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So I was thinking of taking my nerdy habit to the next level, and getting a headset magnifying glass to help paint details. I'm getting up there in years, and while my sight is still good... It can be tough to get details right, and I can't paint eyes to save my life.

Does anyone use any sort of hat with a goofy set of lenses that could help me hit those pupils/tricky edges? Or do y'all think these things are a waste of money? And what would you recommend to a first-time buyer?

Thanks in advance

I don't use one but have been considering getting a mounted one, to go with my lamp. I've always found the head mounted ones (from only seeing them in use on TV) to be sorta bulky and couldn't imagine trying to do fine detail work with something like that on my head.

A buddy of mine was using a pair of the "head strap magnifiers" and I laughed at him (he is a few years older than me).

He just handed them to me, and handed me a mini.

I bought one the next day. It REALLY helps with working detail, regardless of your current eyesight.

This is the one, and its worth twice the price;
http://www.harborfreight.com/magnifier-head-strap-with-lights-38896.html

I tried a headset back in the early days... found that it required completely retraining, as the refraction means that the paintbrush isn't quite where you think it is. Decided it was more trouble than it was worth.

I've found in the past few years I've needed reading glasses to focus no miniatures to do close up detail work. As Insaniak says, you have to retrain yourself.....

I have a clamp-mounted large lens on a flexible stem, and a base-mounted one with alligator clamps and a light.

I tryed using some fancy magnifying glass that my friend lent me. It stood on its on and you could clamp the base of the model and hold it there. THe problem is that it messed up my depth perception so I made mistakes more often using that than just my regular eyes. (I have glasses though. I'm farsighted. I dont know if that makes a difference.

i always find them more trouble than they are worth. I just get the mini closer to my eyes using a raised painting table.

I'm currently using two sets of reading glasses with a 2.5 and 3.0 magnification.
I also have a large magnifying glass with a 4x and 6x magnification lens.

It helps alot.

I have a desktop lamp with magnifying glass, the flexible kind that you can move around - it's really useful for doing detail work.

I also considered the headband/hat kind, but I'm glad I went for the desktop one as it's easier to switch back and forth between looking through the magnifying glass and not - which I do a lot.

insaniak wrote:I tried a headset back in the early days... found that it required completely retraining, as the refraction means that the paintbrush isn't quite where you think it is. Decided it was more trouble than it was worth.

This is what I remember from years ago, when I tried a magnifying glass mounted on a stand on the table...

Thanks everyone for your replies. I may hold off for a bit. (and my poor painting skills will have to remain... poor)

I’ve used the “cheapo” reading glasses you get at a discount store but found my magnifying headset is about the best. I also have a magnifying lamp set up but that gets in the way… I also have a really large stereorama magnifier from my SMT days… that’s cool as heck but not so good for painting because it sits on my desk and doesn’t allow a whole lot of room for your hands, a mini and your brush.

I use a table mounted lamp and magnafying glass. It only took a little but to figure out where you need to put the brush, learning curve isnt as bad as most make it out to be. At least it wasnt that hard for me.

I use a nice OptiVISOR by Donegan Optical Company. When painting detail work, It is indispensable. It is actually made in the USA shockingly enough. You can swap out the magnifiers for different powers too. Very comfy and I can wear it for hours. Without it, my eye fatigue much faster.

I use a set of 3x reading glasses. This gives a decent level of magnification while retaining stereoscopic vision.
Just don't look up suddenly at the TV on the other side of the room. Yowza.

The cheap head band thing I posted above ($7) had not required ANY retraining or anything like that for me.

It has also been tons easier to use than any kind of mounted magnifier I had used before.

Seriously, its the cost of a burger and fries...get one.
If you don't like it, I will send you $7.
(pm me, I will send via paypal if you don't like it).
Yes, I am serious, and don't call me Shirley....

Optivisor. It's a binocular system and has interchangeable lenses. Works very well.

Glases or a big one mounted on the desk sounds like a good deal. You would need one you do not need to hold with your hands.

i have some helping hands...
basically some croc clamps with a magnifying glass.... i hardly ever use the mag glass though

davethepak:Yes, I am serious, and don't call me Shirley....

Whatever you say Gladys.

Surely you can't be serious about all this good feedback?

