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LOUPES
COMPARED
Click
here to buy loupes
Contents of this page:
10X loupes (scroll down or click here)
1
5X to 30X loupes + double loupes (scroll down or click here)
Warning about triplet loupes (scroll down or click here)
See
also, How to Choose a Magnifier
You
may wish to print this page and use it as a reference as you
browse our Summer-Autumn 2008 snail mail catalogue.
To see all loupes on our web (to actually buy one) site click
here.
10X
Magnification
(scroll
down for stronger magnifications)
Back to top
All
fold into a hard case, all metal except for the Zeiss which
fold into a plastic case. All have glass lenses except
for Zeiss which have plastic
lenses. Reminder: the first figure is the magnification,
the second is the lens diameter, e.g. 20X21 = 20X magnification,
21mm diameter lens.
The
standard (and recommended) magnification used for gemstones
and jewellery, stamps and coins is 10X.
10X15
£2.00
ref
10X15
, snail mail catalogue page 7 top left
A
beginner's loupe, plastic lens, aluminium casing
.
Supplied in cardboard box.
A cheap and nasty magnifier. Construction
is aluminium and plastic, lens is plastic, image is fuzzy.
Yet we sell a large number of these, I think there must
be many people who simply don't see why they should pay
more than £2.00. Also, at our stand at the fairs,
there are customers who say they can't see the difference
between a £2.00 loupe and a £20.00 loupe, and so we tell
them they should buy the £2.00 loupe.
10X12
£5.00
ref.10X12, snail mail catalogue page 7 top middle
Popular
loupe, folds into metal case,
standard quality, loop
to attach chain.
Supplied in cardboard box.
This is especially popular with professional traders, not
because the quality or size is anything special but because
they keep loosing their loupes and don't see why they should
spend more. Supplied wrapped
in a cardboard box.
10X14
£7.50
ref.10X14
,
snail mail catalogue
page 7 top right
Better
optical quality than the 10X12 and also (due to clever design)
physically smaller.
10X23
£8.50
ref.10X23
,
snail mail catalogue
page seven left (2nd-down)
Much
larger than the 10X12 and 10X14 but not as good optical quality,
very popular at the fairs because it's so large.
10X12
4-element £14.50 ref. 10X12-4el, snail mail catalogue page 7 right (2nd-down)
The
simplest of loupes have one or two (most likely two) lenses;
the better loupes have three lenses (each one corrects for
the distortion of the others to give a clearer sharper colour-true
image) but the very best have four or five elements.
This one gives the clearest sharpest image of them all,
with the possible exception of the Zeiss. It's unique
construction also makes it physically smaller (overall).
Supplied in a soft leather case. Loop for holding
a chain.
10X16
£12.50 ref.10X16 snail mail catalogue page 7 middle (2nd-down)
Better than the standard 10X12, 10X14 and 10X24; not nearly
as good as the 10X12 4-element; good if you
you want a loupe that is slightly larger than normal; a
mid-price loupe for those who are able to stretch those
pennies to £12.50 but are afraid to spend more. To
my eyes (as an expert) the quality of these is quite OK, I wouldn't get more excited than that.
10X18
£20.00 ref.10X18c
snail mail catalogue page 7 left (3rd-down)
If
you're not going for the largest loupe and want top quality,
this is my recommendation. It's not too large and the
quality really is superb, It has a loop for hanging
on a chain, and it's supplied in a soft leather case.
10X21
£22.50 ref.10X21c
not in catalogue
An
impressively large lens, just a little wavy around
the very very edge (to my eye anyway), to get a lens
of this size and strength 100% perfect is very difficult
and extremely expensive (though we do have such a thing...scroll
down). It has a loop for hanging on a chain. Supplied
in a soft leather pouch.
Zeiss
10X13 £65.00 ref.zeiss-10 snail mail catalogue page 7, bottom
(scroll down to DOUBLE LOUPES to see the larger version of this)
I said, earlier, that it is very difficult and extremely expensive
to make lenses that are perfect to the very edge.
The nearest you will ever get to this 'perfection' is a
Zeiss...if you really do want the very best and you can
afford it. The casings are plastic, and so too are the lenses
(technically, "optical acrylic" - not just "plastic").
There are, however, no 'extras', no pouch, no loop to fix
a chain. Also, we don't import these, we merely buy
them, a handful at a time, from Zeiss, so if we're out of
stock you may have to wait a week or two for more.
My conclusion: yes, they are the best for quality but is
that worth spending so much money? - that's for you to decide. Supplied
in a polythene bag and thin cardboard box (I don't think
Zeiss feel the need to provide any extras!).
Back to top
15X
to 30X Magnification
20X21
£15.00.
ref.20X21, not in catalogue
This
one is very popular at the fairs, many customers want the
highest magnification and the largest lens size and the lowest
possible price..."quality" simply doesn't
come into the equation, in fact most customers who buy one
of these (at the fairs) don't actually compare the different
loupes before buying, they just want the most powerful loupe
at the cheapest price.
15X12
£16.00 ref.15X12, snail mail catalogue page 6 bottom left
and
20X12 £19.50 ref. 20X12, snail mail catalogue page 6 bottom middle
These are
5-element to give the best distortion-corrections and colour-correction.
Although I don't like loupes of more than 10X magnification
(it's just too difficult to get good quality...at any price)
I must say the 15X is quite impressive, if I did want more than 10X this is the one I'd go for.
The 20X is the best of all the 20X, though too powerful
for my liking, you have to focus too close to the object
(there's no choice about this, that's the way lenses work).
However, with a good light source and a steady hand this
is a good loupe.
15X21 £23.00 ref.
15X21, not in snail mail catalogue
and
20X21 £27.50 ref. 20X21-R, snail mail cataloguepage 6 bottom middle
The 15X gives
an impressively clear image in the centre and it's not too bad around the edges - but it's too large and too powerful!
With a steady hand and careful focusing the 20X is quite
useable, though "useable" is the most enthusiastic
word I can find. This one is quite popular at the
fairs because it is the most powerful and the largest you
will find.
30X18 £35.00 ref.
30X18, snail mail cataloguepage 6 bottom right
Now this really
is getting silly, you have to get to within 2mm of the object
to be able to focus, you need a very steady hand, and even
then you will only be able to get a clear image in the very
centre of the lens. This IS the absolute largest most
powerful of them all. But why? Aren't you better
off to go for a really good quality 10X (or even the little
15X) and actually be able to see what you are looking at.
Incidentally, I challenge anyone to find a 30X loupe that
it actually better than this!
Double
Loupes
Combination
10X18 with 20X12 £30.00 ref. 10X18+20X12
I have chosen
the best of the large 10X loupes and the best of the large
20X loupes.
snail mail catalogue page 7 about in the middle.
Zeiss
£85.00 ref.zeisscom
(combination:
6X20 + 4X20 combine to give
10X20)
snail mail catalogue page 7, bottom
Back to top
WARNING ABOUT TRIPLET LOUPES
There is a company selling "triplet loupes" who have registered the term "triplet loupe" and who claim that if you buy a triplet loupe from anyone else the quality could be inferior. Their loupes sell for half the price of ours and they look, in a photograph, identical.
I
have bought some of them and have found that:
a) the optical quality is so poor that the weaker loupes give a fuzzy image and the stronger loupes are so bad they are unuseable
b) the magnifications of the stronger loupes are not as stated, they are far less
c) the lenses are NOT triplet lenses, they are NOT triplet loupes!
d) if you shop around you can find the very same in street markets for half the price again.
If you have never used a loupe before you will simply notice that it magnifies and will assume that the quality and the magnification is 'correct'.
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