10X magnify lens, looking to buy but are they all fake?

[tpiggy313]

Firstly I must say that eBay support is fantastic and quick when they deal with a problem so I got a refund after buying a fake 10X lens.

I'm looking for a "good" (not fake) magnify lens, must be much better than the usual 2-3X and at least 80mm size.

The problem is that I already got 2 useless lenses and they are somewhere unused so I don't want to buy any more and get refund over and over.

I can see too many listings on eBay, the same exact fake lens claiming 10X but they are all fake.

What should I do, keep on buying, get refund then someday I open a garage sale??

So is there anyone who knows this kind of stuff and can suggest a good product?

[martoutlet]

filter out China/Hong Kong.

try different keywords,stamps,coins,jewelry,retail.

[mopata]

Unfortunately, many Chinese sellers get around the "US Only" filter by using a California dropshipper. I would suggest searching name brands (Bausch & Lomb for instance). They will be considerably more expensive that the junk from China but, you also get decent quality. You can also try your local coin shop, if you have one. They usually carry an assortment of loupes and magnifying glasses.

[tpiggy313]

Thanks for trying to help.

I have checked so many lenses and I've came to the conclusion that all (100%) 5X and 10X lenses bigger than 2" are fakes including these on amazon which are sold by the same businesses you find on eBay.

The ones from Baush & Lomb are for real but the big ones are no more than 2X.

Their 4X and up are too small so not suitable for reading.

[repairelectronics]

There is a limit for cheap optics, as you cant have both field of view and depth of field with a high diopter lens of that size. You could search for Achromat or Triplet lenses but doubt you'd get one that size without a mortgage.

Years ago when experimenting with laser holography I bought all my lenses from Edmund Scientific who would never let their reputation be tarnished by unsubstantiated claims.

You could also look for "Page Magnifiers" but they too are low power 3X or so. I bought a few of those $1 fresnel credit card-sized magnifiers and keep one in my wallet for the grocery store.

[chatter231]

I am not sure what you want to use it for, or how often, but if you do not need to use it a lot, and you have a smart phone, a lot of the smart phones, if you go to the camera setting, you can zoom in on the screen to increase the font size just like using a magnify glass. I am not sure if that would help you or not.

[wpt05]

@tpiggy313 

Try asking your ophthalmologist.  

If you reading books specifically, you could get a kindle or tablet and read them on that.  You can change the font sizes to make them easier to read.  

[repairelectronics]

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@chatter231 wrote:

I am not sure what you want to use it for, or how often, but if you do not need to use it a lot, and you have a smart phone, a lot of the smart phones, if you go to the camera setting, you can zoom in on the screen to increase the font size just like using a magnify glass. I am not sure if that would help you or not.

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I believe the OP mentioned in post #4 that they would use it for reading. Most cellphones like cheaper cameras use digital zooming rather than optical and some use both digital and optical but generally have an optical limit of 2x on the lens and after that, the digital zooming comes into play and just make the image grainy. The new Huawei P30 Pro cellphone has 5x optical zoom but also cost $1200.

[tpiggy313]

@repairelectronics wrote:

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@chatter231 wrote:

I am not sure what you want to use it for, or how often, but if you do not need to use it a lot, and you have a smart phone, a lot of the smart phones, if you go to the camera setting, you can zoom in on the screen to increase the font size just like using a magnify glass. I am not sure if that would help you or not.

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I believe the OP mentioned in post #4 that they would use it for reading

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Sometimes I do use the phone and zoom in when I need to read a street name which is located to the other side of the intersection or when I see a sexy lady and I need to check the details 🙂

But jokes a part, I need it for reading dodgy contracts' terms & conditions (& scams), an electronic component's specifications and so on.

I understand that there is nothing on the market that is big and has +5X magnification.

Just for reading I'm ok as I got 3 fake lenses but sometimes I face with laptops components' nano sized specifications and so these fake 2X lenses are not enough.

I'm even looking at these usb digital microscopes.

