On Thu, 5 Mar 2015 07:20:47 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

I have a pair of magnifiers that I use in the shop for working on small stuff. I picked these no name, no markings, made in India glasses up for about 8.00 at a show several years ago. They have two glass lenses, an elastic headband, and as for as magnification goes I would compare them to about a pair of 2.5 reading glasses. and unlike the cheap plastic lens types that are out there, surprisingly there doesn't seem to be any objectionable optical distortion with these. The only problem with these glasses is the working distance of 6 or 7 inches.

I was talking to my dentist recently about the magnifiers that he uses. he seems to have what he needs as far as magnification and with a 2 foot working distance to boot. I asked him about the glasses and he couldn't comment on the technical specs of them except to say that he purchased them while in dental school, and that they were hundreds of dollars.

I also use a jewelers loupe for very small things, and although the magnification of that reveals a whole different world to me the focal length of 2 inches or less is very difficult to work with.

Does anyone know if it is possible to see what my dentist, or a surgeon for that matter is seeing for a reasonable price? Thanks, Lenny
If you look on ebay you can find magnigfiers that are cheap enough
that if they are not good you won't be out too much money. The problem
is that you need telescope type magnifiers to get a good working
distance, good depth of field, and goodm color correction. This
requires at least two lenses. And the two magnifiers need to be
centered on your eyes, as well as pointed in slightly toward each
other. This angle changes with the working distance. Another type of
magnifier that can work almost as well is the type with lenses that
have an adjustable center distance. These can be had that clip onto
your regular glasses. The lenses sit some distance from your eyes and
have a screw with both left and right hand threads that you turn to
change the center distance of the lenses. These can make life way
easier, like good binoculars. However, for most of the close up work I
do I use a single lens and one eye. I have a good B&L lens that clips
on my glasses and swings down that gets a lot of use and I also have
several loupes of different powers that I use. Next week I will be
ordering the lenses to make my own Galilean type telescopic binocular
magnifiers because I don't wanna shell out 300 bucks for the good ones
I want, don't trust the Chinese ones, have a machine shop, and mainly
because I want to. If you would like I can post the lens info when I
order mine.
Cheers,
Eric