The Best Loupe in the world?

By Nelson Tan

This section is to introduce a loupe to a new user. If you are looking for the specific review of the Rodenstock loupe, go straight to the second section.

What is a loupe?

A loupe (or lupe) is a fancy name for a magnifying glass. It is a piece of photographic equipment, and it is usually better corrected than the normal household magnifying glass that you use in school.

What is it used for?

Photographers use a loupe for two purposes:
1) To check focus on the viewing screen, photograph, or slide
2) To view a slide

When using large format cameras, it is very crucial to check for correct focus, since the depth of field is very shallow. Also, large format cameras tend to have very dark screens compared to 35mm cameras. Thus, photographers carry a loupe to check for focus by magnifying the image. Slides and photographs are also magnified with a loupe to ensure sharpness, before sending them for enlargement. And because 35mm slides are so small, a loupe can magnify the image so that the photographer can see the image more clearly.

Why use a loupe instead of a projector?

To view slides using a projector, you have to set up the projection screen and the projector. Then you have to load the slides into the trays to view the slides. You must have a dark room to view the slides properly, and your slides must be mounted. And you can't put a slide projector into your pocket. Pretty troublesome isn't it ?

In contrast, a loupe requires only a portable lightbox (which costs around $30 for a small model). If you don't have a lightbox with you, you can use almost any white light to back-illuminate the slide to view it using a loupe. The loupe goes into your pocket, and it can view unmounted slides. The main drawback is that - only one person can view the slide at any one time.

Which one is right?

Loupes come in different magnifying power. The most common types are 4X, 8X, 10X and 20X. The 4X loupes are generally used for viewing the whole slide, since they cover the entire area of the 35mm slide. But the 4X magnification isn't sufficient for you to check for critical sharpness. To do that, you'll need a higher power loupe of 8X or 10X. They allow you to magnify a certain portion of the image to check for the critical sharpness, so that you know if the image is sharp enough to be enlarged satisfactorily. Without using a loupe, many images which looks sharp on the slide or on 3R prints turn out to be slightly blurred or out-of-focus when magnified to 8R. Buying a slide to check for sharpness will reduce wastage of money (and heartache) enlarging poor quality images mistakenly. The 20X loupes gives you a high magnification, but usually tends to have quite a bit of distortion. Personally, I feel that the 20X loupes are too powerful to be useful - you tend to look at the grain rather than the focus.

So if you are looking for a loupe to view your whole slide, get a 4X-6X loupe. If you want to check for critical focus, get a 8X-12X loupe.

What brands?

Like cameras and lenses, there are many brands of loupes. Affordable brands include Waltex and Kaiser - they cost around $10-20, but if you plan to use a loupe often, get a better quality model. The cheap models give you a headache after looking through them for more than a few minutes. Camera manufacturers like Nikon, Canon and Pentax produces loupe of reasonable quality for slightly higher price. They cost around $50, and are worth paying for if you are going to use a loupe in comfort. Another manufacturer, Peak also provide reasonably loupes in this range. Finally, if you must get the best, companies like Schneider, Rodenstock, Zeiss and Leica are ready to back you up with the most incredible loupes you ever seen. In fact, many photographers claim (and I agree) that your slides will never look as good on anything else other than through a great loupe. The top-of-the-line models utilize state-of-the-art lens technology to give you some of the best (and most expensive) magnifying glass in the world.
 
 

This section briefly reviews the Rodenstock 4X Aspherical Loupe.

What is so special about this loupe?

Does spending $180 on a magnifying glass qualify you for a stay at Woodbridge ? My parents and friends seem to think so.

The Rodenstock 4X Aspherical loupe is special because it features aspherical glass elements. It is one of the few models of loupe that uses aspherical lenses in its construction. The end result is that the image is unbelievably sharp throughout the viewing area. If you already have a loupe which is non-aspherical, do a side-by-side comparison with the Rodenstock loupe. You will find that as you move your eye further away from the non-aspheric loupe, fringing (blurring and distortion) of the image will occur around the edges of the viewing area. In contrast, the Rodenstock loupe retains absolute sharpness throughout the image area, even when you take your eye further away from the viewing surface. As a result, you are able to view your slides with your eye further away from the loupe, in greater comfort and for a longer period of time.

By the way, my parents advised me to seek professional help when they saw the receipt for the loupe.

Image quality and construction

How does the image quality measure up ? The Rodenstock loupe provides absolute clarity and sharpness. The colours are vibrant and crisp, thanks to the multi-coated lens elements which reduced flare (due to backlighting) admirably. The rubber eye-cup provides good shielding against external light, especially more so if you are not wearing glasses. Those who look through the Rodenstock loupe at their own slides for the first time usually can't believe that those images were taken by them. The images are that great, trust me.

The loupe has a removable red strap for you to hand the loupe around your neck, in case if you drop it or sweep it off the table (which is easy to do). Just slide the locking collar and remove the strap if you don't like it. The Rodenstock loupe has a clever sliding skirt design for easy viewing of slides and prints. When viewing slides, push the black plastic skirt down, and to view prints, pull the black skirt up to review a transparent skirt below. The interchanging is fast and smooth, and there is no need to keep extra skirts like other designs (eg. Schneider).

Talking about Schneider - they have a non-aspheric 4X challenger to the Rodenstock, for around the same price. My friend has the Schneider, and we had a head-on test by comparing them side by side. Our conclusion is that both the Rodenstock and the Schneider are very well-built. The Schneider did provide slightly more punchy colours, while the Rodenstock had the advantage of aspheric lens elements. So regardless of which one you pick, you are likely to be very satisfied with the results.

So is it worth the price?

In my opinion - yes. But only if you plan to use it often. I am a frequent E-6 shooter, and it is a indescribable joy to view your images with a great loupe. Once you use the Rodenstock, you'll never want to view your slides with anything less than that. So take this advice - until you have saved up enough money to buy it, don't look through it. It is that good ! It may not be the best loupe in the world, but it is certainly amongst the best, and worth every single cent.

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