a loupe for Phase One sliding back?

[studio347]

Hi,
I want to buy a loupe to use with the Phase One sliding back(sinar P2).
I'm using now 4 X Rodenstock for general quick focus and 7 X Pentax for more precise focus. I want to have a stronger loupe than 7X for more precise focusing.
I'm looking Peak 8-16X zoom loupe and Pentax 5-11 X zoom loupe. I want to have around 10 X or more magnification and wear eyeglasses.
Can you share some experience for these loupes and others.
Thanks!

[HarperPhotos]

Hello,

This is what I used with my Sinar P2 in the bad old day's when I shot film.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8X-Focusing-Loupe-Lupe-4x5-Camera-Linhof-Wista-Horseman-/270581063525?pt=US_Film_Backs_Holders&hash=item3effe35f65

Cheers

Simon

[torger]

If you find something good, please let me know

I'm myself still looking for the ideal loupe, haven't tested much yet though.

Somewhat of a minor scandal is that digital view camera makers have not understood the urgent need of HIGH magnification loupes. 36x48mm or 54x41mm digital is not the same as 4x5" or 8x10" film. Not only is the image area much much smaller, with digital and pixel peep we have also got more picky about nailing focus *exactly*.

I have looked at the ground glass of my Linhof with very high magnification (using an other camera with a macro lens) and it is not the GG resolution that is the problem, it can swallow probably up to 50x magnification and still show good detail (yes you see grain, but still real detail), the problem is the loupes. 10x is noway near making use of the resolution GG delivers, and thus makes exact focusing considerably harder than it needs to be. My guess is that 25x would be a suitable tradeoff.

There are 25x or even 30x jewelry loupes but it seems to me they use a different magnification scale, my (cheap) 30x jewelry loupe has about the same magnification as my 10x silvestri loupe.

[torger]

I just recently got myself a little bit more "expensive" ($40) 20x jewelry loupe

http://www.amazon.com/BelOMO-Quadruplet-Loupe-Folding-Magnifier/dp/B00144142E

which actually does magnify about 20x. I then removed the folding cover and put layers of tape under it to adjust focus to match thickness of ground glass and fresnel lens. You cannot tilt this loupe (too close to the glass) but in the center on wides or on longer lenses it works very well, you see detail corresponding to about 15 megapixels 100% live view (compared side-by-side with 21 megapixel Canon live view which is a little bit better).

For looking at edges of wides I use my 10x silvestri loupe, remove the base and tilt it. Rough inital focus I do without magnification.

This loupe combination I find quite satisfactory although I'd love to have 20x tiltable. I might try a peak 25x pen microscope, it seems to be tiltable but the tip probably need to be modified to get focus on the ground glass grain.

When there's no tilt/swing involved it is usally feasible to focus before finalizing composition, and then one can simply point the camera straight at the object so one get to use the center of the lens and then no loupe tilt is needed.