Schneider loupes discontinued?

[majid]

I bought a Schneider 4x loupe from B&H 5 months ago. I was looking to buy a spare one for my office, but it looks like they have been discontinued, and the only ones left are the plastic trash from Peak, or expensive specialized focusing loupes from the likes of Silvestri for large format use:
http://www.largeformatphotography.i...p?114953-Schneider-s-analogue-lens-production

I have an extensive collection of 35mm and medium format loupes, but I am now wondering if hoarding is in order. Prices on the auction site that shall not be named are already well in excess of the original MSRP.

 

[Mackinaw]

They're still listed on the Schneider website. You can buy them there too.

https://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/CatalogSubCategoryDisplay.aspx?CID=1110

Jim B.

 

[Rayt]

Older Mamiya loupes are quite nice and can be found used in places like KEH.

 

[majid]

They're still listed on the Schneider website. You can buy them there too.

https://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/CatalogSubCategoryDisplay.aspx?CID=1110

Yes, but they don't have the 4x, which is the one to get, just the poorer 6x, the 10x with its narrower field of view and the medium-format oriented 3x.

 

[majid]

Older Mamiya loupes are quite nice and can be found used in places like KEH.

Agreed, the build quality is second to none. I have the 6x6 3.5x.

 

[HHPhoto]

Unfortunately they are discontinued, production stopped about 2 years ago.
Remember, production of most film based cameras stopped about 9-10 years ago.

The Schneider loupes are excellent!
I am using the 3x for medium format reversal film,
the 4x for 35mm reversal film,
and the 10x for evaluation of detail sharpness.
The optical quality of these loupes is outstanding. And they are so versatile: You can use them not only for slides (and negatives), but also for prints, because of their changeable foot.

A brillant colour or BW slide on a lighttable, viewed through a Schneider loupe is simply awesome.
And much much better than a scanned picture on a computer screen.
Only slide projection surpass the Loupe / lighttable combination in quality.

Fortunately slide loupes like the Schneider or the also excellent Rodenstock don't break. So you can get them without problems on the used market.

Cheers, Jan

 

[majid]

and the 10x for evaluation of detail sharpness.

For years I used a cheap Peak 10x loupe for that purpose. The conventional wisdom goes, "it doesn't matter if they aren't sharp across the frame, they are in the center and that is good enough for checking critical focus".

Then I bought a Schneider 10x and saw details I was missing:
http://majid.info/blog/going-all-loopy-about-loupes/

Granted, those are also visible with a 5x Contax, but the point remains - the inexpensive single-element plastic loupes are easily outresolved by film and good lenses. Even a $35 Belomo is a major improvement over those.