Featured Stanhope watch fob USS Massachusetts

Do you know how difficult it is to photograph a Stanhope image?

This watch fob in the shape of an anchor and telescope contains a Stanhope photo of the USS Massachusetts, probably taken around the turn of the last century. Gold plated, with a good bit of wear. You can see from the photos how small it is, and with the tiny little peephole you have to peer through, it must be held terribly close to your eye.
This was a flea-market find back in the 1980's, and if I remember, the seller had no idea there was a picture inside.

Massachusetts was scuttled off Pensacola in 1921, and is now a dive site and artificial reef.





This was the best photo I was able to get. If you use your imagination, you can almost make out the outline of the ship...





Who else has Stanhopes? Any tips on photographing them?

 

I can see it in the first one, or part of it anyway. I've taken a crack at it, but you need to be adept at shooting through a loupe, preferably a 20x or 40x. It also requires something to hold the stanhope.

 

Or you can find the same photograph online, use it in your listing and disclose the fact in your write-up, if resale is your intention. It is likely a published photograph to be found elsewhere.

Debora

 

I tried a couple of different lighting angles, but damned autofocus kept shifting. I'm going to try again without the AF setting. Thanks for the hint about a loupe!

 

As is so often the case here, I had no idea such a thing existed, and I think it’s really cool !

 

New to me, too, how fascinating!
Apparently, the photo is actually referred to as a microphotograph, and the Stanhope is the lens through which it is viewed.
Now I have to find me one...

 

If you are an iphone user, you can tap the back of the phone 3x rapidly and it will bring up the magnifier app. I use it a lot to zoom in on marks etc and do a screen shot or use the shutter button.

 

Neat !!!!!! stanhope !

 

Love it! I don't have a Stanhope, and can imagine how difficult it would be to take a photo of the image.