Light table and loupe recommendations

[mikel]

Seems like my old light table is dying, so I guess sooner or later I will need to get a new one. Thus the question - does anyone have any recommendations? I need something like 9x12 or 11x14 light table/box, preferably with two l&s. I also prefer 5500K over 5000K, but these are rare nowadays. Any thoughts?

Also, I'm thinking about getting new loupe as well (had been borrowing one from my friend all the time).

I need a loupe in magnification range of 4x to 6x, because basically these are always used for contrast/color check. For real big magnifications I use projector or microscope to determine sharpness.

So, I would be really happy to use Zeiss, but their Triotar 5x for 35mm seems to be cheaply built. It looks like the barrel is made of plastic and I'm not sure if there is a rubber over the eyepiece (I wear glasses, so it's always handy). Also, it's not clear to me whether it's achromatic and has aspherical lenses. So, I was also looking at Schneider 6x (aspheric), Mamiya 5x (achromatic, metal barrel), Rodenstock 6x (aspheric), Leica 5x (achromatic, metal barrel, rubberized eyepice, "distortion-free" (doesn't say it's aspheric).

Of all these, Leica is the most expensive, Mamiya is the cheapest. Leica seems to be best built though. At the same time, there is no information about it on the Leica's site, which makes me wonder - perhaps some other manufacturer makes them for Leica?

So, money is an issue to some degree, but truthful color reproduction (as it is on the slides! Don't need a loupe if I can't see the colors right!) and contrast are two most important factors. Any recommendations?

Mike.

 

[wojo]

Mike,
I'm sure that you'd get a laugh out of my light box, homemade, and with a couple of 7 1/2 watt white christmas l&s for illumination. Also has a section with rails cemented on to the acrylic top to make cutting negs into six frame strips a snap.
But you may give thought to using a 50mm lens, as a loupe. Gives about 4x and very close to a full frame. I'm using an ML 1.7 and was using a 1.4 that had oily aperature blades, since cleaned. If you wanted to be fancy, I imagine you could add a step up ring to the front so as to keep the lens at a nice constant distance. I'm just guessing about the 4x but that seems pretty much in the area.

Happy shooting,
wojo

 

[pecker]

Kaiser light table and Schneider loupe are my recommendations. Used mine for years and would not use anything else.

Doug

 

[mikel]

Wojo,

Yeah, that's funny. Well, in my case that's the reason why my lightbox is "dying". It was custom-made long time ago. Now I can't find any l&s that would work in it and personally don't want to waste any time on this (don't have too much of it anyway!). So, it's just easier for me to buy something. After quick search on B&H I'm intrigued by two items:

Logan Electric 8 x 10" Slim-Edge Light Pad #A-5A with Two 5400K (Color-corrected) L&s ($89.95)

Logan Electric 11.5 x 16" Slim-Edge Light Pad #A-3A with Two 5400K (Color-corrected) L&s ($179.95)

These are the only two with 5400K l&s. Which is weird, I always thought that 5500K is the closest to daylight as it can be, so I'm surprised to see so many manufacturers use 5000K l&s. Am I missing something and things have changed in the past decade?


Mike.

 

[mikel]

Doug,

which Kaiser table? (model/size). And Schneider loupe?

I heard too that Kaiser tables are pretty good, but they're hard to find here (B&H has only two models in sizes acceptable to me). They have a really huge one (14"x23") that is available as used for $275 and has dual 5400K l&s. But that's just way too big for me.

Mike.

 

[Colin645]

Mike I use and am very satisfied with a Portatrace lightable. As I am heavily into C645, I use an "old" Hasselblad Chimney viewfinder as a loupe. I think it's about 3 or 3.5 times magnification.(available very cheaply)
Colin

 

[writing4me]

I'm also a 50mm lens loupe user. I find I don't need a step ring at all. I look through the back of the lens and 35mm slides fit right against the rim of the front of the lens at the perfect distance for sharpness. -Lynn

 

[mikel]

Funny thing is, I also use 50mm Planar sometimes for the same person. But it's not as convenient as using loupe anyway, which is why I keep bugging my friend every time I need the loupe

He has some old design Leica loupe, which is pretty good.

Mike.

 

[mikel]

"for the same person" ---> should read as "for the same purpose"

Mike.

 

[pecker]

Hi Mike, The light table that I'm using is a Kaiser "Pro 5000 XL," I haven't looked at the market for a while so I do not know if it is a current model. I use the 4X Schneider Loupe. I think that people have varying opinions about the power of their loupes, some favor higher power but this is what I like. There was quite an extended argument on another list last year over loupes and after a while it got a little ridiculous; Schneider, Zeiss, Leica, etc., it's hard to go wrong with any of them. The Schneider came highly recommended by a couple of photographers whose opinions I value, so I bought it and I am very pleased with it. For really critical examination at higher magnifications I use a microscope, maybe that has something to do with why I prefer a lower power loupe for general viewing on the light table. Good luck with your search and decision.

Best wishes,

Doug