iPhone photos "Through The Loupe" - check this out!

So I got this idea of trying to take a photo with my iPhone through a pocket loupe I have. Well, the image turned out kind of interesting, so I´m going to try to take some more photos the same way and post them here.

It will be a kind of photo project using just the iPhone 5s and a 10x pocket loupe. Not very high technical quality of the images but that´s the charm of it. 

This is the loupe I use:

Pocket loupe (10x) - iPhone 5s, some cropping

And here is the picture that got me started:

Jeans Through The Loupe - iPhone 5s + 10x loupe, cropped

Closeup of iPhone magnetic case:

iPhone magnetic case, camera lens opening - iPhone 5s + 10x loupe, cropped

Closeup of some crud that the factory included on a Linocell Extreme Glass screen protector:

Wife´s iPhone screen - iPhone 5s + 10x loupe, cropped

More pics coming!

Linocell Elite Extreme Glass Screen protector - it works! ...and their quality control doesn´t?

I got tired of bubbly, scratched up plastic screen protectors on my iPhone, so when I got my new iPhone 5s I decided to try a glass one. It´s more expensive so hesitated a bit - after all the Linocell Extreme Glass screen protector is like 20 times the price of the cheaper plastic films.

But I bought one and put it on. One thing I noticed was that it was easy to get a perfect result. Included in the package is a piece of sticky film that you use to remove dust from the screen before you put the glass on. If you have a light colored surface in front of you and look at your phone at an angle its easy to see every speck of dust on the screen. Once the screen is as clean as possible you drop the glass in place and watch as it adheres to the screen.

Take care to line the glass up well. A tip is to center the home button and while holding the top end up a few mm away from the screen, press and bend the glass gently so it sticks around the home button. Then, while maintaining pressure around the button hole, align the top edges and let that end go so it gently snaps down against the screen. It can be a bit fiddly to move the top end sideways as you probably have to release the bottom end a bit. You´ll get there!

A tip is to do this in the bathroom after somebody has taken a shower as that cleans the air. And if the floor is wet that also lowers the amount of dust in the air. Fluffing around a towel does not. Its a balance...



Back to the reason I write this:

Busted screen? Nope, busted Linocell Glass! - iPad mini, some cropping

I fumbled and dropped my phone and, of course mr Murphy, it landed face down on the ground. And the asphalt was covered with coarse sand left from the winter season. Nice point impact.

I guess the saying is true, "The value of an item can be very different from the price paid for it"! In my case a 20-dollar screen protector saved my iPhone screen. 

However. After dropping my phone I bought two Linocell Extreme protectors, one for me and one for the wife, and the wifes one had this included:

Not so neat looking huh? - iPhone 5s, some cropping and adjusting 

And this is what it looks like through the loupe:

A grain of sand? - iPhone 5s + 10x loupe, cropped

Looking real close it looks like a small grain of something found its way between the glass and the adhesive film. Oh btw, they advertise this screen protector as 0.26mm thick, but that is just the glass. Add the adhesive film and you get 0,40mm instead. Not much difference but worth mentioning.

Here´s the great part: I contacted the vendor by email and they promptly sent me a new one free of charge. Thats the way costumer support is supposed to work! I bought these at Kjell & Company (in Swedish). In all situations like this it helps to take pictures and include them in the email. It makes things easier for the costumer support and it helps you get help faster.

The sum of it all: I´m real happy about this screen protector. Being glass it feels just like the original screen, and it doesn´t scratch as easily as plastic films. And since it has already saved me a screen swap, I´d say its earned its keep!



Update november 2015: I´ve bought several glass screen protector since this post was written. I´ve found them for as little as $8 sold under differet names. But the product seems so similar it makes me think they are all made in the same factory in China...

I´ve dropped my iPhone three times now breaking the screen protector. I actually had my iPhone 5s replaced since I dropped it into my ultrasonic cleaner while filming a clip for Youtube. Ooops! Luckily enough insurance covered most of the cost.



"The value of an item can be very different from the price paid for it". Word!

How close is close enough? / Digital calipers.

Just how tight tolerances do you really need? In a home shop environment making one-offs, with time spent not being a concern, you can fiddle as much as you want. When you are making parts for profit - not so. And in a jobber type shop where you are making repairs or replacement parts, you have to decide just how close you need to be.


Is the part for a tractor? Harvester? High end motorbike? Porsche 911? Granddads old something?


I have the feeling that people sometimes get carried away since its so easy to throw numbers around. The guy that asks for spot on probably doesn't know just how much, or little, a thousand of an inch is.

The hairs on my head typically measure just over two thousands.


Now that the price of digital calipers is so low, the same guy probably has them and thinks he is measuring to 0,0005". Oh yeah and the inside measurement must be what the calipers say, right?
Tell me, who pressed the "zero"-button the last time? Is zero really zero?


You can probably see how easy it is to misunderstand or miscommunicate. Your calipers and mine probably wont agree, and your way of measuring will probably differ from mine. Thats why we calibrate measuring equipment:

Checking micrometer calibration - Nikon D200, AF-s VR 18-200, on-camera flash, +something 

A quick check of the digital calipers is to measure some calibrating rods for outside micrometers. You might be surprised, not necessarily in a bad way. My Limit digitals are within +- 0,0005" with some care. Would I use them where +- 0,0005" matters? No way!


There are times when you really may want to be within a few tenths. Bearing seats can be such a time. The tolerance on high precision bearings can be just a few tenths of a thousand inch. But be aware that when we get down to these levels surface finish and temperature really matters. Shrink fits are an other example where thousands matters - miss with a few and your fit is gone. Thats why we have Loctite products heh heh.


There is no sense in trying to hit a diameter to a few tenths if you have a surface that's rough. You also have to know what you are measuring. Are you measuring just one peak, the average or the lows on the surface finish? Perhaps you have to grind the surface if the tolerance is going to be meaningful.
Roundness also comes into play, it it silly to try to hit a tenth if you aren´t truly round.


So how close is close enough? Most of the time the customer can provide you tolerances. If they seem fair, go for them. If he doesn't seem to have a clue, ask if "close as a hair is enough". Or look up a tolerance chart, and use the appropriate tolerance for the parts intended use.

Thats a hair, 0.05mm. Lines are 0.50mm apart - iPhone 5s, pocket loupe (10x) 

Chanses are you'll save some time and frustration, and spend a more reasonable amount of your customers hard earned cash, by working close only where it's needed. And you'll probably see more of him when he understands you're not trying to rip him off but instead provide quality work.