Power… sometimes too much is not a good thing…

There are 4 main criteria used in magnifiers: Power, field of view, focal length and depth of field…

Power (X) refers to how much bigger with the naked eye a magnifier makes what you are looking at seem. 2X for example doubles the size of an object. 3X triples it and so on. With magnification, bigger is not always better. While you see things larger the higher the power, you see less from side to side. This is referred to as the field of view. This is not as important if you are trying to read the date on a coin but if you are trying to read a column in a newspaper or book, it makes a big difference. Also, there is a point where type gets too large to read text smoothly. The rule of thumb is that you want pick the lowest power magnifier strength that allows you to read text. This will assure you the widest field of view.

Focal length is how far away from an object you have to bring the lens to get the clearest focus with the most magnification. The higher the power the closer you need to bring the lens (the shorter the focal length). Depth of field is the amount of play you have in bringing a lens toward or away from the object and keep it in focus. The power and the field of view are the most important aspects for most people when choosing a magnifying lens…

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(to be continued…)