I'm not young anymore and many years of working in IT is starting to trash my close in vision.

I finally got my 100mm f3.5 zeiss tessar back from the repair shop so I went out to shoot my 2x3 graflex in the back yard to shoot a few shots at the flowers. The shop took a while but the shutter sounds nice and smooth at 1 second.

I'm not sure where I left my cheap loupe that I bought so I broke out the cellphone and used that to check focus on the ground-glass and it seemed to work out pretty good. I could use the magnification function on the phone and get the stamen of the flowers crisply in focus and even check at higher f-stops.

It still struggles with glare but it is one less thing to have to carry around and potentially misplace.

I've been known to sit my shoulder separator down and forget where I put it only to find it up to a few weeks later.

I'm not subservient to Alexander's nuisance device so I leave it on the desk.

I have to use 2.5 reading glasses. Reading glasses are designed to be in focus at 12 inches. I also have a pair of 3.0 reading glasses for really small stuff.
The reading glasses work well for focusing on the ground glass also and I usually have them in my pocket.

Yeah, someday when covid calms down a bit more, I'll get my eyes checked.
I'm somewhat afraid of going into a drugstore and trying the different reading glasses and then getting a pair which makes my vision worse. I think if I get my eyes checked and ask the optometrist what reading glasses would work.

as for my poorman's loupe, here some shots from that night, I finally got to develop the film and scan the negative with a dslr. I think it worked out pretty good.

a rose in my side yard. I had the bellows extended quite a bit to turn it into a macro. My first attempt at that style shot, I over exposed 2 stops because of the max extension. I'm not sure that is right?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cAYJz7fZQjSDnVmZ7

2nd shot - my discust with the lack of baseball - shot wide open at sunset
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jooitfYDRG2V6De98

stopped down some more
https://photos.app.goo.gl/x44ukBWTF2JCs4tU6

another photo from that session

a worn out peony bud. The negative had a lot of dust and scratches and probably a bit overexposed, I metered off the green leaves and may have blown out the white of the flower petals.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pJxHYWnYtAbeP65h6