New Sony Eyepiece Loupe CBKMH01

R

Ryman

Well-known member
Just received an email from my Sony rep this morning;

CBKMH01 PMW-F3 eyepiece:



VF2.jpg
 
Wow, cool.. To bad the screen and now eyepiece are still to far back for proper balanced hand held shooting. Nice option though.
 
Glad to see Sony listening, makes me confident that the F3r or F5 or whatever they do next will be incredible. But... I've already got the Allstar shouldermount to put the camera properly on the shoulder, so the TV logic will be a much more practical EVF choice.
 
Hello everyone, I'm still floundering around trying to decide on my EVF options for the F3. The thing about this Sony Loupe / Viewfinder CBKMH01 offering that appeals to me is the lack of needing yet more batteries and cables to clutter the kit. Yes I'm aware of it's positioning downsides, but frankly all EVF options for the F3 have downsides.
Has anyone mounted this Sony Loupe on a camera that is fitted with a Berkey top plate? I have that installed on my F3 and wouldn't want to remove it to use the finder/loupe.
 
I read a user report that what you have to do is pound out the bolts that are fixed into the bracing unit so the bolts that you would use to attach the Berkey plate to the camera. The bracing portion of the CBKMH01 will then slide under the Berkey plate and you will be able to have the bolts pass through the holes. You will obviously be voiding any warranty when you do this.
 
Hi Andrew, yes I thought you'd have to do something like this......I'd be ok with that but I'm wondering if you have to keep the "bracing" portion of the finder attached to the F3 / Berkey plate all the time, and if so can you take the Finder / Loupe off the LCD screen and still park the screen flat against the camera for when it's not being used, or is packed for travel etc?....To have to remove the Berkey top plate every time you need to de-mount the Loupe and park the LCD would be a pain.
From the product photo's I've seen on Sony's site it appears that they mean for the camera operator to mount the Loupe and bracing plate for shooting then perhaps de-mount the thing to pack the camera away, I don't know.....
Is there anybody out there who's has one of these Finders / Loupes and a Berkey plate?
 
When I had the loupe here for review, I was concerned that I needed to remove my Berkey top plate in order to mount it. However, there are several users on "the other board" who report that they have removed the rivets from the loupe and have been able to secure it to the Berkey plate. As is, you have to remove the Berkey plate.

The loupe is nice. I once had an EX-3 and it appears to be the same loupe as on the EX-3. I still found it a bit awkward for shoulder mount work because it would all depend upon the relative position of your bottom plate and shoulder mount. Since the only available axis of movement is tilt, there is no capability to adjust on a front-rear axis. Still, it is certainly a good option for run and gun if you can get everything to match properly.

Ned Soltz
 
Hello Ned, thanks for this response. I'm happy that you've managed to test one of these out in person, always very interested in your "hands on" opinion.
I'm sure that the Loupe will do all that I need in regards to having something approaching an EVF for the camera. I don't really care too much that it doesn't work too well in a hand held rig situation because I don't have that kind of rig anyway. I do like the fact that I will not need yet another set of batteries, cables and charger to run an EVF, and I sure that the LCD on the F3 will prove to be "good enough" for my purposes. I don't need most of the "extras" that the electronic EVFs out there offer and I certainly do not need yet another set of on-screen menus to navigate!
What would stop me going this route would be having to remove the Berkey every time I need to mount / de-mount the Loupe's bracket or even close the LCD, and it seems that's the case so far without having someone re-engineer the bracket so it can be attached to the top of the Berkey. Probably not a complicated or difficult thing to achieve for a metal work shop but of course I'd need to buy one first before I start hacking it apart to make this happen.
I'm wondering if anyone on this forum who has this Loupe would be good enough to photograph the bracket both on and off of the F3, ( without the Loupe attached if that's possible ), that would help a lot. I'm not back in the US at this time so I don't have access to AbelCine or Sony in Teaneck to do this myself.
What's the "other board" you refer too? If there's a thread dealing with this I'd be keen to read that too......
Thanks again Ned!...all the best, Peter
 
Here are two shots of the Loupe. Note my finger on the ND switch. When the Loupe is at that angle, difficult to impossible to switch ND.

NedIMG_0169.jpgIMG_0171.jpg
 
Thanks Ned, that's very useful....A bit dumb about the ND switch, but not a game changer for me. I presume you have to remove the bracket to collapse the LCD, right?
If so, with the Berkey top plate in place and the bracket fixed under it less the Sony's securing screws/knobs that would be a nuisance.
Is the loupe permanently fixed to the bracket, or do you put the bracket in place then attach the loupe?
 
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