old eyes are needing some assistance

[lupinehorror]

all.
my passion for electronics has been rekindled over the past 6 months or so.
probably been 20 years since i last soldered in anger and i'm rather pleased to find that the skill hasn't gotten too tarnished. my eyes are struggling however. can read fine with my glasses but am having difficulty with the wee stuff. got one of those magnifiers with the helping claws attached but it isn't cutting the mustard.
now thinking something head-mounted with maybe some built-in illumination (got little bendy LED lamps at the moment). could anyone recommend something that has a decent value/quality balance? UK based would be grand.
thanks in advance.

[hexreader]

I find a USB microscope really handy.

Optical magnifiers just don't seem to do the job for me.

[lupinehorror]

thanks for the reply.
that's something i hadn't considered. amazon here we come.

[tggzzz]

When I was in a similar position, I ended up settling on Maplin's head-mounted visor.

Benefits: can be used with normal glasses, a cheap experiment to help you discover what works for you, can also be used when peering sideways (etc!) into instruments.

I do have a stereo microscope that works for me (the only ones I found that do), but I only use that very occasionally for "high" magnification PCB inspection.

[lupinehorror]

thanks for taking the time to reply.
i might actually try both. the £15.99 number i saw on amazon won't break the bank (nor deliver stellar performance either i realise) and i'll check out some visors.

[tggzzz]

You're welcome. One way or another you will pay for your experience, so you might as well make the initial scout-out-the-territory experiments cheap!

For illumination I use http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/lighting/wall-lights/tived-led-wall-clamp-spotlight-nickel-plated-art-10169692/ since it is small, out of the way, and instantly movable to whatever position and angle happens to be right for the job.

My other techniques are at https://entertaininghacks.wordpress.com/category/homebrew-pcbs/

[DTJ]

My opinion for what its worth......


If you can afford it buy a stereo microscope they are fantastic for old eyes. Go for a zoom microscope with 3.5 to 20 times or there abouts magnification.

Otherwise buy a head band magnifier, one with large lenses so you don't lose your peripheral vision when wearing them.
https://www.solidrop.net/photo-7/magnifier-glasses-led-headband-light-professional-head-loupe-for-eyelash-extension-repair-magnifying-eyeglass1-2x-1-8x-2-5x-3-5x.jpg


These ones restrict your peripheral vision too much.
http://jsp.cc/images/itempictures/lo210.jpg



Personally i find USB microscopes utterly useless for soldering as I lose the depth perception.

I also tried medical / dental style loupes built into spectacles and found them to be pretty hopeless as well.



Cheap 2x or 3x reading glasses from the local dollar shop or chemist can be ok but the working distance can get too small.

[lupinehorror]

if only the dummy head were included!
good info...thanks.

[ruairi]

For head worn the Donegan Optivisor is very good, I like mine a lot and it was good value - http://www.doneganoptical.com/products/optivisor  I got several strength lenses.

That said I stopped using the Optivisor entirely when I got a used Luxo Magnifier.  The unit I got was about $450 new but I paid $100 on eBay.  It is fantastic, probably my favorite thing on the bench.  The only thing I would consider swapping it for is an LED magnifier.

[Dr. Frank]

Have the same problem since the age of 45..
Depending, if you are far- or near-sighted, maybe strong spectacles with +3.0 diopter would be sufficient.
I use cheap ones (4€ at ALDI, or better ones for 15€ at the optician), and they are good for through - hole soldering.

For smaller parts, I use 200€ loupe spectacles, 2.5x from Eschenbach.

Frank

[lupinehorror]

you've all been most helpful and there's some great ideas...thank you.
the luxo units look very nice indeed.
ripe old age of 43 by the way!

[lupinehorror]

a couple of rather keenly priced (cheap) items have been ordered!
a USB microscope
https://www.amazon.co.uk/XCSOURCE-20X-800X-Microscope-Endoscope-Magnifier/dp/B00N4K22OA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505738241&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+microscope
and a head loupe type thing
https://www.banggood.com/1_5X-2_0X-2_5X-3_5X-Headband-Magnifier-Magnifying-Glass-Loupe-With-4-Lens-p-984654.html?rmmds=myorder
one will arrive a bit more quickly than the other...
thanks again for everyone's input.

[schmitt trigger]

Also......
make sure that you have very good illumination. I would say at least 500 luxes of properly diffused light.

For that reason I still use fluorescent tubes as the light source.

[DuPe]

hi,
from this forum I got the tip to contact my optitian and order glasses with my near field lens strenght +3 dioptre.
This was a good advice. Gives a good view for fine work with neat near field magnification.

[retiredcaps]

For too small or faded things, I take my Canon camera, set it to macro focus and take a picture.  Then I view it on my computer and magnify as required.  I can also manipulate the image as required.

