What loupe are you using with your T2i?
 

I've searched the other discussions about loupes in the other forums but wanted to have a T2i specific one since some of the solutions (like the 5D shade fix) don't apply.

I've looked at what I think are all the options, trying to decide which to get, and it seems to be either a Zacuto or an LCDVF. I'll post my reasoning and if someone has another solution I'd love to hear it.

Why I narrowed it down to those two was simply due to the magnetic mounting. I want to be able to put it on and take it off very quickly, not with a tripod mount that would need to be loosened to be able to remove it. The magnetic solution is perfect, AFAIK. I've look at the Hoodman crane that they've announced but it just adds too much bulk. And I already use my shoe at the top of the camera and even though the Hoodman Crane gives you another one it just gets too high and less bulky=value to me.

LCDVF

It would be perfect, I don't need a diopter, the price is good, but it doesn't fit perfectly on the T2i apparently. You can see in this video that the frame is for the 7D and 5D and crops the T2i LCD a bit.


Z- Finder Jr.

Looks to be pretty much the same thing as the LCDVF, as far as I can tell, but more expensive and I'd want to get the mounting frame for it and not use the bracket. I've seen posts that it will work with the Jr. but haven't come across anyone that's used it to talk about how it works.

Does the Jr. magnetically attach to the frame like the LCDVF? Does it crop the picture like the LCDVF?

If it crops like the LCDVF then I can't see any reason to pay $100 more for the Z-Finder Jr.

Anyone have any thoughts on these?

I've got a Zacuto Z-Finder Pro coming next week.

You will certainly hear contradictory advice on any board. I personally find the Zacuto products rock solid. Expensive, yes. But you buy them once.

I played with the Hoodman at NAB. The have a new swing-away design but it just did not feel terribly solid.

Having shot for a few weeks without a loupe, I would definitely advise that a loupe is essential. And while I think Zacuto is far preferable to other vendors, I would not hesitate to recommend the Hoodman if your budget can't swing the $400 for the Z-finder Pro.

The only reason I'd picked the Z Jr. over the Pro models is the only difference seems to be the diopter and the anti-fog lens. If I don't care about either of those then the Jr. makes sense. And if the Jr. makes sense and it's fairly identical to the LCDVF then what does the $100 difference in price get me?

That's my line of thinking. The budget for the Z Pro is there, if I thought it was the right product to get. I don't need the diopter so that leaves the anti-fog lens being the $130 difference. I just don't know if I care about that enough. I wish you could get the Pro without the Gorilla mount, I use the battery grip so I couldn't use that.

The anti-fog is a nice feature and even the less expensive Hoodman has a diopter. My perceived differences between the Hoodman and Zacuto are based upon sturdiness. I just feel the Zacuto is more robust.

To be clear, I'm not considering the Hoodman. Only the Zacutos and the LCDVF based upon the ease of attachment and removal.

Hi Bryan,

That was the determining factor for me. I don't use the lanyard the way its meant to be used though. Instead I shortened it and use it only when needed. I found the supplier for the lanyard clips - so I'm trying to make connecters that are shorter without having to cut the existing one or bunch it up as shown.
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/images/attach/jpg.gif

Me again,

Maybe a third party anti-fog option?

Visor Anti-Fog - webBikeWorld

Edit - I just ordered a bottle of FogTech anti-fog drops. Gets the best reviews. I'll test it when it arrives...

I use the Z-Finder V2 (essentially now the pro) Works great and it's comfy even with my glasses on.

Thanks for the info!

So how bad is the cropping issue with the mounting plate? Does the loupe sit pretty firmly or does it get knocked off easily?

If you used a should mount and pressed the camera against your eye would the loupe move or stay pretty secure?

Hey,

I wouldn't have noticed it had I not seen the video posted in this thread. Even now that I know what to look for its not an issue.

It stays on firmly with normal use, but is susceptible to knocks from the side, which happened a few times at my first shoot. I wasn't using the lanyard at all and it went to the floor. Embarrassing. So that is why I attached the loupe to the camera bodies.

