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Appreciation post: my $8 jewelers loupe beat my $60 clip-on macro lens for checking leaf trichomes
I got into botany through houseplants about 4 years ago and started getting really into IDing stuff by texture, so last spring I bought one of those clip-on macro lenses for my phone. It was $60 and the focus was a nightmare, plus half my shots came out blurry since the depth of field is razor thin. Then a guy at the plant swap in Portland handed me a cheap plastic jewelers loupe he had in his pocket and told me to just hold it against my phone camera. Suddenly I could see individual trichomes on my African violets clear as day, and the whole thing cost $8. I have used that loupe on every new plant I bring home since, and my clip-on lens has been sitting in a drawer for 6 months. Am I the only one who thinks magnification for plant ID does not need to be expensive, or is there a better cheap setup people swear by?
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the_emma1d ago
It's funny how often the cheap thing wins just because it's simple enough that you actually use it. My kitchen is full of fancy gadgets I touched twice and a $3 knife that does everything.
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