Eyesight, loupes, getting older.
Azurescens
Posts: 2,783 ✭✭✭✭✭
((Sorry if this is a double post. I got a server error when submitting.))
I'm getting frequent migraines when roll searching. My job requires reading numbers and letters (3 per second 16 character alphanumeric) the size of half dime lettering. I've started getting absolutely debilitating migraines. I've tried my old glasses and got new ones and no luck.
What do you folks with poor eyesight use?
Is it worth getting a table lamp magnifier or the spectacle attachments? I need both regular sight help for increasing astigmatism and bifocal type.
Do I look out of my regular lense script or my bifocals? It feels like my eyes cross when I do either. Then my vision needs 10 to 15 minutes to reset.
I somehow have 500 bucks on amazon and need to fix this, because it's limiting my enjoyment of coins below half dollars, and even then..
I use a 10x for quick perusal and 20x for fine details.
I'm supposed to keep both eyes open like discharging a firearm right? Use my best eye?
Help..??
Thanks in advance.
Comments
Both Zeiss and Eschenbach make a 3X+6X=9X loupe that are very good with coated lenses that are highly corrected.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Everyone's eyes are different, but in my case (I am extremely nearsighted) I take off my glasses (seamless trifocals, in a nod to vanity) when it's time to variety search.
Regular roll searching I don't need glasses.
I am lucky in that my far away vision is SO BAD that my eyes have adapted and without glasses I can see details on a coin that others might need a loupe to see. And by far away vision, I am talking about 10 inches or more, lol.
I can't speak to astigmatism.....I don't have it.
It may also be that the migranes are associated with something else, food, drink, etc.
Maybe.
Best of luck.
Sounds like you've got it easy haha.
I drink 1.5gal water/day, eat healthy foods, get 15-20 miles or more on the bike every day, and work a very physically demanding job. Add the hiking and backpacking for when I'm foraging (9 months of 12), too.
Breakfast today was homemade granola bites and lunch was a bagel with a slice of meat and cheese and a plain one. Lots of plain pasta or egg noodles. Quit smoking in Nov 17, just hit 10 years off the bottle in Feb. I changed my life around 3 years ago when I almost died.
I'll check out the 3+6=9, any other recommendations?
Keep both eyes open when using loupe? Best eye or worst eye? Should I even be holding the loupe close to my eye when looking for the finest of fine marks?
Thanks again I appreciate the guidance.
It sounds like your diet and exercise regiment is similar to mine.
I will not go gently into that good night, thank you very much.
I keep both eyes open when using a loupe.
A question for you: Have you trained your eyes to "relax" while using the loupe? Sounds like a silly question but if you're "fighting it" it might contribute to your eye fatigue.
Also, when you're looking through stuff with your, say 6x loupe first, are you putting aside stuff for closer inspection later and then going through the closeup/detail stuff all at the same time or are you switching back and forth?
I can switch back and forth w/o problems, but many can't and this as well may contribute to "confusing" your eyes.
Switching back and forth I can maybe get 5 coins done then I can't see right for 10 to 20 minutes so I stopped that quick.
I'll run a quick perusal on a 5x/10x, and later on go through "potentials" with the 20x.
I know what you mean about relaxing your eyes. Let the loupe do the work. You mean kind of like trying to see through the coin right? So your vision is the same if a loupe is in front of it or not, right?
Yes, let it come to you.
Look by sort of "not looking."
Yes. You got it!
So at least I'm doing that right.
Thank you
Try lighting the coins from the side and let the shadowing work to your benefit.
I've tried a bunch of loupes over the years.
But I keep coming back to the Zeiss and Eschenbach 3+6=9 models. For me, they are perfect.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
Have you tried a magnifying visor? Works well for me if I have a lot of stuff to go through.
Hit me like a slap in the face the minute I turned 40. Glasses had to come off to look at coins. Now it's glasses off and a loupe dammit!
Sucks to get old...doesn't it?
I am on the reverse of some of you guys. My distance vision is VERY good. I used to have very good vision up close, then onceI turned 40, it just went down hill. I noticed that I was having to hold my phone out further and further. I eventually had to go out and buy a pair of reading glasses. Now anything under 18 inches and I need to wear my glasses. Everything 2 feet and out and it's sharp as a tack. I miss the old day's of seeing up close. I've also noticed that especially in the mornings right after I wake up, that the reading glasses are needed for anything 3 feet and closer for about an hour.
I don't use a loupe for examining coins. I actually use old camera lenses. My two go to lenses are a Tominon 135mm and a Tominon 35mm. Both were designed to be used in a Polaroid Large Format Macro Photography set. Both are incredibly sharp and bright. The 135mm is my general purpose lens for grading and giving a quick look at coins with both eyes. It's probably the equivalent of a 3x loupe with a very wide field of view. I find the focal distance to be great for shows as I can look at coins through a dealers display case without them needing to open it. The 35mm is used for checking varieties and is a single eye lens. It's probably close to a 7x or 8x loupe.
