On Friday, 29 January 2021 at 10:50:22 UTC, Martin Brown wrote:
On 29/01/2021 09:16, polygonum_on_google wrote:
Looking for a simple magnifier that I can slip into a pocket or bag
and carry with me. I find some things more difficult to read these
days - still manage quite small type but definitely not as good as I
once was.

Magnification, I guess 5x would be fine.
3x would be more common. If you relax the requirement of a built in
light the credit card Fresnel lens flat plastic magnifiers are not bad.

https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/s...d-samuel-shire

And cheap enough to treat as sacrificial.
Light, adequate LED, not too blue.

Batteries - something common, preferably CR2025 or similar - not an
obscure silver or alkaline cell.

Preferably a pop-up so that the lens is protected to some extent.
Also, great if pushing back down switched off the light.

Finally, not too expensive. I simply don't need it often enough to be
worth paying out for the best.
Something like this meets your spec but I think it would be too heavy
and bulky. You can get fold away lenses with no light much cheaper.
YMMV

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00524H8MC/

I'd looked at the Carson but agree it is a bit bulky and, with three AAA cells, heavy, for my purposes.

Not sure what you were linking to in the first one! Edward Samuel Shire (1908-1978), Mathematician, physicist and joint inventor of the radio proximity fuse for explosive devices - very interesting but no magnifier!

Yes - I might find 3x sufficient but wanted to look slightly higher, if possible. And drop down to 3x if I have to.