Foreword
I have always been a DIY enthusiast, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes just for fun. Since I bought my NX2000, I have been experimenting with a lot of easily accessible and cheap stuff to cover different photographic needs. Recently I decided that I have enough to share, so I started writing little articles, with the hope that they might help others.
I named the series of articles "Dollar Shop Journals", as they focus on cheap alternative products as well as DIY projects you can build with everyday, household items. I know a lot of people would rather just pay for it when they need something, but being Samsung owners we generally lack the luxury of variety and availability when it comes to accessories. On top of that there are a lot of mis-advertised, expensive products in the market, which actually fail to deliver (as you would soon see in the "flash diffuser" article). I'll also try to compare the DIY equivalents to those.
This article is the first one from the initial batch.
As usual there is always room for improvement, so I am open to all kinds of input, be it a suggestion or criticism...
DIY LCD Hood for NX2000
For my personal use, the biggest problem with the NX2000 is the lack of a viewfinder, because I live in the tropics and mainly shoot outdoors. Picture on the LCD is practically invisible under the sun. I have researched plenty of options. For other models that come with sufficient buttons apart from the screen, a "LCD Lupe" (that turns the LCD screen into a giant viewfinder) seems to be the best option. But it is out of question for NX2000 as we always need the touch screen. So I leaned towards a hood instead. I realized you can find all types of hoods for different cameras on eBay, but nothing for a 3.7" screen And they generally involve some sort of sticky attachment method which I am not very comfortable with. The only reasonable solution was to build one myself.
I worked on quite a number of designs; and after many real life trials, I settled down with this one:
Side view with the kit lens
If you are interested in crafting one yourself, here is a step by step guide:
Required Items:
1) A printer or access to a print shop: For printing the template of course. The template easily fits on a regular paper (I used an A4 size). Just make sure all the scaling options are off when printing ("fit to page" etc.) as it has to be printed to scale. You should verify the output size with a ruler after printing.
2) Black synthetic rubber sheet: Time to visit your local upholstery shop. These come in different colors, elasticity and thickness. They are a dime a dozen (I paid $0.75 for a 0.25cm thick, 50cm X 100cm sheet). You only need a 13cm X 16cm piece, so you might even buy leftover cuts. Try to get a semi-soft one, with 0.5cm thickness. At that thickness they are still light, yet robust enough to hold their shape. I couldn't find a 0.5cm sheet, so I glued two 0.25cm pieces together.
They look like this...
4) Velcro: You only need a stip of 13cm's long and 1cm wide from the "soft (loops) side" and a square of 1cm X 1cm from the "hard (hooks) side" . Even if you don't have some lying around, it should cost you nothing at the upholstery shop. You might not be able to find the right width though, so buy the closest size and trim down to 1cm.
5) Knife, scissors and ruler: You'll need a sharp knife (e.g. a small box cutter) and a good pair of small scissors (craft scissors should be fine). And as usual, ruler is your best friend.
6) Sand paper (optional): A 180 grit or so sandpaper will help you clean out the cutting errors and bevel the edges after you build the hood for a better look. Be careful sanding the synthetic rubber though, it is not homogeneous in nature. Some parts will grind off (too) fast, and some won't. So take your time, go slow and easy.
7) Spray paint (optional): I used a matte black spray paint finish to give a deeper, darker look, and also to cover the glue marks and seams to a certain extent. This is totally optional. Rubber seems to absorb the paint, so I am not sure if you'd be able to color the outside of the hood (for instance if you have a white NX2000 and want a matching white hood) unless you use specialized paint. You might rather go for the white rubber sheet and spray paint the interior black if you are really worried about the looks...
The Process:
1) Print the template: Obviously... Don't forget to check if the output is to scale.
The template.Download the full size jpg and print at 300 dpi. I tried to upload the PDF but didn't go through.
2) Secure the template on rubber: DO NOT use the rubber cement. The residue is impossible to clean. You can use thumb tacks on the white portions of the paper (outside the parts) or some thin double sided tape (not the spongy one). Just use something that will hold the template on secure enough while cutting but can be removed easily afterwards. I used double sided tape.
Template adhered to rubber with double sided tape
3) Cut out the pieces: Use the ruler and the knife for straight parts and the scissors for the curves.
Cut out parts
4) Smooth out the cuts (optional): Use sand paper to smooth out any cutting errors. Try to make especially the contact points (where they'll be glued) flat
5) Join the pieces: Do it one by one. Rubber cement cures with air contact (solvent evaporation), and it cures slowly. Apply glue on one joint at a time,on both sides, let it breathe and then hold the pieces together as long as you can. This part of the process is the most time consuming one...
As a side note "TOP" and "BOTTOM" pieces go in between the "LEFT" and "RIGHT", bringing your total width to 9cm's.
1, 2, 3, 4, and you're done
6) Attach the velcro: Glue the strip fluffy side down, to the marked spot on the top piece. The hard (hooks) piece is to be glued to the indicated area on the bottom piece. As an alternative you can also glue a hard side velcro on the top so that you can change the strip whenever you want to. The strip will be fully detachable and (but) easy to loose.
Also, instead of using the rubber cement, you can use self adhesive velcro hard sides as they can be removed easily if you need to. I didn't choose to do so because they don't attach to rubber very well.
7) Sand it down (optional): Smooth out any imperfections and bevel the outer corners for a better look.
8) Spray it up (optional): Spray paint adds some rigidity and a darker tone, but this is totally optional. Protect your velcro strip when spraying though, as the paint will come off it eventually and mess up your camera, case, hands etc...
9) Put it on: Just align the hood with your LCD, run the strip vertically around the body, between the lens and the grip and secure it to the velcro at the bottom. It takes merely a second to put it on or take it off. Because the hood is so light weight, single strap is more than enough to hold it in it's place, even if it is offset.
Still a "Ghetto" mod, but looks a tad better than average...
Almost perfect, if it wasn't for the extremely reflective screen.
The Conclusion:
I believe I've reached my goal of fabricating a LCD hood that does not interfere with the touch screen operations, that does not require sticking anything to the camera and yet can be put on or removed easily. It does not look as "ghetto" as I feared, plus it really does the job. The icing on the cake is, it is virtually free
I am sure the template can be modified for other Samsung models with different screen sizes.
I have noticed one setback though. Even with the hood, the camera is not fully usable under the mean tropical sun because of the screen glare. It is much, much better, but not perfect...
Installing an anti-glare screen protector is one solution (as suggested by OrdinarilyInordinate at http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3719401), but I am a bit reluctant to do so as this might impair the already "borderline" touch screen sensitivity. For that reason, I'll try to integrate the anti-glare screen into the hood next, so that it can be taken off with the hood, for instance when you are shooting indoors...
Thank you for reading so far, assuming you've actually done so
See you in the next article...
PS: I apologize for the quality of the pictures, but I was more focused on fabricating the hood properly than taking pictures of the process...