This helped retrieve some worn/faded out Windows license keys from the backside of the laptop.

Not as convenient as some of the other solutions present, but I already have the camera and don't need to use this method very frequently.

[lupinehorror]

@schmitt trigger
light isn't too much of an issue but as my setup grows i will have to get something decent sorted. at the moment i have two flexible LED lamps...not the best but very portable
@DuPe
recently got new glasses but will keep that in mind the next time i get a prescription
@retiredcaps
nice tip. i do have a 70-300mm nikkor zoom lens that has a macro mode

[Assafl]

48yo. Electronics were becoming a blurry mess (couldn't even read resistor color bands).

Donegan Optivisor was a life saver. Also got the loop attachment for when the SMD is too small (and which allowed me to use samller magnification which is both more comfortable and wider field of view), and additional purchased the Quasar LED lights for it which are really good.

https://www.amazon.com/Quasar-Led-Lighting-System-Optivisors/dp/B0058ECQ46/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1505810209&sr=8-4&keywords=optivisor

I can sit with this for hours.

Also tried the Edsyn one which were not as good for me, albeit a great deal lighter.

[lupinehorror]

those would probably fit the set i've bought! nice find. thank you

[NivagSwerdna]

I realised my eyes were not working as well as they used to when I had to ask someone for help adding a patch wire to a via.... it had crept up on me and I hadn't realised my eyes were getting old. 

First I went for a head thing...  like this... http://www.argos.co.uk/product/2761976  pretty good but depth of field is very narrow and you end up pretty close to the flux smoke.

I also bought a cheap USB microscope... not bad... but very limited depth of field.

For simple work I use some cheapo short sight fixing glasses (e.g. Clas Olson +2.0) and where necessary wear two pairs at the same time!

I have also now bought a Zenith widefield microscope for SMD work... http://www.microglobe.co.uk/zenith-stl-80-x10x20-long-arm-stereoscopic-microscope-p-8276.html

With the microscope I can do things that do not look humanly possible.  I love it.

[mikeselectricstuff]

A problem with eelctronic solutions is they can have latency - I have one of the Andonstar units for on-site work, and the latency is such that you can get an artificial hand tremor as the brain overshoots compensating for a delayed image.

IME many of the cheaper magnifying solutions, especially things made for watchmaking etc. have too close a working distance to be useful for anything but inspection - you can't work under them

If cost is no object, nothing beats a Mantis. 

[eliocor]

May I suggest Eschenbach MaxDetail 2x goggles? http://www.eschenbach.com/e73b38e1-2849-4031-91b5-853513dd0494/products-telescopes-galilean-detail.htm
Even if I own 2 zoom stereoscopic microscopes, I love those spectacles.
The chromatic aberration is rather low, you can correct (+-3dioptr) your eye differences and your focusing distance is not so near as most of the previously suggested solutions.
Surely they are not cheap (confronted with typical chinese products) but they work really well:
https://www.amazon.com/Eschenbach-1624-51-MaxDetail-Magnifier/dp/B00481YIS2
(but you can get them at lower prices)


I can confirm everything the vendor says in this video is true:

BTW: he correctly pronounce 'Eschenbach'

[lupinehorror]

@NivagSwerdna
got the first two mostly sorted and will see how well they work out for me. i'd love a decent stereo microscope (have since i was wee) but funds forbid it at the moment. on day 72 of no tobacco so i'm going to try and put some cash by after the vape setting up is complete.

@mikeselectricstuff i'm ok with most things but the really small stuff hurts. a mantis! hadn't heard of one of those beasties before...i bet the price would hurt...

@eliocor those look great...a bit on the expensive side for me though. will check the video out later today...thanks.

[mikeselectricstuff]

@mikeselectricstuff i'm ok with most things but the really small stuff hurts. a mantis! hadn't heard of one of those beasties before...i bet the price would hurt...

http://www.visioneng.com/products/stereo-microscopes/mantis-compact-visual-inspection-microscope

Start at about a grand but worth every penny. Worth keeping a look out for on ebay

[lupinehorror]

@mikeselectricstuff aye...that's the site i looked at. i thought to myself that if you have to ask how muchit is it's probably too expensive...

[NivagSwerdna]

@NivagSwerdna
got the first two mostly sorted and will see how well they work out for me. i'd love a decent stereo microscope (have since i was wee) but funds forbid it at the moment.

I appreciate where you are coming from.  My two major purchases... my widefield microscope and my oscilloscope were hard to afford/justify but now I have them I wished I had bought them earlier.  Good  luck saving... and look on ebay in the meantime... used /cheap widefield microscopes are rare but they do occasionaly crop up.