Abstract: A image magnifier for the vision impaired which magnifies the image of face up source material (13) placed in the visual field of the camera (15) and displays the magnified image on a display (20). One embodiment includes a static high-resolution image mode and a second live video mode. The controller (29) provides different lighting appropriate for each mode. In a further embodiment the magnifier is transportable. Each part (17, 14, 16) is hinged (18, 19) to the other parts (17, 14, 16) allowing it to be folded into a compact lightweight form to be portably carried. In a still further embodiment the magnifier includes shielding for the lighting to minimise or avoid specular reflections.