Reference number: Item No 428 clamp magnifier
Review by Bill Curtis
What’s this lamp-magnifier like?
I saw this at a friend’s house and I have to say that up till now I had not been a fan of this type of magnifier due to the size of the lens which made perspective a problem. By that I mean that when painting the brush suddenly appeared too close or even hitting the model. No such problem with this unit as the aspheric lens is 7.5” x 6.2” with a 2 times magnification which gives a great view with no distortion and one does not lose perspective – especially useful when painting figures.
The lens head assembly comes with a protective cover that is raised when you want to use the magnifier and has on its underside a circle of 71 daylight LED’s. This is mounted open, a sturdy arm assembly and has a knob for fixing the head in a multitude of positions. The arm assembly is sprung like an angle poise light but with no visible springs and has a reach of 37”. Construction is very robust. There are three options for this type of light being a table clamp, free standing table and a floor stand.
See photographs for the visual layout.
Conclusions
I have only used it as a trial up to press as I have had to reorganise the model bench to take it. I have put various pieces under the magnifier and found it to work exceptionally well and with age comes the need for some serious optical devices. This fits the bill very well being well made with a large lens that offers a lot less distortion that a standard one. I am glad I bought one as I am sure this will become invaluable for small assembly jobs, painting eyes and faces on figures and numerous small jobs where light and magnification are needed.
At the time of writing this is the company website address, www.craftlights.co.uk.
Bill C.