay for under USD70.

Using the monitor as a light box? You are pretty hardcore! Amazon sells many colour-correct light boxes for very reasonable prices. I bought a Testrite unit for about USD60 from ebay. There are some lightboxes at the Art Friend, but they are very expensive.

Have fun shopping!

Hey guys, I need help again! I've been trying to find a good loupe and light box to view my negs, Been using a blank powerpoint slide with laptop max brightness.

I think a loupe with 4x mag would be good, been using the 10x daiso one and i can see the glass grains more clearly than the image, The strain hurts as well.

What features is there to look for in a loupe other than magnification? My eyes get so tired that sometimes i just focus with the naked eye.

 

[wootsk]

Hey guys, I need help again! I've been trying to find a good loupe and light box to view my negs, Been using a blank powerpoint slide with laptop max brightness.

I think a loupe with 4x mag would be good, been using the 10x daiso one and i can see the glass grains more clearly than the image, The strain hurts as well.

What features is there to look for in a loupe other than magnification? My eyes get so tired that sometimes i just focus with the naked eye.

I think this will come in handy:bsmilie:

Jokes aside, are you planning to get the Loupe for:

A) Viewing Slides
B) Check film grains
C) Focusing on ground glass

1. A&C
2. A&B
3. B&C
4. All of the above
5. None of the above:bigeyes:

It is possible for number 4, but you do have to compromise a bit on focusing and viewing slides. Basically I find my doctor optics a bit straining to use for focusing as well, but when I need it to focus far at night, It is so useful that I can use a bright light point and sharpen the ray from it for focusing easily and clearly. If there is any complain, it will be that my Loupe isn't like those focusing Loupe with a string attached to hang around the neck.

Light box can DIY, if you don't want to, you can get 1 from Seng Chiong.

 

[Shadowleong]

Thanks for the reply! Just a small question, as long as its for photographic purposes i can safely assume that its correctly calibrated? In terms of the colour temp and other stuff?

A scan and a real neg on a light box has too much difference for me to not look at them. Even if im looking at inverted B&W negatives the details and tonality are simply amazing

After this I'll hunt for a light meter. It seems sunny 16 is serving me very well. Negatives are simply too forgiving to have extreme errors like totally no image

 

[kgston]

Hey guys, I need help again! I've been trying to find a good loupe and light box to view my negs, Been using a blank powerpoint slide with laptop max brightness.

I think a loupe with 4x mag would be good, been using the 10x daiso one and i can see the glass grains more clearly than the image, The strain hurts as well.

What features is there to look for in a loupe other than magnification? My eyes get so tired that sometimes i just focus with the naked eye.

Personally LCD screen is okok for general viewing, but because the pixels are pretty big, esp under magnification, its really bad for the eyes when viewing under a loupe. You really want to consider a lightbox in the long run.

For my daily work, I use a Hakuba 5700, it runs on AA batteries so its convenient and can use rechargable batt, no need to AC adapter. But the viewing area is not exactly very big.. but the size is convenient to carry around. As for loupes, I have a Peak 4x Antistagmat which has a very large viewing area. Good for LF or medium format. For 35mm you will need a 7x loupe to see details better. If you are like me and you need to know if the image on the film is actually indeed in focus and not the scanner playing tricks, you will need at least a 20x loupe. I use a Hakuba 20x achromatic loupe for those kind of work. Price wise, you can check on Adorama, B&H, Amazon, ebay or if you are feeling lucky, the B&S forums..

 

[Shadowleong]

I think this will come in handy:bsmilie:

Jokes aside, are you planning to get the Loupe for:

A) Viewing Slides
B) Check film grains
C) Focusing on ground glass

1. A&C
2. A&B
3. B&C
4. All of the above
5. None of the above:bigeyes:

It is possible for number 4, but you do have to compromise a bit on focusing and viewing slides. Basically I find my doctor optics a bit straining to use for focusing as well, but when I need it to focus far at night, It is so useful that I can use a bright light point and sharpen the ray from it for focusing easily and clearly. If there is any complain, it will be that my Loupe isn't like those focusing Loupe with a string attached to hang around the neck.

Light box can DIY, if you don't want to, you can get 1 from Seng Chiong.

Option 4 would be good, I dont really check my film grains, even if its grainy, I like them that way! Most of the time they have a nice look but 4x5 for me so far is virtually grainless

 

[kgston]

Thanks for the reply! Just a small question, as long as its for photographic purposes i can safely assume that its correctly calibrated? In terms of the colour temp and other stuff?

Your eyes have AWB to compensate for the differences in colour temp

 

[wootsk]

Personally LCD screen is okok for general viewing, but because the pixels are pretty big, esp under magnification, its really bad for the eyes when viewing under a loupe. You really want to consider a lightbox in the long run.