I'll look into that $7 set (and though I appreciate the generous offer, I'll forgo my daily burger n fries. Once). Hearing that it doesn't really require "retraining" is good - that's why I didn't like the desk-mounted magnifying glass. And if it doesn't work for me, at least it's no big loss!

Any idea what sort of store would sell it, or should I get it online?

I use the Optivisor, its awesome! If you want to go cheap check out Harbor Freight Tools. Lots of Gamer gold there.

I use one on an articulated arm with an in-built ring light but then I am quite long sighted nowadays and I can't paint without it any more, even with my glasses on. Haven't had any problems dealing with brush positioning due to refraction but it can take a bit of time to adjust to the reduction in depth perception it produced (I've splurged a lot of eyeballs thinking I was further away than I was). Been using it for years now. I tried an optical visor but couldn't see a damn thing through it.

I have one of the cheapie headbands with very little magnification, 1 1/2 or 2 power at most, just enough to help these 60 plus eyes without causing a depth perception problem. I only use it when doing something really fine like eyes or maybe cutting masks. Well worth the 7 bucks it cost.

I got one of these:



Never really used it though. Got it for electronic work, now it sits on my painting table.

I use one built into the lamp on the desk. Only rarely though, most of the time I'm fine but I find that sometimes when trying to make sure I get a clean line or some fine detail that's obscured by arms / weapons etc it can help.

Synchro wrote:I use a nice OptiVISOR by Donegan Optical Company. When painting detail work, It is indispensable. It is actually made in the USA shockingly enough. You can swap out the magnifiers for different powers too. Very comfy and I can wear it for hours. Without it, my eye fatigue much faster.

If you can, go for the Optivisor. They are comfortable, easy to flip up and have quality lenses that are easier on your eyes.

http://www.doneganoptical.com/optivisor.php

timd wrote:

Synchro wrote:I use a nice OptiVISOR by Donegan Optical Company. When painting detail work, It is indispensable. It is actually made in the USA shockingly enough. You can swap out the magnifiers for different powers too. Very comfy and I can wear it for hours. Without it, my eye fatigue much faster.

If you can, go for the Optivisor. They are comfortable, easy to flip up and have quality lenses that are easier on your eyes.

http://www.doneganoptical.com/optivisor.php

this. I've been using one for a couple months now and it's really helped improve the quality of my detail work. I have near-perfect vision and still find this headset to be a godsend. it can be a bit of a crutch though, as once I got used to mine I started using it even when I wasn't painting details

before buying an optivisor, I used to use a lamp with a 3X magnifier built in. it was ok, but it was really hot to work near and depth perception was a real problem. I also tried out some reading glasses, but they were either shockingly expensive (same price as the optivisor or worse) or didn't provide good magnification unless I had the mini close to my face (I brought a model to the store with me and tried on a half-dozen pairs in different strengths). the optivisor's not cheap, but it's worth every penny.

I've tried borrowing one and found out you need to retrain to adjust your hand-to-eye coordination. Since I had experienced the trouble of retraining yourself with hand-eye coordination (digital painting: you need to constantly remind yourself that you don't need to look at the surface of the "paper" you're drawing on), I never really bothered with it.

I think it's very, very optional. You don't need it to be good at painting, although I can see some merit on how it can help.

Just to bring this full circle: I went out and bought an optivisor for about 30 US$. It sat on my desk for several paint sessions, then when I picked up some Rogue Trader space elves to attempt to flub (again...) the eyes, I remembered it.

It Was Amazing. My eyes are very good to start off with, but I had no problems with depth perception (OK, the first eye got a bit too much paint, but that was because I had too much on my brush!!) and I was very surprised at how steady I could hold my hand. I can paint eyes!!! I can do edging!! I'm very happy with my purchase except perhaps for one thing: I now paint more carefully, which means I paint slower... And I have scores of minis in the painting queue. Sigh!

I think because the Optivisor has good quality lenses, and is binocular (rather than a single glass like the "helping hands" thingies above), it was very easy for me to get used to.

So the long and the short of it is: I'm with y'all now. I highly recommend this for someone who's on the fence. I can't say how the cheaper models compare to the $30 Optivisor, but I love my new headset.

Thanks everyone for the advice.