magnifier?

Whats a good magnifier for stamp collecting?
Ebay has eye loupes and shot glass magnifiers for film negatives.
What do collectors typically use?

thanks

"Tate2391" wrote in message
...
Whats a good magnifier for stamp collecting?
Ebay has eye loupes and shot glass magnifiers for film negatives.
What do collectors typically use?

I have a small cheap magnifying glass and a loupe (10X) but my favourite is
a little black loupe (10X) with a light! My father in law had one and I used
it once at his house and was hooked! I bought one from a guy at the club,
takes AAA batteries and the whole thing fits in my palm. The light is only
on when you hold the button in so you don't run down the batteries. It gives
me the freedom to work on my stamps anywhere in the house, regardless of the
lighting.

Frank

I'm a newbie so I probably should keep quiet, HOWEVER... I use a cheapo
$3 magnifying glass with a small enhancing one built in and a folding
standup one I bought from Harbor Freight for $1.49 (maybe a 3x at most).
Its kinda nice because it also has inch and MM markings around the
square base where it sits over the stamps or coins, I've a fold out 10x
loupe that works really well ($12.95), I use it a lot and for those "get
down look deep into it" times, a Digital Blue QX3 computer micrscope.

You can also buy like a jewelers headband with a fold down lens
(Omnivisor), with changable lenses up to 10x but I use mine for building
model ships & finding slivers in my hands. Have not tried it on stamps
- yet.

Tate2391 wrote:

Whats a good magnifier for stamp collecting?
Ebay has eye loupes and shot glass magnifiers for film negatives.
What do collectors typically use?

thanks

12/5/2003 2:50 PM

Whats a good magnifier for stamp collecting?
Ebay has eye loupes and shot glass magnifiers for film negatives.
What do collectors typically use?

thanks

I don't think you can do better than a standard, high-quality photographic
loupe, available from any "professional" photo store. Take a look at
http://www.web-nat.com/bic/ont/tips32.html for photos of a large and
wonderful Pentax loupe (it would be great for single stamps, blocks,
sections of covers) and a smaller Nikon loupe. The advice given on this web
page applies equally to photography and philately. I have the Nikon loupe,
which was given to me as gift several years ago. Then I was using it as a
professional photographer; now I'm retired, and it's my most frequently used
"philatelic" tool outside stamp tongs and my computer!

Both these loupes are expensive, but well worth the cost in my opinion.

One drawback with a loupe is that it doesn't travel to stamp shows and stamp
club meetings very well. I would like to have a good folding magnifying
glass for that purpose. There are many of these on the market. Type "folding
magnifier" (without the quotes, of course) into Google Images to see lots of
different models. I would look for something with 8X to 10X power for
general use. If you're a flyspeck collector, you'll probably want more power
than that.

Bob

Bob Ingraham wrote in message ...
12/5/2003 2:50 PM

Whats a good magnifier for stamp collecting?
Ebay has eye loupes and shot glass magnifiers for film negatives.
What do collectors typically use?

thanks

I don't think you can do better than a standard, high-quality photographic
loupe, available from any "professional" photo store. Take a look at
http://www.web-nat.com/bic/ont/tips32.html for photos of a large and
wonderful Pentax loupe (it would be great for single stamps, blocks,
sections of covers) and a smaller Nikon loupe. The advice given on this web
page applies equally to photography and philately. I have the Nikon loupe,
which was given to me as gift several years ago. Then I was using it as a
professional photographer; now I'm retired, and it's my most frequently used
"philatelic" tool outside stamp tongs and my computer!

Both these loupes are expensive, but well worth the cost in my opinion.

One drawback with a loupe is that it doesn't travel to stamp shows and stamp
club meetings very well. I would like to have a good folding magnifying
glass for that purpose. There are many of these on the market. Type "folding
magnifier" (without the quotes, of course) into Google Images to see lots of
different models. I would look for something with 8X to 10X power for
general use. If you're a flyspeck collector, you'll probably want more power
than that.

Bob

For years now I have been using what is called linen testers. I have
2 and I cannot remember what the magnifications are. One is about 1
inch square and the other about half that. The advantage is that they
fold up and are nice and portable. For general purposes they work
great. They can be found in art supply stores but may take a search
at one or two to find them.

Jerry

12/6/2003 10:35 PM

Bob Ingraham wrote in message
...
12/5/2003 2:50 PM

Whats a good magnifier for stamp collecting?
Ebay has eye loupes and shot glass magnifiers for film negatives.
What do collectors typically use?

thanks

I don't think you can do better than a standard, high-quality photographic
loupe, available from any "professional" photo store. Take a look at
http://www.web-nat.com/bic/ont/tips32.html for photos of a large and
wonderful Pentax loupe (it would be great for single stamps, blocks,
sections of covers) and a smaller Nikon loupe. The advice given on this web
page applies equally to photography and philately. I have the Nikon loupe,
which was given to me as gift several years ago. Then I was using it as a
professional photographer; now I'm retired, and it's my most frequently used
"philatelic" tool outside stamp tongs and my computer!

Both these loupes are expensive, but well worth the cost in my opinion.

One drawback with a loupe is that it doesn't travel to stamp shows and stamp
club meetings very well. I would like to have a good folding magnifying
glass for that purpose. There are many of these on the market. Type "folding
magnifier" (without the quotes, of course) into Google Images to see lots of
different models. I would look for something with 8X to 10X power for
general use. If you're a flyspeck collector, you'll probably want more power
than that.

Bob

For years now I have been using what is called linen testers. I have
2 and I cannot remember what the magnifications are. One is about 1
inch square and the other about half that. The advantage is that they
fold up and are nice and portable. For general purposes they work
great. They can be found in art supply stores but may take a search
at one or two to find them.

Jerry

High quality is a must. I bought a linen tester once for about $10, and it
was awful. Only a tiny central area of lens produced a sharp view.

Bob