> I'm shopping around for loupes, as I just got new lightbox and am shooting > more slides. I have an AP 8x borrowed, but it well....sorta sucks. I had two > Nikon guys at my store that said Pentax makes the best, 5x-11x zoom, and about > as large as my 28-105. Unfortunately, it costs ~$400. I don't really want > one or can get one now. I've seen the ads for Rodenstock? loupes, don't know > what they go for, but what interests me is the Peak loupes they sell here, > about $50-60. Are they decent? I haven't compared the AP to it yet. Any > knowledge or experience is welcome. As for slide usage, I was just shooting > it and looking through a viewfinder thing that you point at a light source. I > don't have a projector, and won't have one, so I'll be using it more and more > as the only way to view my photos. Right now, I just check for sharpness and > then have what ones I want made into prints.
As a poor student, I use my SMC-A 50/1.7 as a loupe for looking at slides. It's way better than those cheap loupes that they let me borrow at camera shops. Distortion and chromatic abberation are nil, even at the edges. I can't quite see the whole image at once, but maybe you could if you had a 50/1.4 instead. The lens gives me a good overall impression of the slide, but don't think that I can see all the way into the details because of the low magnification. I think that you can get higher magnification with a shorter focal length - can someone confirm this. If have yet to try it with my 24/2.8 because the rear element is so small. -Scott - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
