Color viewer III

[cementary]

Do anyone have Color Viewer III from betascreen?
We've thinkin' on buying one for pressmen. If you have one or have an experience using it could you share your opinion on that device?

 

[gordo]

Do anyone have Color Viewer III from betascreen?
We've thinkin' on buying one for pressmen. If you have one or have an experience using it could you share your opinion on that device?

I have the Betascreen 2 (with two lenses). The only difference between it and the Betascreen 3 that you're looking at is that the 3 has a different way of selecting the viewing filters and the 3 has a blacklight which the 2 doesn't have. So, really the functional difference is the blacklight in the 3.

Mine is on the right in this photo (the 3 is on the left):



IMHO, it is a very expensive loupe for use by a pressman considering its features. (Larry Goldberg is going to kill me for this)

First the UV light. UV light is used to check for fluorescence - the presence of optical brightening agents in the substrate and/or the press ink. Dealing with that issue is, IMHO, the roll of prepress. By the time it hits the pressroom it's way too late. To visually check OBAs between proofing paper and press paper you can use a very inexpensive blacklight like this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/uv-led-pen-c...0AAOSw91NTvHsC

Every prepress office should have one, or similar version, of these.

The blue filter/LED for viewing the Yellow printer is very useful. That being said, problems with the Yellow printer are usually not as much of an issue at press compared with the other process colors - just because the Yellow is so light.

Personally I would get a 15x Achromatic Folding Loupe like the AFL-15 here: http://www.magnifier.com/printers_loupes.htm

And I'd get - for prepress (not the press room)- a USB microscope like this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20X-800X-8LE...0AAOSwgyxWUvTW

This can be used to really examine the halftones in the press work and document any issues which can then be shared with technical support. It captures images like this:



Doubling!

If you're interested in buying my Betascreen 2 (with two lenses) at a very reasonable price please contact me at pritchardgordon @ gmail (dot) com

 

[cementary]

Thank you, gordo! I'd call this "absolute answer" if you don't mind.
I had same thoughts about "very expensive loupe", but kept a hope that maybe there is something very unic with this device.
Already ordered microscope (we've got one but with low resolution and x200 only).

 

[gordo]

Thank you, gordo! I'd call this "absolute answer" if you don't mind.
I had same thoughts about "very expensive loupe", but kept a hope that maybe there is something very unic with this device.
Already ordered microscope (we've got one but with low resolution and x200 only).

An associate of mine bought one but didn't realize that you had to turn the focussing wheely thing completely in order to get to the second magnification. I.e. bring it into focus with the wheely thing and get one magnification (say 200x) then turn it around a few times t get the second magnification (e.g. 20x).

A few things things that make some loupes more expensive than the typical 10x loupe found at many print shops:
1 - flat field of view - center to edge of view is equally sharp
2 - reduced or no chromatic aberration by using multiple lenses in the housing
3 - longer eye relief so the press operator's nose doesn't smudge the ink

PS, Dang, I think I blew the sale! LOL