What is your opinion of belOMO loupes?

Dropdaflag

I have one and don't quite know what to think. It is extremely clear and I used it all the time with Lincoln Cents. But I have moved to Morgan Dollars and can maybe see a quarter of the surface at any one view point. I find myself using a cheaper 3.5-5x loupe to see the whole coin more often. I can not find a 5x that has the clarity.

Dan50

PCGS just sent me a new loupe. 30X Have always used a 5X Your thoughts??

ChrisH821

Their 10X is fine, I am not a fan of the others.

PerryHall

Belomo makes great loupes and they are fairly inexpensive. They are high quality bonded triplet glass lenses that are coated. They are very popular with field geologists who examine rock and mineral samples.

alaura22

I have my Selsi 10x which I have had forever and a Zeiss D36 for checking details, two lens, 24/12
Love them both

may

Hm, never really thought about my loop. I have a crappy dollar store one, but I am young and have good eyes so I guess it doesn’t matter too much.

habaraca

this is the ticket.....
One of the best, lets through MAX light with exceptional clarity...
you can probably find for a bit less.....

I use the 3x 90% of the time to see the whole coin the the x6, and for cracks and errors
i combine them foe X9......

MANY dealers used these...

There are 2 lens. from picture looks like only 1

https://ijsmiami.com/product/zeiss-loupe-22mm-3x-6x/

oih82w8

I dont know...I would have to look into it.

alaura22

@Ownerofawheatiehorde said:
Hm, never really thought about my loop. I have a crappy dollar store one, but I am young and have good eyes so I guess it doesn’t matter too much.

I on the other hand am old and need all the help I can find for my tried eyes

johnny9434

@Ownerofawheatiehorde said:
Hm, never really thought about my loop. I have a crappy dollar store one, but I am young and have good eyes so I guess it doesn’t matter too much.

I heard it gets better as well (I think I was lied to)

ricko

I use Zeiss 3x6x9x... Zeiss glass has been a recognized quality glass supplier for decades. Cheers, RickO

Aspie_Rocco

I have one and I am not a fan of the size, it does not let enough light in to see well. I prefer the H E Harris 10x

Dropdaflag

OK! I ordered a Zeiss 3x6x9. Should have it by Monday. I will post my impressions. Thanks go out to everyone. Especially alaura22, habaraca, and ricko.

habaraca

now don't get mad at us when you realize some of your coins are not what you thought they were.

After getting my Zeiss, I found way to many very light rubs and or wipe lines.....

I know you will love it.
mine is over 15 years old.

COINS MAKE CENTS

I have a belomo loupe I use it everyday of my life. Great loupe at a nice price.

Pnies20

I second habaraca. I love my zeiss and will never go to another brand!

Dropdaflag

@habaraca said:
now don't get mad at us when you realize some of your coins are not what you thought they were.

After getting my Zeiss, I found way to many very light rubs and or wipe lines.....

I know you will love it.
mine is over 15 years old.

Hey! Thanks for the pic. I was wondering if the swivel post was hollow. I got a lanyard waiting on it.

krueger

I use bausch & lomb 3x-4x=7x on the bourse floor ( no longer made . Some Brick and mortars still have them.)
nice large lens 36mm I believe, can see the whole coin at once. some well known dealer use this one.
4x is as good as a 5x. flip of a finger to get 7X to look closer.
With the 3X you can look thru normal thickness dealers cases on the bourse floor if dealer is too busy to pull a coin for you. using far field focus. neat trick.

Also carry a ANCO silver 16X for varieties ,nice large lens (23mm?) to let more light in as the16X focal distance is very small,
works well. My pouch usually also has some sort of 10X loupe. Eschenback 10X 23mm, Bolomo 10X 23mm etc.

A new Zeiss 3x-6X=9X is also a very good lens. NGC graders use this one. The old East German Zeiss Jena's 3x-6x=9X are a touch better in my opinion. they have a black casing and reflect less light back at your eye then the new Zeiss's above.
I may be wrong here but I think PCGS graders use various : Eschenback 5X glass, B&L 5x slide aspheric plastic, B&L 7x

Krueger
I collect loupes too.