Handheld its solid as is the other way I use it, which is when the camera is on the glidecam and the base is wedged into my belt.

I'd like to keep my glasses on as well, and as far as I can judge from the pics, the Z-finder Pro seems to have the most comfortable (and glasses-friendly) eyecup, as well as the Gorilla mount, which looks great.
Everybody who owns a Zacuto is happy with it, so I'm going for the Z-finder Pro 2.5

Z-Finder
 

I bought the Z-finder, but hate the rubber eye cup.
Here's my fix.
I also bought the tall riser from B&H, but looks like it's already discontinued. :~(

I'm going with the IDC / Bruce Dorn modification of the Hoodman (see attached pic).

There will be a 550d version of the LCDVF coming out soon. They mentioned it on their twitter Tõnis Liivamägi (LCDVF) on Twitter and to other people who have inquired as well. Maybe its worth waiting until that one comes out, shouldn't''t be long now, that's what I'm doing.

I don't see anything on the Twitter feed. Am I missing it?

To anyone who has read any of my previous posts, it will come as no suprise that my input is that of a complete cheapskate amateur, but maybe it will help someone.

I can't justify a z-finder to my wife just yet, and while I am looking around the web for a slide viewer to butcher, I have found an intermediate solution.

It involves 2 elastic bands and a nifty fifty. Basically, you strap the front of the lens to the view finder and look through the back, with the elastic bands forming an 'X' across the top and underneath the camera.

The magnification and focus are perfect, but while the whole height of the shot is visible, the left and right edges are not. No good if you need to compose the shot properly, and you can't see the shooting information either.

The front of the EF 50mm 1.8 is plastic, so no damage to the LCD. I tried other lenses, but they didn't work as well.

I have found my ability to shift focus during a shot with this to be fast an accurate, with no overshooting, so it may have some uses for now.

All in all, a fun way to see what it's like to have a magnified view to assist focusing.

The Hoodcrane:

HOODCRANE-Hoodman Corporation

Looks like it might be a good solution. I tried the Hoodman Loupe with the rubber thingie. The loupe was fine, but the rubberband was terrible. Perhaps with the new crane it will work, and is inexpensive.

I will NOT pay 50% of the camera price for a magnifying glass from Zacuto - on principle!

The solution to that is to buy a more expensive camera. :)

As I mentioned in the OP, the Hoodman Crane looks fine but I don't want to add unnecessary bulk to my rig, an I already use my hot shoe with something (mic, monitor, audio recorder) and don't want to put those things even higher on the top of that crane.

Yes, it does look a bit bulky but I really like the fact that you can swivel it out of the way to see LCD or shoot stills thru VF. Also, $100 is a price that seems reasonable - not $400.

In any case, when it is released I'll buy it at B&H and try it out for a week. If I don't like it I'll return it - I live a few blocks away in NYC. ;-)

Edit: I called B&H - they don't have it in stock, and the cost is $179 for both Loupe and crane. I thought it was $100 for both.

No longer a great deal...oh well.

I think $179 is still a pretty good deal, compared to the other options. I do wish the Hoodman had a mounting solution like the LCDVF or Zacuto. People seem to be really pleased with the Hoodman loupe, I just don't like the crane.

I don't take stills, so that's not a concern for me.

I'm all for this kind of innovative thinking, and hey, I just tried it and it works great (for focusing anyway.) But it brings up the white elephant in the middle of the room-

NONE of these viewfinders really make any sense to me. I used the Zacuto Pro on a 5D and it just made focusing HARDER, not easier. It magnifies the pixels on the screen as well as the black lines defining each the pixel grid. In the end, it's harder to tell when something is in focus or not than it is if I use the magnification feature on the camera. Of course, that gets disabled on record (calling magic lantern, hint hint) but it's still a hell of a lot easier to set your focus that way than with that damn viewfinder. I mean, I guess it's better than nothing, but I don't understand the rave reviews and praise for these Zacutos- they're an expensive solution. At least the cheaper solutions are, well, cheaper. My eyesight is 20/20 so it's not that I'm needing glasses (yet!) Why the praise? Focusing is the biggest issue for me with these cameras, and, while the rebel''s screen is an improvement on the 5D, it's still not easy to get sharp focus with this depth of field.

