So, at 62 my eyes aren't those of an eagle anymore and I was finding my loupe very difficult to use when examining nibs, etc.
I got a tip on one of these and got one and it's a blast to play around with and I believe it will be very useful. It's the Tomlov DM9 LCD Digital Microscope off Amazon for a little under $70.
It comes with a Micro SD card and is capable of capturing photos and videos. I haven't figured out how to do that yet and I doubt I'll ever take advantage of those capabilities much, so I just took this shot with my phone to show what the whole thing looks like and how the screen looks.
On display is a Medium nib from a Sailor 1911. I'm not sure what magnification this is as to change that you raise or lower the camera/screen on the rack and pinion stand then also use that fluted silver wheel knob thing just above the camera to refocus. As you can see, the nib has some alignment issues. I hadn't noticed it so I doubt if I'll even try to correct it. With my eyes, I never would have noticed this using my cheap loupe.
At a little less magnfication than that shown in the photo, I could move the nib around freehand to get good views of it from different angles without too much shaking. The two lights on the flexible stalks are very easy to reposition and stay where you put them to get the best lighting you can.
I guess the biggest drawback is that, if you have a nib you can't or don't want to remove from the pen, there's not enough travel in the support arm to stand a pen on end as I believe the main use for this thing is looking at coins, etc so it's not designed to accommodate something 6" tall. But, the camera/screen unit comes off the stand very easily and you can just hand-hold it over the pen using enough magnification to get a good view of the nib without things being too shaky.
Money well spent if you ask me! Kids would love this thing. I never would have even seen this misalignment using my cheap loupe. Plus, it's just fun to examine all kinds of things with. I consider it $70 well-spent and would highly recommend one of these to anybody.
I got a tip on one of these and got one and it's a blast to play around with and I believe it will be very useful. It's the Tomlov DM9 LCD Digital Microscope off Amazon for a little under $70.
It comes with a Micro SD card and is capable of capturing photos and videos. I haven't figured out how to do that yet and I doubt I'll ever take advantage of those capabilities much, so I just took this shot with my phone to show what the whole thing looks like and how the screen looks.
On display is a Medium nib from a Sailor 1911. I'm not sure what magnification this is as to change that you raise or lower the camera/screen on the rack and pinion stand then also use that fluted silver wheel knob thing just above the camera to refocus. As you can see, the nib has some alignment issues. I hadn't noticed it so I doubt if I'll even try to correct it. With my eyes, I never would have noticed this using my cheap loupe.
At a little less magnfication than that shown in the photo, I could move the nib around freehand to get good views of it from different angles without too much shaking. The two lights on the flexible stalks are very easy to reposition and stay where you put them to get the best lighting you can.
I guess the biggest drawback is that, if you have a nib you can't or don't want to remove from the pen, there's not enough travel in the support arm to stand a pen on end as I believe the main use for this thing is looking at coins, etc so it's not designed to accommodate something 6" tall. But, the camera/screen unit comes off the stand very easily and you can just hand-hold it over the pen using enough magnification to get a good view of the nib without things being too shaky.
Money well spent if you ask me! Kids would love this thing. I never would have even seen this misalignment using my cheap loupe. Plus, it's just fun to examine all kinds of things with. I consider it $70 well-spent and would highly recommend one of these to anybody.
