Age has caught up with me- interested in feedback on various magnifier types for bench work and layout work. Are those visor type head worn devices better than a fixed magnifier on a support?
Don't know what I'd do without my OptiVisor. Also have a quality fixed magnifier, but rarely use it. The visor is handy & versatile.
Regards, Peter
I completely enorse the Optivisor. I use a #5 all the time. With a fixed magnifier, your work and your eyes have to be in a standardized position. With the Optivisor, you can move your head around to different positions. The work, too, for that matter.
Ed
I agree about the Optivisor and how it allows more freedom of movement. The only time I use the fixed magnifier now is for small sctatch building projects that can be done fixed in one place.
Joe
Another vote for the Optivisor. I have three or four shop locations (basement and garage) where I do various work, in addition to my on-layout jobs and jobs at friends' houses on their layouts, so the portability factor is an important one.
Wayne
I've used the Opti-Viser type for a number of years now. It quickly becomes second nature and you forget you have it on.
A second vote for the Opti-Visor- I have two- one for close up work and one for regular use. Can’ beat them!
woodone A second vote for the Opti-Visor- I have two- one for close up work and one for regular use. Can’ beat them!
Another vote for the genuine Opti-Visor. Don't fall for a cheap knockoff, either. I had two with different magnifications for the degree of detail I needed to see.
I lost my extra pair when my wife found out how nice it was to use for needlepoint and cross stitching!
I'm going to buy another, soon so I can be sure to have a spare on hand .
Regards, Ed
Amazon sells the Optivisor with different lenses and an eye loop you can attach. Mine has the eye loop.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
I started a thread about what power opti visor to use. Don't have time to look for it.
The higher the power, the closer you have to be to the object you are working on. Mine is a DA-5 which is 2.5x and a focal length of 8" If you go up to 3.5x your focal length drops in half to 4"
http://www.doneganoptical.com/products/optivisor
Magnification is not a substitute for routine eye care. As we age, we are more susceptable to eye disease like glaucoma and macular degeneration. You want to catch those early.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Place my input as another positive for the Optivisor.
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I see a pattern in this thread.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
My most important hobby tool is my Optivisor. Gotta have an Optivisor.
Alton Junction
Another Optivisor user here. I also recently did a drastic increase in lighting over my work table. Also helps a lot.
Dave
I would like to endorse Henry's comment about eye health. Don't assume that downturns in quality of vision are "just one of those things that happen with age". Go to your eye doc every once in awhile. Get checked out. You need your eyes to play with trains.
The brighter the light at your workbench, the greater depth of field for your eyes. Not only are more things in focus at once, but sharpness increases closer to your eyes. Good lighting (as in bright diffused lighting) is a very useful thing for model builders.
Another vote for Optivisor and with Quasar lights which really do the job!
USAF (Retired)
love my optivisor, couldn't model without it. so portable. FA-1
I'm in with the eye health, and Optivisor group. I have a check-up once a year, and this year, needed to renew my WI. DL., and flunked. The girl gave me 3 trys, so, I now wear glass for driving, and it's good. Normaly, I use "readers" for reading and computor.
I bought the original Donagan optiVisor, from Walthers, with 4 lenses, for about $70. It's great. The only glitch is one of the "rivets" that snap the changeable lens in place, doesn't hold, so I have to figure something out. Us modelers can do that, and make it work.
Mike.
My You Tube
mbinsewiThe only glitch is one of the "rivets" that snap the changeable lens in place, doesn't hold,
Mine is only a year or two old and it has screws and nuts holding the lens.
Does anyone have the led add on systems for the optivisor?
BigDaddyand it has screws and nuts holding the lens.
That's what I'm going to do. I think I bought mine about 3 or 4 years ago.
Mike
BigDaddyDoes anyone have the led add on systems for the optivisor?
I use an add on for hard hats that I bought at Grainger with 10 LEDs. The single led that is sold for the Optivisor did not look like it would be enough.
OK, so I'm an oddball. I use a magnifying lens on a stand with a built-in light. I keep it on my workbench. I use it for painting, mostly. It's invaluable for the details on Jordan vehicles, of which I still have a handful waiting to be built.
I can see everything else on my layout and under it with just my glasses.
For reference, I am 71 years old.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I've had an Optivisor with a 2.5 power lense for about 23 years. It was hard to concede that I needed it, and it was relatively expensive.
BUT, I have used it hundreds of times and its one of my "must have" tools.
I realize they are still pricey, but the thing will last you "forever" and do a great job.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
MisterBeasleyOK, so I'm an oddball. I use a magnifying lens on a stand with a built-in light. I keep it on my workbench.
I used to use one, until my youngest daughter ruined it about 14 years ago.
It is so cute that I never cleaned it off.
I've had my Optivisor for about 40 years. I wore glasses with progressive lenses, and the Optivisor made the difference for close work. Earlier this year I had cataract surgery on both eyes, and ended up with great vision. Now I use a pair of 2.75 reading glasses for about 95% of my modeling work. If I need more, I drag out my old Optivisor.
Ray DunakinCan the Optivisor be used over prescription glasses?
Yes
I just use the cheap reading glasses from the store. I have two different magnifications. One is for reading and just general use for things that are kind of close. The other is a lot stronger. I use them for assembling and painting models. I also have a pair with built in lights that I love.
Since I've had to wear bifocals for a while now (although oddly, as my close-up vision gets worse, my distance vision gets better) the thing that made a huge difference for me was getting "computer glasses". They're like regular bifocals except that their primarily set to focus at things about arm's length, with a little bit above for distance and some below for close up work. For general work / operation on the layout, I use a pair of what they call "20 foot" glasses, which have a little more of the distance prescription on top. It allows me to see trains in front of me clearly (whereas with regular bifocals I had to move in really close or step back to get it in focus) but I can also work on up-close stuff like replacing a coupler - and can still see clearly about half way across the basement (i.e., about 20 feet). I also have a pair of what I think they call "six foot" ones, which are more geared towards close up work. I use those a lot when I'm just doing up-close stuff for a long period, like building a kit or painting figures.
I bought the "Magnifier Head Strap with Lights" from Harbor Freight Tools several years ago. I figured at five dollars, it would be worth a try. I use it all the time! It has three levels of magnification and works quite well. Is it perfect? No. The lights work but don't shine where you'd like them to. I use a desk lamp anyway. Also, the friction fit of the head strap pivot is marginal and may need some "work" to tighten. Is it worth five bucks? Heck yes!!!
Hornblower