Not only am I familiar with it, I mentioned in Post #51 above that I own one and that it does NOT work. It is too short for the F3.

Doug,

Not having seen an F3 yet I'm, having trouble understanding what you mean by the hoodman being "too short" for the F3.
Is it too short to use in a comfortable way with some kind of shoulder brace, or does the camera bang into your shoulder when you try to put your head to the eyepeice?

Or is it a different issue entirely that the hoodman doesn't cover the full screen of the F3 because its perhaps larger than the EX-1 screen?

Do you have any doubt that it would be easy for hoodman to come up with a solutiion?

Lenny Levy

Leonard,


It's been about six weeks since I tried my Hoodman Loupe on an F3, so it is difficult to remember the all the reasons why it didn't work, but the main problem is that the LCD on the F3 sits too low. Compare the design of the F3 to the EX1. Where is the LCD located? Notice that the LCD on an EX1 sits relatively high up on the camera, thus making it easy to rest the camera on your shoulder and still have the LCD/Loupe postioned right in front of your eye.

On the F3, the LCD is positioned much lower on the body. So if you put your eye up against the LCD/Loupe then you've got several inches of empty space between the bottom of the camera and your shoulder. Or, if you rest the camera on your shoulder, then it is almost impossible to look through the Loupe. I suppose you could add a several-inches thick shoulder pad to the F3 to raise it up higher, but then you will have raised the center of gravity too high and the camera would be very awkward to operate. Also, since the LCD doesn't extend very far from the camera body, you really have to crunch your head up agains the side of the camera to even see through the Loupe. Bottom line is that it's not something I would ever want to use.

To answer your other two questions:

Yes, the Hoodman Loupe does cover the LCD because it's the same LCD as on the EX1/EX1R.

Yes, I'm certain Hoodman, Zacuto, RedRock, and others will have many accessories that solve most of the F3's shortcomings.

F3/EX3 viewfinder ...
 

Was thinking of taking my EX3 viewfinder down to a shop with the F3 on display and see how that worked.
Perhaps, tomorrow would be a good day for that.

Cineroid | Hot Rod Cameras

At least for framing, this seems like a good investment. You can position it anywhere you like with a Noga arm. Not the Highest resolution monitor ever made, but its an eye piece, and can go where ever you need to balance the camera.