Stock Loupe Modification

[James Miller]

After purchasing the Sony FX100 the one thing that I disliked was the LCD viewfinder extension tube loupe. Its very long and only magnifies a tiny bit. I use the Z-Finder on The 5Dmk2 and it's optics sit just a few inches from the screen.

I stripped down the Sony Loupe, it breaks down into three main parts. You basically remove the middle section. On the flip part of the main base I removed the plastic screw lugs and cut down some plastic fins and bent these over. You can then insert the optic part of the loupe into the flip base. It’s a tight interference fit and pushes down onto the bent fins about 12mm in. You could use so plastic weld for additional strength.

There is plenty of focus left for adjustment on this now short loupe.

The unit then clips onto the LCD as normal still maintaining its flip function .It’s comfortable in any position and works very well.

James

Pics below (sorry for the terrible shots).

[Galen Rath]

In the manual, they talk about the availability of a lens to magnify the image. I didn't look into that yet, seemed to be something that would just add more weight and make the long tube less likely to stay where you want it (it already has an issue in that respect as is). The view through the tube isn't much to get excited about, but at least you can flip it out of the way when you don't need it.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

I'm reviving this old thread in hope some more elegant ways of shortening the FS100 loupe have been devised over more than a year. I've just watched the Sony's "Tips, Tricks and Creative Insights" DVD they sent only now to the FS100 owners, and noticed most of the presenters used the camera with a considerably shorter loupe than the stock one. Also, nowhere did I see traces of a typical DIY work (like gaffer tape someone used in his instructional video here):

How to shorten the Sony FS 100 Viewfinder? on Vimeo

With their cameras, all is nice and clean...

So, is there an elegant and safe way of shortening the thing? Also important is that at 57, I'm considerably far-sighted (so I need a lot of diopter adjustment).

Ideas, please?