DIY! - now, how do I mount this thing, it's massive
 

I have moved on from the lens + elastic bands approach. My intermediate solution was based on a Zacuto Z-finder mounting frame (£5), some home made plastic housing and a maplin £5 loupe. It did the job, but CA and corner blur was an issue.

Just taken delivery of one of these:

TWD 3X Professional Focusing Loupe for 6x7 : Teamwork Digital Ltd, Suppliers of Professional Digital and Large Format Photographic Equipment

Bought from Ebay for £50. Just looked through it at my screen and very impressed. Perfect image with amazing contrast. I can't believe the Z-Finder is optically better.

Only problem, it is big and heavy with an all metal & glass construction, so I'm not sure how to mount it. I don't think the z-finder mounting frame will hold the weight. Ideas? I will butcher it if I have to.

Many people like me can not focus without it and so that is why we praised them, once you put it on you just shoot and not worry about it moving out of aligment or any else and so it just works, as for focusing, you admit that you are having problem focusing with or without it and so maybe it is your technique and not the Z-finder fault or any other loupe fault.

Well, the problem is a combination of:

- the camera's depth of field is often so shallow, it's easy to go out of focus
- once you are recording, you can't use the magnification which lets you hit critical focus easily and quickly
- the LED monitor is great, but admittedly so small that everything looks great on it, even when it's slightly soft
- the zacuto viewfinders end up magnifying everything, including the flaws

i guess the zacuto is the best bet, all things considered, if you're looking for something to purchase- my point was simply that I like James' way of thinking, which is that there IS no good solution so far, including the zacuto, so you might as well get creative and save $600. I'm just confused by all the praise on something that is, at best, the lesser of all evils.

"which is that there IS no good solution so far"

It is a good solution for me and I'm sure for many other, 95% of my stuff are in focus shooting at F1.4 of people dancing, you have to practice focusing, nothing comes for free.

Actually, my only comment is that I am mega cheap, and have time to fiddle around.

If I was a professional, I would probably rush out and buy 2 z-finders without hesitating. I've never seen the things, but I'm convinced they are the best solution, and do everything as advertised.

I am a big fan of Zacuto products in general, and while people moan about the price, no-one argues that their products aren't the best for the job. I think they are cashing in on their immense experience and great product design skills, and I say good luck to them.

That is not the frame that came with the Zacuto, it will not crop, it will be on the lcd but only cover the left and right black edge of the lcd which has no picture, I'm using it on my T2i and 7D and they works.

If you can live with one of the mounting methods for the Hoodloupe found in these forums, I just got the HoodMag 3.0 3x eyepiece for it today and it solves two problems:

The no magnification 1:1 view that actually looked smaller than direct view to me.

And the problem of distortion if the eye was not centered right.

I like the bright clear 3X view you get, I have no problem seeing focus with it, and for now I use the rubber band mounting method (on my 7D) I used to use on the T1i. If I need something more solid and secure I mount the CAVISION viewfinder and mounting setup I ordered from CAVISION in Canada and work with that.

I think we'll see some workable "mounting plates" for the Hoodman units start to appear on the market before long. Until then I'll make rubber bands work.

Is there any news on the new LCDVF for the 550d?

I've filled out their form twice requesting information and have never heard back. Doesn't give me a good feeling about buying from them.

I requested ETA from Jag35. He replied back about 2 weeks later saying they were about 2 month out. That was about a month ago.

I went to a regional post-NAB Production Gear convention here in Dallas today and got to see an LCDVF in person (along with the Zacuto Z-Finder) for the first time. Bottom line is that I'm sold on the LCDVF. It worked great, VERY solid with the magnetic frame, and the LCD looked great through it.

The rep there said they expect new versions in about a month, one with a diopter and one for the T2i. So I guess I'll wait for that.