Attaching the Hoodloupe

[Jon Fairhurst]

I received my pop up shade the other day. Removing the guts was easy enough. Next step: velcro.

Anyway, I found one minor flaw in the design. It covers the sensor for the LCD screen brightness. If you want to use the shade as designed, it could be a good idea to drill a hole in the thing, so light can reach the sensor. With the hoodloupe, it shouldn't matter.

[Steve Cahill]

Home Depot had the velcro

[Ray Bell]

Redrock micro now has the loop holder on their site... for those interested...

microFinder loupe accessory kit

[Glen Elliott]

Originally Posted by Ray Bell

Redrock micro now has the loop holder on their site... for those interested...

microFinder loupe accessory kit

Yep ordered mine today- along with some counter-balance weights. :)

[Jon Fairhurst]

I'll definitely be getting the RedRock piece.

When Brian Valente loaned me the Zoom H4n for the audio piece, he also loaned me some RedRock kit for the day. This included the plastic prototype of the microFinder.

It was great to finally be able to use the HoodLoupe without it sliding about. I never did hook it to my screen shade frame, as I just didn't want to muck it up with velcro and glue. The microFinder is a MUCH more professional solution.

The microFinder is especially good if you use a shoulder rig and have a monitor for tripods and other setups. Just leave the Loupe on full time. It's not quite as handy if you want to go from Loupe mode to still camera mode, as it's a bit cumbersome to mount, compared to how quickly your can move things around with the DSLR quick release (a seriously slick piece of gear.) It's not terrible to mount or anything, it's just that you're now holding three things rather than two while screwing your mount into the camera. And you want it to line up when you tighten it.

To mount it, you remove the eyecup from the HoodLoupe, put the microFinder and the o-ring on the HoodLoupe and replace the eyecup. Next, you attach it between the camera and your mounting plate. I recommend always leaving the microFinder on the HoodLoupe, if you can make room in your case, to quicken your setup and teardown.

With the prototype, the HoodLoupe didn't stay super-perfectly aligned, but it never came close to obscuring the screen, the way it does with rubber bands. The metal unit and o-ring should hold it tighter, and you'd be able to bend the metal to keep more tension on the unit.

The bottom line is that the microFinder just plain works and makes your camera setup look professional and feel solid.

If you use a HoodLoupe and have $55, it's a no-brainer.

[Ray Bell]

Jon, does the microfinder come with a seperate screw so you can mount it without having
to put the camera on rails or tripod??

[Jim Froom]

I keep an industrial roll of back Velcro around. Expensive, but usually lasts 2-4 years around my place. Stuff is strong. I once used it to mount equipment on a portable rack system when I didn't have anything to screw down. One time had to use a pry bar to separate a piece of gear from a metal shelf with two 6" pieces of this Velcro. It comes in 15' roll 2" wide.

I cut 2 pieces about 3/8" wide to match the width of the 5D LCD. I put the velcro on the top and bottom of the LCD about 4 1/2 months ago. Hoodloupe has been on and off hundreds of times. No problems. Once on, it stays on and in position.

About two months ago, I took the Velcro off, cleaned the LCD and camera frame, trimmed the Velcro a tad, and reinstalled the same Velcro. Still works fine. No marking on the LCD either.

The industrial Velcro has a much stickier/stronger adhesive than normal Velcro.

My bigger problem is the swinging hoodman from the end of the attached line off my strap when I'm not using the hoodloupe and the occasional need to refocus the ring.

My first roll of industrial velcro came from Home depot. 2nd came from Ebay.

Product Information Error Page

I keep reading all the various posts on the internet on how to attach the hoodloupe. My experience has been that it's a non issue. I can't imagine a better or easier solution to the Velcro. The black matches the camera so people don't even see it when the hoodloupe is not being used.

[Jon Fairhurst]

Originally Posted by Ray Bell

Jon, does the microfinder come with a seperate screw so you can mount it without having to put the camera on rails or tripod??

The microFinder has a hole in the bottom. It fits between the tripod plate and the camera. The only screw is the one from the plate.

