Thread: I need an eye loupe, what power??

The pocket microscope gave me a headache, but the magnification is impressive for its cost.
One of the best loupes I've used is actually a camera lens held with the rear element to the working surface. It's easy on the eyes, and there's a pretty wide FOV too.

The wavelengths of light produced by LEDs hide some distractions - you can train you eye to see through the issue, but for me that's more trouble than it's worth. In some cases, it can make blackened engraving on chrome totally invisible to the eye - I found this out when working on tube amps. I was using a surefire G2 LED to inspect panels and I couldn't read or even aee the writing. After dialoging with their engineers - the story seems to be that the issue of color balance and reflectivity was a hurdle that was outshadowed by the extended battery life. The inability of LED to show black on chrome well translates to razor work to some degree, at least in my experience. I've used a few loupes like that, I still have one actually, I keep it in the bathroom.
At any rate, having spent most of my career using a loupe as a tool that was critical to my continued employment, I'm probably way more sensitive to optical and lighting distractions than most people. I've probably invested more on loupes in my lifetime than most people would believe. Like any tool - if it works then it works. But that doesn't mean there isn't a better option.