OAKSTAR

I use this. I don't know why. I need you guys to tell me what I'm looking it.

cheezhed

I love my belomo

alaura22

@OAKSTAR said:
I use this. I don't know why. I need you guys to tell me what I'm looking it.

Looks just like my Selsi

Dropdaflag

@cheezhed said:
I love my belomo

I love mine too but 7x is a little too much for Morgan Dollars. I have not seen any BelOMO 5x. I do not think they make them. My 7x is sold out everywhere. 10x way too powerful. Hoping to be impressed with the Zeiss. I already have a B&L Hastings 10x and an Episcope / Emoskop 15x for errors.

silverpop

I use a H.E harris &Co 16x loupe works fine for me

coastaljerseyguy

Glad to see I'm not the only 1 with multiple loupes. My go to is the BeLomo. The Eschenbach 10X is very clear but small FOV, not good for dollars. Would be great for dimes and pennies. The Harris 16X has good viewing covering about 75% of Morgans. Bot the 30X for VAMS, haven't used in a while. The gold loupe someone was selling at a show for $2 so I bot 2

Dropdaflag

UPDATE: Sorry for the delay as work comes first. I have the loupe and I like it. Very clear and bright. Slightly larger lens diameter than the BelOMO.

drwstr123

For most coins I use a Bausch & Lomb 5X Jeweler's Loupe. If more magnification is needed I go to a B & L 10X Coddington.

HillbillyCollector

@krueger said:

A new Zeiss 3x-6X=9X is also a very good lens. NGC graders use this one. The old East German Zeiss Jena's 3x-6x=9X are a touch better in my opinion. they have a black casing and reflect less light back at your eye then the new Zeiss's above.

Krueger
I collect loupes too.

Took your advice and found a Zeiss Jena loupe and am very pleased with it, being the best loupe I have used, period.
Found it on EBay and it was shipped from Germany. The biggest problem was paying the shipping! Geez!
Still worth it, though.👍

NewEnglandRarities

The Zeiss loupe is a great item and makes a big difference. My first Zeiss was 25 years ago, and I still have it! I recently (last 5-7 years) used Eschenbach 3x6x9 loupe and I’ve loved it as well. It is a bit pricy (as is the Zeiss) but top level loupes are worth the investment! For my eyes, the 6x is the best visual to me, never use the 3 alone, but having the 9x is great when used.

krueger

Happy someone took my advise on the Black cased Zeiss Jena. 3-6-9 loupe.
very superior loupe. many years ago the auction house GNC tipped me off to it. I then bought one from them then for $40.
they run 3 or 4 times that today IF you can find one.
I always compare other loupes against it to assess their quality.

Krueger

HillbillyCollector

@krueger said:
Happy someone took my advise on the Black cased Zeiss Jena. 3-6-9 loupe.
very superior loupe. many years ago the auction house GNC tipped me off to it. I then bought one from them then for $40.
they run 3 or 4 times that today IF you can find one.
I always compare other loupes against it to assess their quality.

Krueger

Yeah, it was good advice! Kinda hard to find one but I like the quality of older stuff.
This one appears new and in the original box. You nailed it when you said 4x the old price but then the new Zeiss models aren’t cheap either.
Thanks again for suggesting the Jena, I am quite happy with it!👍
>
>
Zeiss also make some great scopes but I have yet to try one. Think I’ll put that on the bucket list, but those really are pricey!

PMD

The Belomo 10x triplet can be purchased for about $28 from Amateur Geologist in CA say a distributor cheaper than $35 from sellers on Ebay. Odd their are 2 or so different sellers all with same location in Michigan

https://amateurgeologist.store/ols/cart#

Cameonut

I have owned both the Zeiss D36 (3+6=9) and the Eschenbach Achromat 3+6=9 for a number of years. In my experience, both are pricey, equivalent optically and an excellent choice.

