How about this...
 

Just now, I opened up the B/W viewfinder of my camcorder (10 sec.) than I flipped out the whole 'micro TV' (2 sec)
Very carefully I turned the thing 180 deg. , which folded the ribbon wires, but not too much. (5 sec) Then I put it back in the housing and closed the viewfinder again(10 sec)

Now ( 27 sec later) I have all text upside down, BUT, the image of the 35mm (wax) adapter as it should be: not mirrored, not upside down.

So, my conclusion is:
I do not recommend anyone to do this stunt with his expensive camcorder....I used my 1 chip consumer thing. But how about it!

Flip flop
 

I'm still looking for a good solution for a pd-150. This little trick seems almost undoable with it, but I was actually also thinking about it today.

But why possibly ruin a camera when you still need an external monitor to check sharpness? I think I rather just hold my camera upside down.

You can check the sharpness on an external monitor, but you can also check the numbers on the lens after you measured the distance to the object.
I wonder if a laser or sonar measure tool is accurate enough.
Like I said, don't do this trick unless you know what you are doing. I can tell if I'm about to ruin something or not, just by looking carefully at it, when I'm not sure, I don't do it.

Thats an interesting idea. But If you have a more expensive camera you could pickup a 2" jvc viewfinder (crt B/W) and rotate the crt in that. Around 500 usd. B & H sells them. (plus now you have a tiny lcd viewfinder, a flipout lcd, and a b/w crt - you could more easily win the "Mine is bigger" contest).

Just have to build a mount.

Are you talking about the DV500 viewfinder? If you are, remember it would only work with the old DV cameras and not with HDV ones, because HDV is 16:9. That viewfinder is 4:3, and then the image will be squeezed.

Sounds good Oscar, but I can't figure out what you are doing!!

Their are a few viewfinders out their but most accept standard video inputs just need the pinout to hook it up the the camera you want.

The JVC is just one of the cheaper ones i'm looking at for a project. I'm pretty sure most HDV will output SD composite, but could be wrong. Don't own a HDV so don't know for sure.

Keith, unless you use the camera in 4:3 mode, which is a waste if you have a 16:9 HDV camera, the output will be squeezed when using a 4:3 viewfinder like the JVC you mentioned. 16:9 viewfinders are expensive.

<<<Sounds good Oscar, but I can't figure out what you are doing!!>>>


Leo, it's very simple. Inside the viewfinder there is a incredibly small monitor with a ribbon wire attached. I just took out that monitor and rotated it 180 deg. Then I put it back in.
Of course you can focus much better on a bigger screen, but you can always use the LCD upside down or something else to focus.
But it's pretty handy that I can follow a subject and frame a shot through the viewfinder again.

Sorry Michael, wasn't thinking to hard their - Understand what your saying now.

Do all HDV squeeze when outputing composite in 16:9 - they don't crop or mask with black bars?

I'm not sure about the composite output, but wouldn't it defeat the purpose of a sharper and better viewfinder in the first place? I think you should either use the original viewfinder port, or component.

Considering most LCD viewfinders are 200k pixels the resolution of a good black and white CRT is normally superior. But also consider the size and that their is no mask or screen door and your only focusing on luma. (Most viewfinders are 0.5" (not the flip out) compared to the aftermarket 1.5"-2"). And most of these lcd are not stacked from what i've seen, they are side by side, so this makes it even harder to focus because the Red is two pixels away from where the blue is it corrosponds to, yet right next the one it shouldn't.

Personally I like CRT viewfinders, but i'm not much of a film maker, just an engineering student and from the people I've talked with people have different opinions on the crt viewfinder vs. LCD. But I've heard mostly from the pro guys that b/w crt is usually better for focusing.

Just for a referance, the FX1's viewfinder is 250k pixels lcd. This is used for focusing a 2000k pixel (2mp) image. The slight increase to 345k pixels of SD should help with focus with using a CRT. Can't find info on the Xl H1 or HD100u.

Oscar,
I did the same thing with my vx2000, that was a scary surgery. I also thought about this...

http://www.markertek.com/Product.asp...&search=0&off=

for sony and panasonics 3-chippers, you could mount this thing on a flexible arm and position it so you could put the camcorder on your shoulder. With the extra length these adapters add, the lens is out in a good position for shoulder mount work. Just a thought.

Such a viewfinder is also a good idea Donnie. Anyway, besides the advantages of LCD screens, I like a viewfinder because isolates you from everything else.
Was rotating the monitor as easy to do as I described?

I don't think the resolution is high enough to be useful for anything else but framing. I don't think you could use it for focus in HD.