Optivisor or "Head Magnifier"

Depending on whose 'Optivisor' brand you buy you will find that your magnification options are similar with what you have.  You will still have to chase the focus sweet spot. 

I had an optivisor (brand?) which I discarded in favor of one of your head magnifier clones.  Found it to be lighter with the onboard light source.  The sides on the optivisor tended to block peripheral vision and led to an overall darkness in the field of view.   Still needed a good off board light source 

I used -- and loved -- my discount-warehouse Optivisor knockoff for years. Then...purely on a whim...I bought a (cheap) pair of 2.5x reader glasses at the drugstore, and never looked back. No more 'tunnel vision' effect...which, to be honest, I had never really realized had bothered me until it was gone. My workspaces are well-lit, so I had only used the built-in light rarely anyway; but the advantage of having real-world all-around illumination and vision again made the model work that much more pleasant.

BTW, I had accidentally (or at least without consciously thinking about it) picked the readers the same way I intentionally do sunglasses -- with the largest lens size available. (Okay, maybe not 'Elton John' size...but you get the idea.) Larger vision field, less distortion, all good.

I've still got the faux Optivisor for the occasional watch battery change, tiny object repair or -- I kid you not -- threading sewing needles...but the glasses work so much better for (at least my own) modeling needs it was no real contest.

Cheers

Jsizemo

So I have one of these "Head Magnifier" and it seems to work for me but did not know if an Optivisor has some more benfits? Thanks 

You'll just have to try it for yourself to decide, really. Everyone will have a preference, and there's no real inherent advantage of the one type over the other.

I have both.  I have a knock-off visor that I got at a show years ago.  I like it fine, though it's not as well-made as the original Donegal OptiVisor.  The springs that held the flip-down lenses in place wore out, and I wound up removing that lens.  Same goes for the attachment for the loupe on the right eye.  It's soft plastic, and the loupe pivots on a metal screw, which wore the plastic. I'll eventually need to replace it, and I'll buy the genuine OptiVisor.  I'll get it with inbuilt lighting, too.

I did buy the eyeglasses-style magnifier like the one at your Amazon link.  I don't like it, because I don't like the weight of it on the bridge of my nose.  Some have said, "Oh, well, I wear glasses, and it's just like that." But it isn't.  You have the weight of the batteries and light in the body of the visor, and that is heavier than the normal pair of glasses.  So, I don't use that visor, and one of these days, I'll remember to take it to a club meeting and sell it for whatever I can get.  With the five or six lenses, the range of magnification is about the same as an OptiVisor.

And someone mentioned cheap reading glasses. I use a pair of those, too.  I get mine at my local Rite Aid, but you can probably find them at supermarkets and elsewhere. They're perfect, and I also use them for reading now (really should get my eyes checked), except for one thing.  They're one-size-fits-all, and my noggin is probably a little bigger than the manufacturer expected.  I've gone through two pairs where the frame has eventually cracked from expanding and flexing.  But for eight or nine bucks, it's no big deal just to buy another pair.  If you get a pair of cheaters, I do recommend springing for a glasses case, too. I found it made it much easier to carry them with me with a little sleeve for them.  That, too, was inexpensive.

For getting "really, reeally" close up (like an inch or two) check these (6.0) out.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LYQGG5E/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_10?smid=A1SNA04RMMC2A0&th=1

             When the going gets tough, these will get you going.

                                                 Worth every penny.

I use various magnification levels of readers as well.  You can also get different magnification levels of clip-on glasses so you can instantly boost your magnification without having to get up from the bench or fumble for another set just to do that one task.  For a light source?  Nothing better than a nice, bright LED headlamp.  Puts the light right where its needed, and you don't have to mess with repositioning a lamp on your bench.  Where you're looking, is where the light goes naturally.  

Hi!

      In spite of the overall dislike of Glasses, I have tried different of magnifiers that are supposed to be no harder to wear than Glasses. I also have an "Optivisor". Well there comes along a great device that's even better. It's probably one of the best tools I have acquired items for this. It was found at a garage sale!. An Old Magnifying Glass!(and I mean Glass) probably about seven inches across.

      Attached to it were two other lenses, each almost four inches across. Fine brass fittings. One lens doubled the ability to see detail and the other tripled it! Turns out the sellers Great-Grandpa was a Gunsmith-Engraver of some note in his hometown in some western state. She couldn't remember which, She did state he did do a twelve year stint in the Army working on their Rifle optics. Who Knows? I know these work for me.

      They are not round. Each lens is a Rectangle in shape. So they cover a fair area without the distortion often found with Knock offs. I can't make out all the name on them Clearly, but I can tell you they are old and well made Austrian or German.