Visible Dust BriteVue Sensor Loupe 7X

by VisibleDust

Product Details

• Item Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B00127ZT74
• Item model number: VISBVD3599839
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 28, 2005

Product Description

The Brite Vue Quasar 7X Sensor Loupe is a product that is specifically made to examine the ensor of a DSLR with a new higher magnification of 7x, versus the original Sensor Loupe which has a magnification of 5x. Dust is an inherent problem when it comes to DSLR's and poses many problems for any photographer. Image quality is degraded and many hours of editing must be carried out to retouch any pictures with expensive digital imaging software. Also it takes a lengthy process to determine if the sensor is actually dirty, taking test shots and examining them once again with expensive digital imaging software. This may not be practical when a photographer is out in the field. Developed within the VisibleDust research lab the Sensor Loupe is specifically tailor-made for examining the sensor of a DSLR. The new Sensor Loupe 7x has a higher magnification and more in depth view for checking the DSLR chamber and sensor. Because of its awkward location, deep with the camera chamber, illuminating the senor is rather difficult and direct light may obfuscate dust by blending it against the sensor. With the unique BriteVue XL lighting system (patent pending) and specially configured array of 6 vivid LEDs and high resolution lens, the Sensor Loupe 7x brings forward the debris in a three dimensional spectacle with a new higher magnification. The Sensor Loupe was designed to help photographers spend more time taking pictures and less time editing images and cleaning

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful tool to detect sensor dust., February 29, 2008

By 

Nicolaas Traut "Nick the Noob" (Qatar) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This unit is ok, but I have seen better. It does the job and the 7x magnification is great, however, I'm not sure if the sensor is 100% in focus (and it is not adjustable). It is also not an entirely tight fit on my D200. The LED's are very bright and really lights up the sensor very nicely to all corners. Any dust lights up really well and there is no guessing exactly where to clean the sensor.

The packaging is impressive with a good quality zipper bag and a soft pouch that can double up as cleaning cloth. Mine also came with a battery.

My main gripe with this unit is the fact that it picks up dust or fluff and you have to spend ages first cleaning it before it can be used. I have not once been able to clean it entirely - there are always little bits of dust left behind - magnified by itself and nicely lit also... This is not major, as you can just move the unit and if the dust that you see also move, you know it is on the unit and not the sensor. It is still a pain though and preventing an otherwise nice tool from getting 5 stars.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful for what it is, a little pricy for the material though, September 9, 2008

By 

Luving it (Seaside, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Pro:
- great idea, well designed, whole chamber in Canon 350D and 40D are lit up like nothing I've seem before. Great help in cleaning the sensor. (Much to my disappointment, the auto-cleaning mechanism only sounds good on paper for my 40D. I used 2 different brand new 40D out of box. Both got very visible dust within a week! This device saved me countless blue-sky shots during cleaning.

Neutral:

- made of so so material (for the price and for the purpose it serves, it's good enough though). The light switch is not smooth but functional. The plastic is far from great quality. This loupe doesn't fit "inside" the camera chamber as I thought it would. Instead it sits ontop of the lens hole. So I am free to move the loupe about to differentiate the dust on the loupe itself vs the dust on the sensor. Don't think it's difficult to tell at all. The focus is more than good enough to see all the dust.

Con:

- too many cute little things in the package: a strap, a belt lock, a nice little soft bag plus a faux leather zippered carrying bag and a piece of cleaning cloth. I would much prefer this thing made of better quality plastic instead. I tried to use it to examining my negatives without much success - the glass is not of high clarity. Using my 50mm/F1.4 in reverse gives me far better detail. So IMHO, this device is only good for the purpose it's designed for, not a do-it-all loupe as somewhere else suggested on the web.

Bottom line - great for what it is but not much more. At $90, it's not exactly cheap. But for all the DSLRs out there today, dust spot is a nuisance you can't avoid. And this device is a heaven-send! This really serves a vital function. For myself, it cuts my cleaning time to maybe 1/10th, leaving all the guess work behind! (A side note, I used to hate the dust spots on DSLRs, then I realized this is nothing comparing to touch up old film negatives of their wear-and-tear. So life is good after all)

P.S.
The on/off switch works funny now only after 1 hour use - it doesn't turn on the light at on position, only when I press on the switch area does the light turns on. Move my finger away, the light goes off. The ON button did turn on the lights and stay on initially. Then it stopped doing that. I tried a few tricks, no improvement. The touch-and-hold-to-switch-on button still works fine for me. But it raise the question about its longevity. Guess in the camera accessory world, $89 is considered cheap? Just hope I'll find a better production to replace this one when the day comes. If I can change the rating, I'll give it a 4 stars instead 5 for its questionable overall quality.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time Saver, November 12, 2008

By 

Prairie Hawk - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visible Dust BriteVue Sensor Loupe 7X (Electronics)

I've had good results using this loupe for sensor cleaning. The lights really do highlight the specks of whatever on your camera's sensor.

It is not designed to fit tightly to your camera body like some other sensor loupes do. In fact, it works better because you can slide it around which sometimes makes tiny specks show up better as the lighting angle changes.

Comes with a nice storage case and microfiber cloth to clean the loupe lens. Yes, it will collect dust as most plastics do, but if you have a good air cleaner like the Giottos AA1900 Large Rocket Blaster and the cloth, it's quick to clean before use.

Yes, it's expensive, like most camera accessories. This loupe's not vital to a good sensor cleaning, but it makes the job go much quicker and probably with better results. Depends on how much time to want to spend cleaning your sensor, I guess.

I use this loupe with the Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly Brite 724 Kit and the aformentioned Giottos AA1900 Large Rocket Blaster. Sensor cleaning is quick and effective with these tools, but they won't clean off EVERY type of dust particle. Pollen grains often stick harder than other types, for example.

Wet cleaning would be the next step with sticky particles and because there is a possiblity of leaving streaks or even scratching the sensor coating, it should not be taken lightly. Fortunately, wet cleaning isn't needed as often for most shooters.