JVC Viewfinder / Technical Question
 

Is it possible to physically rotate the CRT monitor inside of a JVC viewfinder (such as a VF-P115BU) 180 degrees and remount it? I want to use the inverted image viewfinder with a Redrock adaptor. Has anyone here ever taken apart one of these or similar VF's? Thanks.

i know it has been done quite easily with the jvc 100/110 lcd viewfinders. mentioned on a post somewhere on here

Jon,

If you have a HD100/101 then it might be worth trying.

However, if you have a HD110/111, HD200/201 or HD250/251 it is unecessary because those models are capable of electronically rotating the image.

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Tim,

I do have a HD110...JVC support informed me that the HD110 model camera cannot rotate the image in the VF or the LCD. They said only the 200 has that function...and that only the 250 can rotate the image in the cam's output. But if you know of a way please tell me. Thanks.

Phil,

Are you talking about the LCD or the VF? I want to use the VF with the Redrock, because I'm used to operating through a viewfinder, and not with the LCD or another monitor.

I'm just wondering if it might be possible to physically rotate the monitor that is inside the JVC viewfinder itself.

I just found out the VF-P115BU is not compatible with the HD110. It seems that the HDV series JVC cameras have a unique VF connector. So the only other answer is the attempt to rotate the VF somehow - either inside or the entire assembly.

If anyone can point me to any thread dealing specifically with the VF (and not the LCD) I would appreciate it.

yes it's possible and simple ,just open the viewfinder and take out the two little srews then rotate the monitor and put the srews back .

Has anyone else attempted this proceedure?

Jon,

I have been shooting a lot of footage with the Redrock lately, and last night I decided to try and flip the monitor inside my VF and it works.

There are two small screws inside that hold the monitor in place. Remove those and slide it out. There is a short ribbon cable connecting it, but is long enough to get the monitor outside the housing.

There are two notches on either side that align the monitor as it slides in the tube. Because of these you can not just turn it upside down and slide it back in.

Use long tweezers or the like to get the monitor in and out. Turn it upside down and put it back in and you'll see one of the notches lines up, but the other doesn't (bottom left).

So I used my Dremel tool and made one new notch and put everything back together and it works.

I think I should have made the existing notch a little bigger instead of making a new notch, because my monitor isn't perfectly square when upside down, has a very slight counter clockwise angle. I am only able to put one of the two screws back in, but it seems secure.

It was a very simple operation and shooting with the Redrock will be much easier now. And I can always rotate it back to normal and put everything back the way it was, with the exception of my new notch, that doesn't hurt anything.

Hope this is useful to someone and if you break your camera don't blame me!

Thanks for the info Dustin. So, exactly what tools would one need to do this?

A small phillips screwdriver, long tweezers or needle nose pliers, and something to notch the plastic so it will go back in upside down. I used a Dremel tool to cut the notch.

how big of a notch and is there any other tool I can use to make the notch? Dont have a dremel tool. thanks.

The notch is about 1/16" wide and 1/8" deep. Not very big. If you look inside the VF you will see the two ribs that go inside the notches to see how big to make it. I guess you could use a small file or something, but you can get a cheap dremel tool for less than $50. I would worry that too much sawing on the plastic will crack it.

What about if you just took the VF off the camera, and turned it upside down, and taped it to something - this would work if the camera was mounted on a tripod.


Andrew

Jon!

Another but not chep way to get an upright picture with the M2 is this:

http://www.rowe.at/de/images/stories/PDF/35mm_VF_V2.pdf

robert