DIY Loupe/Finder for VDSLR

Ted Ramasola

Ted Ramasola

Veteran
This will hopefully save a lot of many for people like me thats cash strapped -and lives in "isolation". Give me a few minutes to organize and label construction photos.

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The DIY mattebox is on this link but i'll update it with details on the rail block/clamp.
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=140312
 
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Here are the construction pics. I didn't put so much info on the part's dimensions since i figured you'll find different brands with varying dimensions. I focused on the "build concept" so you can source out in your area similar parts and use whats available.

Have fun without spending much!

Ted

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Teddy this is excellent, I was just messin with a old game gear screen magnifier and looking to somehow hook this up to my D90. Then realized I have a ton of achromats, CUs, etc.. just laying around from my adapter days.

Awesome job
 
Assuming you got glue, pieces of tin and cutting tools already, this thing only set me back at LESS THAN $4 each. !! So heck, I made one for a friend who just got his 7D, one for my bro who's shootin a doc using a D90, and 2 for me.

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As usual, Ted, you are the man!

Just a suggestion on connecting it to the camera, the Zacuto one attaches via velcro I believe, which may make it more convenient for people who want to take it off once in a while. You may want to try putting a small piece of velcro around the end, as well as on the camera and see how it works out if the metal bracket becomes annoying to work with....
 
tbanucci said:
As usual, Ted, you are the man!

Just a suggestion on connecting it to the camera, the Zacuto one attaches via velcro I believe, which may make it more convenient for people who want to take it off once in a while. You may want to try putting a small piece of velcro around the end, as well as on the camera and see how it works out if the metal bracket becomes annoying to work with....
Click to expand...

Thanks,

regarding velcro, i had a long thought about that. In fact i'm testing it now. See that other base plate? It's longer cuz of some adjustments.
1. The nut holding the loupe to the plate could get in the way of some quick release plate.
2. I want to place the velcros ON the base plate and NOT onto the camera, i hate adhesive residue on my camera.

My first hesitation on velcros is, sometimes we/or someone might accidentally grab on this finder thinking its rigidly attached to the cam, thus dropping the cam on the ground.

I'll make a version for tests.

So far as results go, my other camera men used to shooting conventional shoulder mount cameras and slrs love the "huge" view.

Ted
 
My bro came in for a holiday and tried the diy finder on his D90. He liked it so much he took it with him after his vacation, so now I had to make another for my 7D.

Since Christmas is approaching I decided to make a couple extra as advance Christmas treats to a couple of friends. -seriously I also want them to try it out to confirm that there is a cost effective way to have a finder for our VDSLRs.

Ted

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I am absolutely in awe of your DIY posts: brilliantly clear construction photos and well-thought out, refined concepts. Really a lot of fun to read.

I think that your base plate to the tripod socket solution is brilliant, especially since so many of us are using quick release plates already. Wanted to mention to you though that I shot with some folks this summer who were using a modified 5D and loupe that was attached with elastics: the elastic straps (think, woman's hair elasic) went around the front of the camera, there were two of them. No residue. Worked well, but your system is more elegant.
 
Hey teddybear

Can I find out what brand of loupe this is and the size of it.

Went to pick one up, but when I was looking for it I noticed that you get heavy distortion with the magnify glass lens, around the edge.

Or is this really not an issue once you put it in the tube.

Great set of DIY post by the way.
 
The glass of the loupe is at 2.5 inch in diameter. i tried a smaller one but you get distortion at the edge. This size at approx 3 inches from the lcd and your eye at a lil more than an inch away from the glass is distortion free.

Ted
 
I've been using one of these for the past week and I have to say, I could not be happier. I don't think I can imagine shooting without one now. I'll be using it again tomorrow and it's great. I do not have experience with the LCDvf or Z-Finder, but I do have to say...for my purposes (a point of contact and focus aide), it does the job very nicely.

Thanks again for all your help Ted!

Kegan
 
Word of warning: be careful out in the sun. Always cover the lens element over, it can take less than 2 minutes to get a burn on the LCD. This can happen with even the Z-finder, as another user found out recently. As the opening of your eyepiece is so large, might be good to carry a little blackcloth with you, even for when setting it down on a table. Or if you are really DIY, making a little eye patch...

Just my 2 cents...
 
Thanks for the heads up on that yoclay! Yeah, it'll burn right through.

Kegan! Glad you liked it!
If you can find a similar material on the plate that attaches it to the camera, tell me so I can send you a new pattern. Its just a thin sheet of metal with rubber glued onto it.

I modified mine so the hole of the plate that the finder's bolt goes through is a continuous cut all the way to rear. This way, you don't have to un-thread the wing nut all the way off to remove the finder, but rather just loosen it so you can conveniently pull it backwards to get it off quickly.
 
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