[reallynicestamps]

10X is not a particularly strong lense.

But if what you are looking at is the kind pictured (I think of them as Sherlock Holmes magnifiers), you may want to look under Philatelic Supplies.

A 10x lens will be small, to begin with. About an inch across.

It may be foldable, and the folding in the second lens will make for a higher magnification.

A light in the magnifier will make the magnifying effect even stronger.

If there is a stamp dealer in your area, both Lighthouse and Lindner magnifiers will run you between $5 and $15, with all the bells and whistles I mention.  Bausch and Lomb are even better.

The 16X Unitrade brand is $24.95 (Cdn ~$19USD). The price of excellent magnifiers dropped rapidly in the 21st century.

http://www.unitradeassoc.com/pdf/Chap-4%20Mags%20Lamps%202011.pdf

Note that these prices are in Canadian dollars. The folding magnifiers are on page four of nine.

The "readers" will be around 3X to5X.

The larger the lens the lower the magnification.

[tpiggy313]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

10X is not a particularly strong lense.

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I don't get the meaning of that since I got 2X lenses so I think 10X is much better?

And thanks for the information especially regarding the pdf file.

[reallynicestamps]

2X is a reading glass.

When we had our store, we encouraged parents buying a "stamp collecting set" for a child to have a 5x or stronger glass, plus a stock book and some tongs along with a packet of stamps, as a good starter kit.

A 5x glass looks* like a magnifying glass to a child, and is strong enough to let her read the microprinting used by some postal systems as a security measure.

10X is stronger but the small size of the lens makes it hard to use for reading. Usually the lense will only focus on perhaps one or two words.

A 10X or a 30X is what would be needed for viewing detail on an engraved stamp.

If it says it is 10x, look for a tiny extra lens in the larger reading glass of the sort you have pictured. That is the 10X part.

Basically, what do you wan to use the magnifier for.

Oh-- another thought-- instead of magnifying glass or magnifier, look for "loupe " or "jeweler's loupe".  Those will be stronger -- and again tiny.

*Having the magnifier look like what the child expects is important. As you can see with the pdf, stronger lenses don't actually look like that.

[tpiggy313]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

Oh-- another thought-- instead of magnifying glass or magnifier, look for "loupe " or "jeweler's loupe".  Those will be stronger -- and again tiny.

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That doesn't work when looking on eBay because sellers use any kind of confusing meaning as long as they sell their fake lenses.

I still have the box of the latest one I bought from eBay (got money refund already), it doesn't tell anything about magnifying power while the seller shows a picture showing 10X 100mm size.

Everyone does the same even on Amazon, they blatantly lie then they make up more lies with their excuses.

I think my way is the USB digital microscope so I can see the object on a computer screen.

[repairelectronics]

looks like you have two distinct needs, one for reading which a 3x page magnifier should satisfy and the other at least a 10x  headset for surface mount component rendition.

For my electronic work on the bits that are smaller than a grain of rice I use 4 different types of magnifiers, the first one is the desk mounted spring armed lighted ring which are usually 3x no matter what they say. Basically, as a hand magnifier, you can keep your head about ten inches from the lens and several inches from the workpiece.

The second is the headband double lens, usually 5x plus a second fold-down 5x, you need to get close but usually works with ambient lighting. These are rectangular lenses that cover both eyes.

The third is my headset using a pair of 12x loops, one for each eye which can be swung out of the way independently, bests to get one with good LEDs as you need to get so close to the workpiece that you need auxiliary lighting.

Lastly, I use a pseudo microscope at about 50x that has a depth of field of only a millimeter and a width of about 2 mm and definitely need artificial lighting right at the surface. I use this for inspection and finding microcracks and corrosion at the gull wings.

You absolutely need the headsets when doing surface mount work as you need one hand for the pick/placement tool and the other for the soldering/hot air iron. The desktop hands-free doesn't work well because when you tilt your head the fringe distortion will make it unusable.

gull wing integrated circuit