Serious question, who still uses a loupe to check shutter curtains?

I used to spend 20 minutes with a 10x loupe on every old SLR, squinting for pinholes. After a Nikon F2 came back with a light leak I missed, I bought a cheap LED panel from a local shop for $40. Now I just pop the lens off, hold the camera over the light, and any fault shows up in seconds. It's faster and way more reliable. Anyone else switched to this method or am I just lazy?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryanm602mo ago

That's the move right there. I grabbed a cheap tracing light box from an art store, works the same. Loupes are fine for checking curtain timing, but for actual light leaks, a bright panel behind the shutter is foolproof.

jamie_webb672mo ago

Honestly, you still need a loupe for curtain timing though.

blair_nguyen2mo ago

So you and @ryanm60 just hold it up to any bright light, or does it have to be a specific kind of panel to really work?