Velleman Magnifying Visor: a good buy?

[Aria Amberhawk]

Hey all...

I\'m thinking about putting a bid on the Velleman Inc. Magnifying Visor on Ebay to help me with my fine detail painting (link to product below).

Has anyone else used this brand, and if so... was it worth buying? I\'m hoping to get it for around $7-$8.

Velleman Inc.

 

[Wren]

I have used the Optivisor, which is a similarly-styled headband magnifier, but without the lights and loupe and so on pictured in the item you linked to. I find it very helpful to better see and be able to paint the detail on minis. I even use it to prep, but then I\'m at the age where my near vision is starting to degrade.

I\'ve also seen and tried a few times the MagEyes visor. The MagEyes does not wrap completely around the head, so it\'s more flexible for different hair styles (I usually wear my hair in a ponytail, which is a pain with the OptiVisor style) and it feels a little lighter and less intrusive. It also seems like you can hold the item you\'re working on slightly further away which may be more comfortable.

I\'m so used to the Optivisor that I\'m having trouble adjusting to the MagEyes, so my guess is you get accustomed to whichever you start with and it\'s difficult to change over, so that might be worth considering. Getting either or something equivalent for $8 would be quite a steal.

 

[Aria Amberhawk]

Thank you for the info... if I don\'t win the bidding on Velleman model, I\'m going to look into Optivisor.

No matter which one I end up going with, it is going to be trial and error to see what works the best as you mentioned (I wear glasses as it is, so I\'m not sure how that will factor into things).

Thanks again for the input!

 

[Wren]

I wear glasses too, and I haven\'t had any problems with the headbands or lenses conflicting with my glasses, so you should be fine there!

 

[PegaZus]

If you\'ve got a Harbor Freight anywhere near you, they go for about $5.99. Just checked and they\'re online too.

I tried using the one I bought, but with my contacts, there was just too much eye strain. I wound up painting with my glasses off and without the visor, but I\'ve got good near vision. So you might try these out, maybe even at the store just looking closely at something.

Just throwing in my opinion.

 

[Aria Amberhawk]

I checked their website and Harbor Freight doesn\'t have a store in my state (CT) unfortunately. Their table-mounted magnifying light looked interesting... I might try picking one up online if the visor model I just bought off of Ebay doesn\'t pan out.

Thanks to both you and Wren for the helpful advice.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Personally I found the Optivisor I have OK for short timespans, but as I have a somewhat Greasy Skin I can\'t weqar it for long periods with out having to adjust the fit.

I\'ve opted to use instead a pair of \"Clip on\" magnifiers as these are far lighter and sit on my reading glasses without excess weight or drag.
Plus they are handier as the fit into a shirt pocket and therefore I can use them at Demo\'s with greater ease.

I originally got them from Shesto .co.uk but they seem to have stopped supplying them however THESE are what I use.
Just a tad more expensive.

 

[airhead]

I\'ve tried the flip up - hat mounted glasses that the fly fishing shop sells. My biggest problem is looking over or under them to see the rest of the table.

Finally, I went to the local CVS (druggist) and got a cheap pair of reading glasses in the biggest plus they had (+5). These are great, but will mess up your vision if you wear them for extended periods. I got the granny or half glasses so I could see over them and rest my eyes.

After watching Gray\'s Anatomy, I want to try a set of those surgeon\'s glasses with the loupes built in to the eyeglasses. But all I\'ve found so far are VERY PRICEY.

 

[Wren]

I started with a magnifying glass on an arm of my lamp, which sounds a bit like the table mounted magnifier you mentioned. That I don\'t recommend, at least from my experience, though I seem to recall others complaining about similar products. It got in the way of the brush handle all the time.

 

[Aria Amberhawk]

Originally posted by Wren
I started with a magnifying glass on an arm of my lamp, which sounds a bit like the table mounted magnifier you mentioned. That I don\'t recommend, at least from my experience, though I seem to recall others complaining about similar products. It got in the way of the brush handle all the time.

The same thig happened with me when I tried taping a hand-held mag glass to a makeshift armature... you\'ve helped me to decide to stick to either a visor-style or the clip-ons airhead and Dragonsreach mentioned. Thanks!

Originally posted by Dragonsreach
I\'ve opted to use instead a pair of \"Clip on\" magnifiers as these are far lighter and sit on my reading glasses without excess weight or drag.
Plus they are handier as the fit into a shirt pocket and therefore I can use them at Demo\'s with greater ease.

I originally got them from Shesto .co.uk but they seem to have stopped supplying them however

I\'ve found a few places here in the U.S. that sells them... I\'ll be checking them out later on today. I\'ve already won the bid on the visor, but the clip-ons have caught my interest.

