Seeking better flip-up/down eyeglass magnifiers

[Ulophot]

I have used a pair of Magnaflip +3-diopter from Amazon that I've used for several years. $14 and they're fine, though a bit heavy, tending to pull my eyeglass down as I perspire under the cloth. (I flip them up to use my loupe for critical focus.)

I just got a pair of progressive-lens eyeglasses, distance-to-reading, which are great but no use if used for close-up viewing of the 4x5 GG, because the I have to tilt my head just so and then can not focus the entire glass anyway, because the area is too large. I need my corrective glasses due to slight astigmatism. I can use the distance part but still need magnifiers for viewing the whole GG.

I can use the flip-ups I have and get an elastic band to keep my glasses up, but I'd prefer a lighter pair, perhaps higher refractive index so that they're not so thick. I'm ready to spend a bit more as a long-term investment.

Anyone have ideas?

[cowanw]

I was thinking about the older style non progressive lenses for glasses. If you determined your best distance from the GG under the hood you could have a pair of glasses with the entire bottom half of the glasses, say, 12 inches focal length and the top half to your distance prescription.
Or even a variant of plumber's glasses with the 12 inch focal length segment on the top 1/4 and your distance vision on the bottom 3/4.

[nolindan]

For 4x5 I use a Sinar reflex viewer.

My astigmatism isn't that bad so I can use a pair of +3 reading glasses from Costco, slide them down my nose and peer above them for distance vision. Beats my varifocals - varifocals are a solution that almost but not quite completely fails to work.

For working at very close distances I use a 10x Optivisor, sometimes in combination with the reading glasses.

[Doremus Scudder]

I got a pair of "Flip 'N Focus" (Fisherman brand) flip up magnifiers. I got mine on the Cabela's website, but you can find them many places. Mine are +4 diopter. I use them on my progressives for ground-glass viewing quite a lot with good results. My glasses don't seem to slip down enough for me to have registered it as a problem. Here's a link: https://www.anglersall.com/Fisherman-Eyewear-Flip-N-Focus-Magnifiers

However, when I'm out in the field hiking I usually wear a pair of glasses with a lanyard and carry a +4 diopter pair of reading glasses in my vest pocket. When I need to focus, I just let my progressives dangle and don the readers.

Fine focusing gets done with a 6-8x magnifier.

Best,

Doremus

[Eric Woodbury]

I find the flip-downs heavy too. Mostly I use different pairs of glasses for different things. All custom because my eyes are unbalanced and wonky.

[Tin Can]

When I had my cataracts done, I had them give me closeup in one eye and longer in the other

Now I almost don't need glasses, I was way near sighted since birth

I stopped driving voluntarily last July, cataracts...

I was scared of cars as soon as I got in one, but worked Automotive only all my life

[Drew Bedo]

A few years ago I had my optomatrist perscribe a set of very strong prescription readers. I wore them on a neck cord and that worked really well.

I have used a "Optivisor" jeweler's ​ head set for a while, but it was cumbersome and got caught in the dark cloth.

Both of these h"acks" had the same drawback. finding the head location that put the GG in focus was bothersome.

Now I use a quality loupe tht is refocused at the correct distance. A neck cord keeps it handy and I can still wear my regular glasses.

[Graham Patterson]

I have several Flip'n'Focus sets. Some for cameras, and one set I used at work for network cabling jobs. Either 2.5 or 3 magnification. I have enough sight issues that I need a prescription base for any magnifiers.

I like having my regular prescription available when outdoors - otherwise even an elephant could sneak up on me!

Most glasses are quite light these days - plastic lenses and titanium or plastic frames. Makes any addition more obvious.

[Ulophot]

I have looked further for flip-ups and find that, despite wide price variance, the weight and design are mostly the same. I'll just get a band to keep mine more snug.

The progressives solve the multi-pairs issue; I had two -- distance and computer -- plus cheap readers; now I have a single pair, which is good, and allows me to read my watch or lens/shutter settings on my MF and 35 without problem, and I am getting used to the compromise of peripheral vision being somewhat blurred (something the doc failed to mention and which was only brought up by the fitting assistant after the glasses had arrived last week).

[Graham Patterson]

Yes, the peripheral limit can be a problem. I have some minor neck stiffness, and use my peripheral vision a fair bit. I have also just been told that I will need a prism added to my prescription, and that is easier done with single vision.

[Alan Klein]

I got a pair of "Flip 'N Focus" (Fisherman brand) flip up magnifiers. I got mine on the Cabela's website, but you can find them many places. Mine are +4 diopter. I use them on my progressives for ground-glass viewing quite a lot with good results. My glasses don't seem to slip down enough for me to have registered it as a problem. Here's a link: https://www.anglersall.com/Fisherman-Eyewear-Flip-N-Focus-Magnifiers

However, when I'm out in the field hiking I usually wear a pair of glasses with a lanyard and carry a +4 diopter pair of reading glasses in my vest pocket. When I need to focus, I just let my progressives dangle and don the readers.

Fine focusing gets done with a 6-8x magnifier.

Best,

Doremus

What do you use when viewing through the 6-8x magnifier?

[Doremus Scudder]

What do you use when viewing through the 6-8x magnifier?

Sometimes my naked eye, sometimes I keep my progressives on and sometimes I focus through the readers. It really doesn't make any difference as long as you are sure you are focused on the frosted side of the ground glass (even that's not as important as some here would have you believe - as sharp as it gets is as sharp as it gets, even if "sharp" is a bit out-of-focus).

I use a loupe/magnifier without a skirt, so I find focus by moving back and forth in relation to the ground glass. Downside: I have to move around to find focus. Upside: I can easily vary the angle of the magnifier to see into the corners or find the "hot spot" when using very long or short focal length lenses or lots of movements.

Best,

Doremus

[cowanw]

Another possibility is a monocle, in reader strength.