I'd love to get either a magnifying visor or an attachment for my glasses. I forget what they're called but when I was doing fiber work and 128 line phone units one of my coworkers had them. Super cool, just flick one down or two down or all three down. I'm assuming they're not cheap.
And yeah lol kinda sucks, I'm still in the 40 range so 66% of the way to my heart attack haha. Getting old has its benefits though. I was letting my mind wander this morning and thought of some old friends from college.. half my life ago.. I remember high school or middle school being half my life ago.
Hopefully I live to the day when wondering about old things half my life ago was half my life ago.
>
That's a fantastic idea. I've got an uncle who was a professional photographer from the 50s to 80s. He's got all sorts of cool stuff. I'm sure he's got something laying around. I should call him.. he ain't getting any younger.. I guess none of us are.
He asked me once to help sell his cameras on ebay.. I said why don't I just pay your wife for them when you pass? Guy straight up tells me if it saves fees then sure!
I've had a lot of dealers both at shows and brick and mortar shops ask about my lenses. Everyone of them was surprised by how bright and sharp the optics are. If you think about it, they were designed to project an image onto a sheet of film that will out resolve the human eye. I'm not knocking the Zeiss and Eschenbach loupes at all.
Here's a 135mm for sale right now for just $25.00 on eBay that appears to be in great condition.
Tominon 135mm Lens
EBay bucks saves the day. Thank you so much!!!
This is gonna be so much easier for my shaky hands too. I'm so glad PCGS gives us a free space to openly discuss things like this. I dunno what I'd do without you guys and gals.
Congrats on the healthy lifestyle changes. Been there done all that. Vision is corrected by all these fancy loupes, cameras and glasses. Our overall health and well being not so much. Keep it up and hope you are feeling wonderful. Get you one of those USB cameras. Hook to your laptop and look at magnified on the computer screen. Technology is amazing.
get some of those crazy magnifier glasses dentists that do root canals wear
I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine. I just couldn't go back to using any kind of loupe with the exception of a high powered one for variety attribution. The 135mm Tominon fits nicely in your hand and makes examining coins very effortless. It's field of view is large enough to easily cover and entire Morgan Dollar at 3x. Let me know what you think of it after you get it. I'm not sure if the one you bought comes with lens caps or not, so you may look into that once you receive it.
It'll sit on a desk, and I like the field of view. Not a lot of people appreciate a good lens. I told my wife who knows more about cameras and she said oh neat, so here's hoping lol.
I'm not sure what you mean by your last sentence about it helping against slabs. Sorry
Fell asleep typing haha
I recommend you also have a good Ophthalmologist and explain the entire issue to him/her as you did here.... I have found they can be very helpful. Cheers, RickO
I too have some issues with the old eyeballs have quite a few different magnifiers am able to examine details pretty good in different conditions. By conditions, I mean lighting, viewing thru a slab, cello, dark room, a daylit room etc. My main problem and most important is the lighting to grade the"luster" my eyes tend to focus out. Incandescent, halogen, ambient, 60,75,100watt all these terms for grading can be overwhelming.Can someone post a photo of an actual lightbulb or the package that you use and works for you?
I think it is a matter of what you are used to. I've always used plain jane incandescent 100W bulbs. This seems to be a happy medium as other types of lighting either enhance or diminish surface imperfections....especially hairlines!
My gosh! This camera lens is so awesome and amazing!!
@jtlee321 
I can hold a coin between my chest and waist and see it fine. A cent ends up being the size of a half dollar and I don't need fine details. When I do I can adjust aperture and it leaves a very small hole to focus and gets rid of reflective surfaces. It sees through scratched slabs as if they were brand new.
So cool to not struggle. Sorting through my collection is going to be soooo much easier, faster and no headaches. No more holding to my face. Saves neck pain too wow!!
It really does fit great in hand too.
This thread mades me laugh out loud!!! It has an AARP feel to it....
Illuminated 10x Eschenbach
5x if you insist but once you've done the 10..........
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
I'm so glad it worked out for you! I LOVE mine as well. The clarity of the glass is amazing. Just wait until you take it to a coin show. You'll be able to look at the coins in the case without the dealer even having to take them out. LOL Of course you'll have to have him take it out if you want to see the reverse.
>
It's got enough weight to it that my hand doesn't shake either. =P
The lens helps too with what @Smudge said. This went from work and headaches to "wow this is fun again".
go to bed and rest those eyes of yours @Azurescens.....it must be late where you are. It's 8pm HST here
If I told you my work hours you wouldn't believe me =P