Here is the link to one online store that sells them: Clip-on Magniying glasses

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by Aria Amberhawk
I\'ve already won the bid on the visor, but the clip-ons have caught my interest.

Here is the link to one online store that sells them: Clip-on Magniying glasses

That\'s a good price range, even given the differing exchange rates it\'s better than UK prices.

 

[Aria Amberhawk]

If the mag visor I ordered doesn\'t work for me, I\'ll give the clip ons a go.

In retrospect, I should have bought the clip ons first... I just get the feeling that the view would be steadier. On the flip side... the visor will allow me to toggle between 1.8x, 2.3x, 3.7x, and 4.8x, so that way I can get a feel for what mag power I should get if I do decide to go with the clip on.

I\'ll post a review of the visor once it arrives.

Thanks bunches for everyone\'s help and input! You guys are cat\'s knees! Errr... bee\'s pajamas....? I never was good with metaphors....

 

[Aria Amberhawk]

Well... I just received my Velleman magnifying visor, and I can safely say that is does provide the sort of magnification I was looking for to engage in fine detail work.

My minor complaints about this product are that it is slightly uncomfortable to wear, and the adjustable velcro straps attached to two semi-rigid plastic bands does not provide enough taughtness to keep the visor from occassionally slipping on my head. Also... with the exception of the jeweler\'s loupe... to increase magnification you have to remove the visor in order to flip down the 2nd set of lenses.

The two small side lights do provide some degree of illumination as long as the miniature is held at least 6 inches from the mangifying glasses, but any closer and you get troublesome shadows.

I haven\'t tried actually painting with it yet, but I have a feeling I\'ll go and purchase some clip-on lenses for my glasses instead.

 

[bullfrog]

While I have not used that actual brand I have used a very similar visor. It is great for seeing fine detail....obviously.
However I only rarely use mine now as I found that while I could see everything when it came time to put paint on mini my depth perception was out of whack due to the magnification. I constantly took the visor off as I couldnt judge where the brush was in relation to the mini. So now if i do use one I look at the detail then take it off to paint.
It may very well be my eyes but you might want to try on and see if you have the same problem.
More often I use a pair of high magnification bifocal reading glasses I bought from the chemist shop for a few dollars as I can look down for the magnification and look up over the magnifying lens to paint and not have to take them off.


Cheers - Joanne.

 

[DrEvilmonki]

The depth perception issue actually goes away with practise, your brain will adjust.

I will have to hunt down some of those clip ons though. My major complaint with the visor is that it instantly makes you look like a goose.

 

[bullfrog]

Unfortunately the real reason I dont use a visor often is that without the magnification it looks like I actually CAN paint!. I have found that the further away I can hold the mini the better my painting skills become....Merry Christmas all.

 

[Aria Amberhawk]

Originally posted by bullfrog
Unfortunately the real reason I dont use a visor often is that without the magnification it looks like I actually CAN paint!. I have found that the further away I can hold the mini the better my painting skills become....Merry Christmas all.

lol... too true. I used the visor to look at a mini I had painted 5 years ago that... at the time... I was extremely proud of the detail work I had done. Under magnification, however... it looked like a burn victim. Meh

 

[Aria Amberhawk]

Originally posted by bullfrog
While I have not used that actual brand I have used a very similar visor. It is great for seeing fine detail....obviously.
However I only rarely use mine now as I found that while I could see everything when it came time to put paint on mini my depth perception was out of whack due to the magnification. I constantly took the visor off as I couldnt judge where the brush was in relation to the mini. So now if i do use one I look at the detail then take it off to paint.
It may very well be my eyes but you might want to try on and see if you have the same problem.
More often I use a pair of high magnification bifocal reading glasses I bought from the chemist shop for a few dollars as I can look down for the magnification and look up over the magnifying lens to paint and not have to take them off.


Cheers - Joanne.

I haven\'t had the chance to use the visor too much yet, so I can\'t comment on any lingering depth perception effects... although it did take some getting used to during a trial run painting detail work.

I did check around in my area at eye vision shops to see if they sold the clip-on magnifying glasses, but unfortunately they have gone \"out of style\" and for the most part be found only online or on ebay.

 

[airhead]

Aria, try a local fly fishing store. Should be some of those around CT... else try basspro.com

 

[Aria Amberhawk]

Originally posted by airhead
Aria, try a local fly fishing store. Should be some of those around CT... else try basspro.com

I checked the basspro site, but all I could find were sunglasses. There is a fishing shop nearby, and I\'ll pop over there on Monday to ask around. Thanks for the heads up.