Do I need a diopter?
 

I have weird vision. Some months I am near sighted. Other months I am far sighted. This condition resulted from an extensive treatment in a hyperbaric chamber. Prior to that I was normally farsighted.

In either case, I can see fine thru the view finder of any camera. Yesterday, I received my long awaited T2i and found I am in farsighted mode. I tried the live view and couldn't see the screen unless I held it so far away that it was too far. Tried using reading glasses but that didn't help much.

I'm trying to determine if a Hoodman/LCDVF/Zacuto would work OK without a diopter as long as it had some magnification. On top of that problem, I can't find the new LCDVF made specifically for the T2i. There is a long waiting list at Jag35.com.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks,
Burt

You gotta go to a store and try them. No way to know for sure. They are all different. I've been looking at lots of them - some work for me w/o diopter, some don't. I'm opting for diopter.

No one in my town has any of the above, so to speak.

Burt,

You could order the Hoodman Hoodloupe 3.0, it has a diopter adjust and you can try that out and either return it if it doesn't work for you or sell it in one of the for sale forums on these sites. Now, as you order just the Hoodloupe there is no magnification but you don't need magnification to see if it's diopter adjust will help you.

Then you can order the HoodMag 3.0 3x magnifying eyepiece for it ($39.95) which slips over the existing eyepiece with diopter adjustment. I have this combo and find it very usable.

The only "hitch" is mounting. The Hoodcrane looks not bad but I'm waiting to see if something "cleaner" in the way of base mount hardware comes along. This is an incredibly successful camera in the market place and will be so popular I don't think it will be long until suitable mounting solutions for the Hoodloupe come along.

Until then I am doing just fine with long sturdy rubber bands from an office supply place.

B&H has a 14-day return policy. Order a few, try them out, keep the one that works or return all of them. They are light, delivery should be cheap.

I'm going for the Hoodloupe and Hoodcrane - when available. If I don't like it, I'll return it. I tried rubber bands, wasn't happy. The "cinema strap" was a joke.