Is the viewfinder of the S270 detachable? I know I read somewhere that it is hardwired but I can't remember where. I hope it's detachable, it would make it easier to put in a case.

I have just bought a Sony HVR S270E and I can confirm that it can be removed. A wire comes out of the side and into a socket on the camera. The physical arrangement is similar to my old DSR 570 and even though I havent actually taken it off the camera body I am sure it can be removed. Actually the eyepiece colour viewfinder isnt too hot to be honest, the LCD panel screen isnt too bad but I do miss the sharpness of the 570's tubed black and white eyepiece which had a much bigger screen before magnification. The down side is that it used to use more power, so now with my new camera I dont need to swop batteries as much.
I have done one small job with it so far and another is due next Saturday.

Hi Barry,

Thanks for the info. I was hoping to hear that it was detachable. Here is a link to the review where a B&H customer wrote it was not detachable. Its under the "Issues that bothered me the most:" section in first review.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=532570&is=REG&si=rev#anchorToReadReviews

OK now you have me interested. I will go and try and remove it now!! Give me five minutes.

What a surprise! It can be physically removed by unscrewing one retaining screw. But the cable appears not to go into a socket but is fed directly into the camera sealed with a plastic surround. So you are right it doesn't come off. Sorry for the bad information. I just assumed that it would be easy to remove especially as the connection into the camera is where the socket used to be on my old camera. I presume then if you have a problem with the viewfinder that its a back to Sony repair. I cant understand why they have done this.
It is possible from a transport point of view to position the viewfinder down the side of the lens but obviously from your point of view that is not ideal as it would need some sort of padding.
Sorry again to mislead you, its not something that is important to me as I carry the camera in a soft bag ready for use.
Let me know if you need any more information.