[Wayne Avanson]

I have been using my hoodloup/lcd shade frame and iCuff for a few weeks now and have to say it's brilliant to be able to whip it off and on whenever the need arises which is usually does during a shoot.

yesterday for instance filming an interview, I was using the loup to get critical focus then taking it off to simply monitor framing while shooting.

That scenario would have been a pain if I had to keep unscrewing stuff.

I was filming some Roman Reenactors at the weekend and the number of photographers who came up to ask "what's that please?" about the hoodloup… hmm…

Avey

[Robert Esmonde]

Jim.

Can you say which part of the Velcro (hook/loop) went where and how you managed to attach the adhesive-backed Velcro to the HoodLoupe? I can't get the Velcro adhesive to 'take' to the rubber material of the HoodLoupe.

Thanks.

...

I cut 2 pieces about 3/8" wide to match the width of the 5D LCD. I put the velcro on the top and bottom of the LCD about 4 1/2 months ago. Hoodloupe has been on and off hundreds of times. No problems. Once on, it stays on and in position.

...

[Jim Newberry]

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst

The microFinder has a hole in the bottom. It fits between the tripod plate and the camera. The only screw is the one from the plate.

Could this be used on a regular tripod, without rails?

[Jon Fairhurst]

Originally Posted by Jim Newberry

Could this be used on a regular tripod, without rails?

It can be used on any rig. All you need is something that screws into the bottom of the camera to hold it on.

That said, I think that a loupe only really makes sense on a shoulder rig. For all other setups, I prefer direct view of the LCD screen or an LCD monitor.

[Bruce Foreman]

Budget not allowing the 5D MkII, I have the Canon T1i and the same viewing problems.

Tried the Hoodloupe 3.0 with the 12" rubber band and that does work, I experienced some slight sliding around but it was easy enough to move it back into place. The main problem was remembering how to stretch the rubber band around which part of the camera. And the "tacky" look of the RED rubber band (only color the 12 inch came in with the Office Depot package) made for something I didn't want to be seen with.

So I ordered the viewfinder assembly for the 5D MkII from CAVISION in Canada. They knew there were some differences in LCD position between the 5D MkII and the T1i so they modified it somewhat. A "riser" part to get the camera up a bit higher, and they called back to suggest that I go with a "swing away" attachment (good advice, BTW). Since this was designed for the 5D MkII even with the riser the hood fits a tad high on the camera and can obscure the bottom of the LCD where shutter, f stop, and battery status is displayed. Being able to swing the whole thing out of the way lets me see that data. This is not a problem for the 5D MkII. Price was $239 incl 2 day shipping.

The eyepiece is a 6X lens group, body construction similar to the Hoodloupe 3.0, and the view is great. Like the viewfinder on a much bigger video camera, image is big, bright, and clear!

I'm happy.

It's not quick attach or detach, does take a minute or two to put it on or take it off but when there's serious work to do I'm glad I have it. I do still carry and use the Hoodloupe but usually don't attach it with the rubber band although I keep a couple of those in the bag. I put the lanyard around my neck and when I need the hoodloupe just lift it up and hold it against the screen, the same way the Hoodloupe was designed to be used to check your still images.

Anyway, here's a couple images of the CAVISION viewfinder on my T1i.

[Zsolt Gordos]

Hi,

I have got a lot of ideas from people who posted here, thanks for that. I have made my own solution and apart from the Hoodlupe the rest cost peanuts.

Now I just let you all know what did I do and soon I will attach pics (no time today to fiddle with sizing).

ok, take

1 Hoodlupe
2 LCD hood with plastic frame (made in China, sold in eBay for a few bucks)
3 Loctite
4 I-Cuff (optional)

So the trick is in this Chinese LCD shade which comes with a frame to be attached to the original eyepiecer rails of the 5D (you must remove the eyepiece).

You have to remove all parts of the LCD shade (not an expensive stuff, so just throw them away), including the protective "glass". The only thing you keep is the frame. It comes with a button to activate LCD view mode on the 5D.

Then using Loctite just glue the Hoodlupe on the frame, press hard, wait a few hours, ready!

If you go for fancies you can spice it up with an I-Cuff for perfection. I laugh all the way to the Zacuto website... just saved like 400 bucks... how cool is that?

pics coming soon

[Wayne Avanson]

Exactly what I did Zsolt. Works a treat.

Avey