CarsonCP-32 MagniFlash Aspheric Lens 9x LED Lighted Magnifier and Flashlight Combo , White

Great quality lens. Magnifying to a large size. If you have bad eyesight godsend. Not used the light yet imagine it could be handy, but it’s not for walking the dog so. Need to buy battery’s unfortunately I don’t have any yet.

I received this morning the device, it was immediately evident that it was a product already used and repacked in some way.If I find somewhere another similar lens and available immediately, I'll return it.

for my partially blind mum - works a treat

Excellent Lens. Great for checking sherds of pottery.

An excellent tool for mandar kinds o users!

I was on the lookout for a small handheld magnifier for reading part numbers on circuit boards, and general inspection, where a head-mounted magnifier might not be around, and a microscope or other large optical instrument isn't handy.I generally like Carson products, because they nearly all have aspheric lenses, which provide a much flatter image compared to old-school glass lenses.I first tried the Carson 11X MagniFlash and it was definitely not suitable for board inspection, because it needs to be held very close to the surface of the PCB, and connectors and other things would get in the way.So, I returned it, and tried the 7X MagniFlash. The 7X is much better; I can position it about an inch away from the board. Also, the depth of field is really good! I can read part markings on parts that are 4-5 mm raised, while at the same time reading the circuit board silkscreen. Very surprised at that.However, everything is not rosy, because although it is advertised as a magnifier, I can't get the stated performance (the manufacturer claims a flat image due to the lens aspheric property) without using it almost as a loupe (i.e. positioning the eye close to the magnifier). It's very strange. If I use it as a magnifier with the eye 30 cm away or more, then I get a clear image, but not edge-to-edge by any stretch. I see a clear image in only the central 33% of the lens. The rest is distorted. However, if I bring my eye to within about 10 cm of the lens, almost like a loupe, then I get a clear edge-to-edge image as shown in the photo. This was taken with my mobile phone, and I cannot keep everything aligned easily. The image looks better than this in real life, but the photo at least shows some of the edge-to-edge flatness and clarity to some degree. In real life, I can easily inspect tiny parts and artifacts spaced 0.5 mm apart for instance.Even using it at a distance, the 33% of flatness might be acceptable for some uses, because the lens is quite large anyway (1.5 inch diameter) compared to typical loupes.An excellent feature is the built-in LED which is important for me, because some loupes block out a lot of light. There's a second LED at the rear of the magnifier, for using as a torch! It produces a very focussed spot though - about 25 cm diameter if standing 2 metres away. I don't know how useful that is.Because the magnifier can be held an inch away from the item being inspected, and the eye doesn't need to be that close (1.2 to 2 inches seems optimum if using it as a loupe) it doesn't block out as much light as typical loupes either, so using it without the LED switched on seems fine in normal indoor lighting too, which is great.I do see the reflection of lights in the room in the lens, which is irritating, but it's not as extreme as some other magnifiers. Those reflections are less of an issue when your head is close to the magnifier.The MagniFlash comes with a cloth draw-string bag.In summary, it's not perfect, but has a fair amount going for it, at an OK-ish price (I think it's a bit overpriced, but everything is expensive nowadays - £32 in the UK). I'd rate it 7/10 : )If you want more image flatness at a greater eye distance, then consider the 5X MagniFlash, or alternatively, if you are OK with a smaller diameter, then the Carson SV-70 is an excellent choice (perhaps better than the MagniFlash, although the MagniFlash is better built).If you google "Seeing the Smaller Picture – Magnifiers Shoot-out" you'll see photos of a lot of the Carson magnifiers, along with some other manufacturer products. Generally the Carson products win out optically.