Magnifying Glass

[Nemo]

Have read somewhere that there are special magnifying glasses for underwater!! Having a little trouble focusing on those little Pygmy Seahorses!! Yes, I have goggles with corrective lenses but I really don't like wearing them!! Anyone have or has heard of U/W magnifying glasses???

[agstreet]

Sure, they're called macro lenses on UW cameras :-) They work great!

[Uncle Pug]

I know a fella was making them on the eastside... of the Atlanic... but the price was up there.

The problem with just taking a regular magnifying glass on a dive is that the refractive index of glass and water is so close that you don't get much in the way of magnification... you need an airspace in there.

Now if you siliconed a piece of flat glass on each side of your magnifier trapping some air in there you might be able to make your own.

[squiddly]

If anyone is still looking, give aspheric magnifying glasses a try. They are curved so supposedly there is no distortion. Yes, they are expensive.

[Rev. Blade]

One of the posters in the Roatan forum (I think it's Doc Roatan) is a strong advocate of using a 10x magnafying lens (as can be found at most swap meets or flea markets). As Uncle Pug mentioned, the refractive index of water is quite different from air. I understand that a plastic lens will not magnify without the airspace on each side of the lens. I have read that a glass lens with 10x in air, will net a bit under 3x in water. I haven't tried it while diving yet.

There are some that are marketed specifically for SCUBA, but they can run toward $100. A 10x magnifying glass can be had for $2 or so.

[do it easy]

I've never tried this one but I do have the Sensus Ultra!

ReefNet Inc. | SubSee Magnifier (http://reefnet.ca/products/subsee/)

[driftwood]

What works great for me is a Carson magnifying glass. 100% plastic and 2"x2" that stores in it's plastic cover. They can be a pain to find locally but if you google them you will get some hits. Cost me about $4. You really don't need anything special for underwater.

[Katgo]

I bought one before going to Indonesia. It is expensive at $75 dollars, but it has no distortion under water and is very bright! I could see the seahorses' tiny eyes with the Subsee. ReefNet can fit these to camera lenses, so it is a high quality optic lens. By comparison, cheap plastic distorts under water. I have a pretty high eyeglass RX, and my contacts did not correct my near vision, so this worked fantastically. ReefNet also makes my favorite noisemaker, the H2Yo. Check them out!