page_title: Magnifying glass
section_title: Alternatives
hierarchical_section_title: Magnifying glass / Alternatives
caption_attribution_description: A type of magnifying glass known as loupe.
context_page_description: A magnifying glass is a convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle. A magnifying glass can be used to focus light, such as to concentrate the sun's radiation to create a hot spot at the focus for fire starting.
  A sheet magnifier consists of many very narrow concentric ring-shaped lenses, such that the combination acts as a single lens but is much thinner. This arrangement is known as a Fresnel lens.
  The magnifying glass is an icon of detective fiction, particularly that of Sherlock Holmes.
context_section_description: Magnifying glasses typically have low magnifying power: 2×–6×, with the lower-power types being much more common. At higher magnifications, the image quality of a simple magnifying glass becomes poor due to optical aberrations, particularly spherical aberration. When more magnification or a better image is required, other types of hand magnifier are typically used. A Coddington magnifier provides higher magnification with improved image quality. Even better images can be obtained with a multiple-lens magnifier, such as a Hastings triplet. High power magnifiers are sometimes mounted in a cylindrical or conical holder with no handle. This is called a loupe.
  Such magnifiers can reach up to about 30×, and at these magnifications the aperture of the magnifier becomes very small and it must be placed very close to both the object and the eye. For more convenient use or for magnification beyond about 30×, one must instead use a microscope.
caption: A 30× Hastings triplet magnifier
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