However, if you only want to pony up for one, I'd opt for the Eschenbach for a somewhat trivial reason. The Eschenbach has a place where a small key ring can be attached - this can be attached to a lanyard or whatever. The Zeiss only has a clumsy hole through the lens pivot.

What I do is use the Zeiss at home and take the Eschenbach to shows on a lanyard.

Once you own these, you won't want any of the others. (I know, I have a desk drawer full of rejects, I won't trash them here).

rte592

If you need anything more than 10x to convince someone it is what you think it is.
Well...

krueger

Belomo best value for quality / for lens size/ for price on the market. I have and use a 7x and 10x. I like them.

Best quality loupe in my opinion is the old east german zeiss BLACK case 3x6x=9x, can be used to compare other loupes quality, around $160 if you can find one. The Newer zeiss's are good but have a light colored housng that reflects light back to your eye if your sensitive. I prefer black encasements.

Others of merit are ----Bausch and lomb 10x small lens though.
Vigor 20.5 mm lens Triplet 10x. Quality of lens is very good, a bit heavy though as case is metal.
Eschenbach makes some good lenses ( I have tried many different powers ) I like their 5x metal housing used by alot of PCGS graders. They also make a plastic housing 4x mobilux that I like alot too.

I collect loupes and have tried most.

Krueger

messydesk

The 16x Harris loupe is junk. The B&L 10x triplet has a smaller field of view, but it's sharp edge to edge. The Harris (and other brands stamped on it) is a 2-lens Chinese stencil loupe that is barely sharp in the center and then gets blurrier toward the edges. Bigger field of view, but you can't see what's in it.

Extremeengineer

I laughed as I read through the posts about the “large” loupes. I use a Mamiya 5-12x that is primarily designed for medium format film negatives. While it has eyelets for a strap, I’ve always found them a bit ironic given the size and weight. Incredible build quality and clarity though. I’ll have to get a picture and add it with a reference coin.

Nysoto

The Belomo is a very good loupe but with a rather narrow field of view, locktite will keep the screws tight unless it is attacked by a Labrador Retriever like mine was - the lense is still clear.

I think the best value is the Eschenbach 10x which has a wider view than Belomo, 23mm vs 21mm which makes a big difference. I also have the Eschenbach 4x which is very enjoyable for viewing coins at home or also at coins shows, it has 16D diopter which allows the focus distance to be further away, a full quarter can be viewed with the 35mm lense width:

DelawareDoons

The 10x is okay, I have a couple. Nice clarity overall. Good starter loupe.

krueger

You want an Aplanatic loupe. flat field lens ( sharp to the edges) otherwise other lenses can be blurry around the lens edges even though they offer a wider lens. You want a flat viewing field sharp to the edges not blurry at the edges.. triplets lenses usually have an acceptable flat field.

example: They sell a 21 mm lens but clear viewing only at 17mm or less.

A lot of the choice for your coin show "RIG" is doing some comparisons till you find whats comfortable for you. and the type of coins you are hunting.
I have friends that only use Eschenbach 10X grey plastic very light weight others use an old low cost 4x style.
I carry 2 on my lanyard : a old black Zeiss 3x6x=9x and an Eschenbach 12X , always a separate favorite 10X and maybe my 4X in my pocket for larger coins.
you will notice a difference going up every 3x power..
I find looking at coins thru quality loupes enjoyable.

Farmer_Bill

I inherited this loupe from father. I know he bought it prior to 1968. Only marked 16X and Japan

Morgan13

@Dan50 said:
PCGS just sent me a new loupe. 30X Have always used a 5X Your thoughts??

Me too and I think it's perfect. I can see my Morgan's very clearly and nothing can be hidden. It's a great loupe. I am not sure of the manufacturer but it seems to be sturdy. It came with my PCGS club membership.

NeophyteNumismatist

@Nysoto said:
I think the best value is the Eschenbach 10x which has a wider view than Belomo, 23mm vs 21mm which makes a big difference....

I totally agree on the Eschenbach lenses. I have a 4x6 and I love it.