I’m completely bewildered by the array of loupes on the market. I have clip on loupes, I think are x3 times magnification. The working distance is very small and I find myself struggling for space beneath the lamp magnifyer which I also use to optimise my focus on the hair. I’ve searched and better searched online? Can anyone advise me please on what I can purchase without breaking my bank?
I think flip up loupes are cheaper and just as good. White hairs and fine hairs are very difficult to target. Any advice would be apprecdiated. I’m at the end of my tether trying to figure it out.
What is your price range?
The conundrum is finding something that will give you the combination of magnification, and comfortable working distance that you require, while still giving you a large enough line of sight, and still be affordable.
Of course, once you work though something that grants you great vision, good lighting with contrast, depth perception, and the focal distance and field of vision you desire, you will find that it is worth almost any price.
I would not suggest price being the criteria for choosing your magnification.
Designs For Vision are great and only cost about $1,500 and that includes your Rx. Visit companies that manufacture or distribute them and try them out.
Thank you James for your input. Best wishes.
Thank you Arlene. I have taken on board your advice. Best wishes.
May I ask you which loupes you have. I have read clip ons are preferable as they don’t need a prescription? Which magnification do you use? I have read very conflicting opinions on 2.5x , 3x and so on?
I’m short on cash as the moment James, but I suppose up to $1,000 would be acceptable when I am in a position to get them.
If money is a concern, You might consider importing Chinese loupes. They are inferior to the expensive medical products from, say, Germany, US, Japan, Switzerland, but they are still superior to the clipons. One of the users here owns such a product. My impression was that it is absoulutely worth its price.
My loupe is a 6X Heine HRP with full visual correction and LED light. It is clearly a high end solution. But we are earning our money with these tools, and as a tool i consider good visual/lighting more important as using high end epilators like the Platinum.
I am considering to buy a 4x chinese product as a backup and for private use.
A final word to the magnification: the discussion on 2.5 or larger mostly concerns dentists. Our demands are slightly different. Especially when treating fine hairs i would not want to miss the large magnification.
Beate, What is your working distance with these Heine Loupes? CAn you keep good posture working on all areas of the face and body?
I’m looking for a backup that I can travel with and these sound great. What was the approximate price in Euros?
I agree that buying the best is a better option. At the moment I don’t have enough clients, but would consider paying more if I wait a little longer to be able to afford the best. Thanks for your advice on magnification. 6x sounds good. I will keep a look out for loupes you speak of. Do you have the name of your supplier? Best wishes.
When you say visual correction, by that do you mean they are from your prescription for your sight? presumably they are not flip ups?
Dear Dolly, i am from Germany and bought my loupes directly from the manufacturer. These loupes can be equipped with glasses matching the glasses You normally wear.
With some of the cheaper loupes from India or China this is possible as well. An example - the “stylish” variant is more or less a copy of the Heine loupe - is hear: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Blau-3-5X-BRILLENLUPE-Lupenbrille-Vergrosserung-Lupe-Dental-Loupe-Led-Headlight-/140803403491?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item20c8896ee3
and here is a 6X kepler loupe which is quite similar to the 5X have mentioned previously: http://www.ebay.de/itm/6-0x-Brillenlupe-Lupenbrille-Dental-Medizinische-Lupe-/321024722460?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item4abe90861c
It actually makes sense to have a backup device at hand - and, honestly, if i need to work with my 3X clipon i feel very uncomfortably.
BTW: i just ordered the 3.5 loupes without light for EUR 40 - the 6X is a bit strong for electronics. The light can be bought separately. That thing is cheaper than my Eschenbach clipons!
What is the starting point for finding a suitable Loupe?
Do you begin with your own prescription and take that to some manufacturers/suppliers to see what they recommend?
I use a Daylight dual lamp mag lamp and it’s a great improvement on the standard circular mag lamp but I still can’t see fine, fair hairs!
June x
Thank you so much Beate. Will do my research, but much better understanding now with your sound advice. Best wishes.
No. First You need to find a loup which allows for corrective glasses. Then You order the glasses, best based on an upt to date test. Important: the adaption must be complete: far/near, astigmatism and a prismatic correction (!!). If You need a correction for far as well as to close distances, You need bi-focal glasses. Those with a smooth transitionbetween near and far correction are useless for this purpose (and at least debatable anyway…) Then You buy the loups and let a techniciann implement the visual correction
[color:#CC0000]I’m not a Pro Dolly, but I use and recommend MedLites
www.med-Lite.com
I’d recommend the 3.5x or the MedLite Prisma Series Prismatic Loupes. You can order different working distances.
They work great. I’ve used them for years. Durable too. For that price I don’t think there is a better loupe on the market.[/color]
Looks like an interesting option if You are living in the USA.
Thanks Beate, That gives me the info.I need to start with.
June x
Hi Beate
I have looked on ebay and found the kepler loupes, but there are so many 6x ones, I’m a bit confused? Some have titanium frames or nickel. Some are dental? They all look the same? Which ones do you mean? Do you have a seriel number on them?
Thanks.
IMO it is not possible to issue a definitive recomendation (well, except of my good one, the Heine HRP and the other expensive stuff). At such a drastically low price there will always remain some risk of failure.
Apperently there exist only few, maybe one or two chinese manufacturers of optical products. They sell their products through various vendors. These have, of course, different pricing models. Some details vary as well (headlight yes or no), and of course, there are a few different models on the market. Some of the vendors appraise their stuff as dental, some do not. But that is all marketing babble.
Which means that most of the loupes seem to be more or less identical. What counts are the technical specs, e.g, magnification and working distance.