For my daily work, I use a Hakuba 6000, it runs on AA batteries so its convenient and can use rechargable batt, no need to AC adapter. But the viewing area is not exactly very big.. but the size is convenient to carry around. As for loupes, I have a Peak 4x Antistagmat which has a very large viewing area. Good for LF or medium format. For 35mm you will need a 7x loupe to see details better. If you are like me and you need to know if the image on the film is actually indeed in focus and not the scanner playing tricks, you will need at least a 20x loupe. I use a Hakuba 20x achromatic loupe for those kind of work. Price wise, you can check on Adorama, B&H, Amazon, ebay or if you are feeling lucky, the B&S forums..

Wah lao, thought your light tablet from back from JAPAN? Anyway my 8X is still able to check the film quite well. 20X is for diamond liao:bsmilie:, but for fine grain, I have to agree that you will see the grain very nicely. Old man get 20X is the way to go, younger than 24 don't need that high magnification ba.:bsmilie:

OLD Vege Bird

 

[kgston]

Wah lao, thought your light tablet from back from JAPAN? Anyway my 8X is still able to check the film quite well. 20X is for diamond liao:bsmilie:, but for fine grain, I have to agree that you will see the grain very nicely. Old man get 20X is the way to go, younger than 24 don't need that high magnification ba.:bsmilie:

OLD Vege Bird

Yup, I brought back from jpn.. lols.. i wanted to bring back the A4 size fujifilm lightbox one.. but the power adapter only accept 110V and I lazy to get a transformer just to run my lightbox... so liddat.. I still find my current one too small.. Looking for a big and thin one to put on my table.. preferably can run on LED (eco friendly) haha..

 

[wootsk]

Yup, I brought back from jpn.. lols.. i wanted to bring back the A4 size fujifilm lightbox one.. but the power adapter only accept 110V and I lazy to get a transformer just to run my lightbox... so liddat.. I still find my current one too small.. Looking for a big and thin one to put on my table.. preferably can run on LED (eco friendly) haha..

If I'm not wrong, out of your 3 big dry cabinet, got at least 1 cabinet of item is fly back from Japan. D-76 1L pack somemore... Don't come and feed poison here liao.:ipuke: I'm still trying to quit Mamiya 7 addict.:mad2:

 

[kgston]

If I'm not wrong, out of your 3 big dry cabinet, got at least 1 cabinet of item is fly back from Japan. D-76 1L pack somemore... Don't come and feed poison here liao.:ipuke: I'm still trying to quit Mamiya 7 addict.:mad2:

This lightbox looks not bad.. haha.. all this talk of lightbox make me also very gian now..lols..

 

[Shadowleong]

Nice! Maybe i should drop by seng choon to take alook at the light box, wonder if they have one that's big enough for 4x5. Need get some bottles from them too

 

[Nikkornos]

Please give them a call before going down. They may or may not have it. To avoid disappointment, a call is good.

They have a lot of old stock KAISER brand stuff. Made in Germany. Also the old Konica stuff.

 

[Nikkornos]

I know a Japanese guy Shorisoba. He can sell you Mamiya 7 with a standard lens for US$1000. Ai or Mai.

 

[losheng]

Nice! Maybe i should drop by seng choon to take alook at the light box, wonder if they have one that's big enough for 4x5. Need get some bottles from them too

If you are dropping by Seng Cheong - give me a buzz and let's meet up for coffee!

 

[kgston]

Please give them a call before going down. They may or may not have it. To avoid disappointment, a call is good.

They have a lot of old stock KAISER brand stuff. Made in Germany. Also the old Konica stuff.

Wah.. I also wanna see!! Planning to get a kaiser lightbox too..

 

[mamypoko]

I know a Japanese guy Shorisoba. He can sell you Mamiya 7 with a standard lens for US$1000. Ai or Mai.

Haha, I'm also very tempted by the Mamiya 7!

 

[Nikkornos]

Haha, I'm also very tempted by the Mamiya 7!

Hard to convince myself. For standard lens option, use Fuji 690 is more than good enough.

 

[Nikkornos]

Dang! My old lenses are getting old.

90mm F6.8 Angulon Synchro Compur shuttle is sticking at 2 low speeds.
135mm F4.7 Xenar B shuttle jammed open. Need a push to close.
203mm F7.7 Ektar slow speed like all slower by 2X.

Need to send in for CLA. perhaps no LF for 1-2 weeks.

Looking at some 死奶的 lenses: 阿婆烂打 150mm and also 阿婆洗马 210mm, but the prices very scary.

 

[mamypoko]

Dang! My old lenses are getting old.

90mm F6.8 Angulon Synchro Compur shuttle is sticking at 2 low speeds.
135mm F4.7 Xenar B shuttle jammed open. Need a push to close.
203mm F7.7 Ektar slow speed like all slower by 2X.

Need to send in for CLA. perhaps no LF for 1-2 weeks.

Looking at some 死奶的 lenses: 阿婆烂打 150mm and also 阿婆洗马 210mm, but the prices very scary.

A CLA should fix all that up, at least the shutter can still fire!

Just got a 210mm Fujinon, need to cut a bigger hole on my lens board though.

Anyone knows any local machining shop which can drill a bigger hole in my lens boards?

Thanks!