XL2 color LCD viewfinder

[Chris Hurd]

Stephen, that information re: part number etc. is very much appreciated. Thanks a bunch for posting that. Let us know how it goes when you get the part. Thanks again,

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Tyge Floyd

Okay, I admit it. It's all my fault. After cleaning the plastic lenses on the viewfinder of my XL2 too many times in the field without the proper brushes and lens cloth, I've scratched the plastic to a point where I need to replace it.

Tyge, you scratched my baby? You brute! (hehe)

For everyone else, Tyge bought one of my XL2 cameras last year. Looks like it's doing hard time. (grin)

Hope you get 'er fixed up as cheap as possible.

-gb-

[Tyge Floyd]

Yes, I'm afraid I did, my friend. It happened the first few days in the dusty conditions of my Africa assignment last year and I want it fixed before I go back this year for another three month stint. Actually, both the top and bottom pieces or the outer most plastic lenses are scratched! I've since realized that I don't need to be cramming a lens cloth in there and cleaning but to use a brush and compressed air. (Though in my line of work, blowing compressed air tends to make things run off deeper into the bush. LOL)

Thanks for the additional insight on the cost of the repair. I'll be sure to report back when I have this rig back from Canon.

[Stephen A. Dolphin]

OK People I Did It!!! It was easier than I thought to repair this myself. Actually it wasn't the outer glass, but it was the 3rd piece of glass from the most outer glass, PN: YN1-3112-000 (CVF-G1-Lense) for $18.00. There were 3 tiny screws and everything, pretty much, came apart. Just make sure that you remember the order everything goes. One thing I also noticed was a thin plastic cover that was suppose to protect the bottom glass, but I didn't replace that one yet. This thin plastic cover should be very inexpensive to replace since all it is, is a tinted piece of plastic.

[Tyge Floyd]

Stephen,
I sent you a PM in regards to your repair.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Stephen A. Dolphin

This thin plastic cover should be very inexpensive to replace since all it is, is a tinted piece of plastic.

I believe that would be the filter that keeps the VF from getting fried in direct sunlight. The early XL1 cameras didn't have this and they had to come up with a modification after a few fried viewfinders. Apparently, direct sunlight+magnigying lens+LCD= BAD.

-gb-

[Tyge Floyd]

After some email advise on what parts to order from Stephen I called Canon today and ordered the parts needed to repair this viewfinder. I ordered:

YN1-3112-000 (CVF-G1-LENSE)
YN1-3114-000 (CVF-G3-LENSE)
DA3-1868-00 (G2 MASK) which I believe is the other part Stephen related to.

All told the parts were $54.38 including 3-4 day ground shipping.
Sony parts phone number is 1-800-828-4040.

Stephen, I may be giving you a call when I do this for some technical help if you don't mind. Thanks for posting the part numbers and relating yo how you handled this repair!

[Jonathan Kirsch]

I was going through the menu and the manual and didn't see anything where we can turn on an action safe/title safe view/mode in the viewfinder. Anyone know for sure?

Jonathan

[Jarrod Whaley]

Nope, can't do it. While it would be helpful if it were possible, I've found that it's not too big a deal.

Since the VF overscans a bit, though, what you're seeing in it roughly corresponds to the action-safe area--but you want to account for that unseen overscan in your composition anyway, because not all monitors and/or displays will hide what you might not be able to see along the edges of the VF when shooting. A good rule of thumb, then, is to simply try to keep anything important within the frame of the viewfinder, but at the same time to make sure that anything you don't want to see isn't hiding within that overscan area.

As for the title-safe area, you just have to kind of get a feel for it and eyeball it.

[Jonathan Kirsch]

Last post that covered this was back in '03, so I was hoping it changed. Is there any way of making the stock viewfinder (the color one) show action/title safe? If there are no settings, is there anything that anyone out there has done to alter the viewfinder to be able to show them?

Thanks,

Jonathan

EDIT: Never mind...found a post I did back in May (how did I forget about that one?) that Jarrod answered (it's "no" by the way)...but has anyone still found a way to make action/title safe lines for their viewfinder? It's kind of annoying having to shoot extra wide because you don't know where the action/title safe's going to be. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of hooking up a monitor for every shoot I do.

[Thijo van Beek]

Has anyone ever had this:
My viewfinder does not come off after I loosen the screw.
There seems to be a small brass pin holding it on the camera, avoiding it falls off.
But now I want it to come off, I don't want to put the cam in the bag with the viewfinder on.
I can't find anything in the manual, or did I not look good?

Thijo

[Mike Teutsch]

They can be hard to pull off. They are made to keep the viewfinder from falling off if the tightening knob comes loose. Just hold each part firmly and pull harder. Make sure that the cable is disconnected first.

A small amount of lube on the pin may help. By the way, this is the same from the XL1 to the XLH1.

Mike

[Chris Soucy]

The pin is actually spring loaded and can be disengaged with the aid of a small flat blade screwdriver just to push it in against the spring tension - it's a bit fiddly but better than the "brute force" approach, those viewfinders aren't all that robust.

CS

[Thijo van Beek]

That was the tip I was looking for.
I did'nt know it was spring loaded.
This works nicely, but it seems I also get it of by pulling a little harder.
Witch I didn't wanna do in the first place, braking things is something wich happens to me more then enough as it is...
But the knife-trick does the job very well!
( I could not find a screwdriver thin enough)

Thijo

[Eric Shepherd]

Hey Jonathan,

You could try putting 4pieces of Scotch (or other brand ;) transparent tape around the sides of the viewfinder. You'd have to match it to something with a safe area display in realtime. Transparent tape would allow you to see what's still in the shot, but slightly blurred. I think so anyway :)

I guess over time, you just develop an eye for it? Just stay inside a little bit from the edges with your important stuff and you should be fine really.

Even though they *say* it's 'safe' inside those borders, they're not absolutely safe. I just wrapped up editing on a project for a client (shot widescreen, 30p, interview clips) and put all of my titles within the title-safe margins of Premiere Pro. I gave the client a copy who played it on his home tv (a big tv from the 80's from what I understand, I believe rear projection). Anyway, he said "how come the text goes off the sides of the screen on the wide titles?" I assured him I stayed within the safe margins and that the problem was that his tv was out of alignment/calibration. He played the disc on a portable dvd player (widescreen lcd) and everything looked perfect. Obviously there's barely any overscan area with an LCD, so it fits even better.. But it just goes to show that no matter how 'broadcast safe' you try to be, someone out there will have some bad gear to prove you wrong. Thankfully the client's video wasn't made to be played on his home television. ;)

Eric