viewfinder/lcd

[Jim Stamos]

im seeing that using the lcd will be my main choice. the vf isnt that great. its going to be different, especially coming from having my eye glued on the vf on my dsr300, its so much easier to maneuver with the cam, panning/other moves on a tripod.
it will be an adjustment using the lcd instead.
maybe it will simulate the vf better using the hoodman loupe on the lcd that olof told me about.
input welcome

why couldnt they have made the vf better????

[Serena Steuart]

They have on the EXIR. Use the Hoodman loupe.

[Marty Welk]

i just got my hoodman Loupe in, and i am seriously thinking about sending it back.
EX1r

Cons
it is a kludge, but then i knew that
the weight is too high
its certannly "out of focus" (double image) around the edges, that totally sucks.
the eyepiece rubber eye cup is to hard, and doesn't conform to my eye hole, so getting my eye close is bad, and the closer i can get the better the "focus/viewing" problem is.
its just uncomfortable, great for a few minutes at a time, but i think i would really prefer the back thing even over the better color and res of the LCD.
it does not have places where it stops or conforms to the thing it is hooded over, so it can slide around a bit, that feels fidgity at first, it can be ignored, but it wont be.
The weight makes the LCD very close to not staying in the "detent" postition, AKA very easy to have the LCD moving.
the weight is more than nessisary to do the job, good way to accidentally break the swing arm on the lcd in a accident. the 2 way swing arm itself not being ideal .

pros
the kludge of adding the extra piece isnt as bad as i though it would be
The strap thing that holds it on is ok
it will focus like a real diopter, but the eye cup rotates too, so changing camera operators and them having to do a diopter adjust is a pain (2 hands not one at least).
A heavy glasses user had no problem Adjusting it for use without glasses, but he also didnt like it.
The price was ok, at least it wasnt $400, hey the price was great.
it does the job, given the choices and the price i would say it does it very well.


I made a lame prototype design using a single magnification lens , lightweight aluminum and form fitting, and its larger lens allows me to see better at more different angles, its distance away is less, and the weight is 1/3rd as much.
but i am not a machine shop, or a optician, or even wanting to do it, but from what i have seen it is Totally possible to have a lightweight, smaller closer optical thing there, with a much bigger lens, and that would blow the hoodkludge out the door.

so far i havent seen anything better than the hoodman loupe for the price without doing some self-design, or reducing the ammount of the screen you see and all that.
But i know for a fact that someone could make one many times better, even hoodman could make one 4 times better , just by making it FOR the device instead of kludging what they already had done.

am i saying dont buy it? well not as long as they have a return policy, you can make your own descision. For me there Has To be something better than this, if i have to do it myself.