Louis_Dobson wrote:
Even when the backscreen isn't washed out by sun (which it normally is here) I don't like 'em. I'd have to try a Clearview to see if it makes a suitable viewfinder or not. As you say it's a bit bulky and Heath Robinson!
The lens-on-a-stick as I prefer to call the type ("Clearviewer" is a brand name for a version of this style of finder) is a make do which works tolerably well but is not the tool for a perfectionist.
It does leave some residual glare on the screen which can be mostly eliminated by judicious angling or shading but which I ignore as he lcd remains quite usable. There is a lot of art in getting the lens quite right. The Clearviewer prime lens is not that bad but is not as perfect as one in a properly constructed evf. You are unlikely to see 100% of the lcd without distortion. I priced a custom made glass lens that would show the lcd in full without distortion at 50mm distance - they were $50 per unit for the lens alone. A glued doublet.
Good points about the Clearviewer - it works.
Cons are that the tripod mount version is semi permanently attached and needs to be folded up on camera when not in use (bulky, Heath Robinson). Also that it is made out of cheap recycled plastic linen tester parts and therefore perhaps not as upmarket as a proprietory made version. But it needs to be cheap that way as there is a significant amount of labour in rebuilding the parts into a working custom device. I reckon it is a good buy at the price and if it were made out of more up-market parts then it would be much more expensive.
Another little problem that also afflicts evf units is that any magnifying lens that focuses on a lcd panel when pointed directly at the sun can burn the internal pixels of the lcd. So care must be exercised when in use. I now make sure that I fold my device when not actually being used or simply use the magnetic mount facility to click it off completely when not needed. It is harder to do but still quite possible to have direct suns rays focused through the evf opening on any camera. Advisable that you don't turn a camera with evf around and point the evf directly at the sun. We are warned, it only takes a second.
I was a Clearviewer convert for another camera body with built in hot shoe mount - this version of the Clearviewer simply pushed into the hot shoe and was just as easily removed when not necessary. It became an essential accessory for that camera body.
However I did not like the always-on nature of the tripod mount version which was the only type that fitted the GM1. I decided that I would make my own and after about 14 prototypes I worked out a magnetic mount using an on-camera-body stub. It works fine and I have used metal parts and a proper glass lens. Much less Heath Robinson and the magnetic attachment makes mounting/dismounting quite slick. But this takes me about 6-8 hours in my workshop to manufacture in my non-tradesman way with minimal machine tools. No way is it commercial. If made by a repetitive CNC milling machine process it could be sold to the mass market. But significant numbers of doubters mean that the mass market does not exist and I am not about to pioneer a charity. So I make my own and they work well enough for my purpose. There is room here for a skilled person to make up a drawing suitable for 3-D printing and I think that is the only way that this useful little device might get popular distribution.
But in the end whatever market there was has been gazumped by the GM5 price drop.
I would not try to kid a perfectionist that this type of device is a 100% effective replacement for a good evf. But it does work and makes any camera without access to a evf useable in bright light conditions - that is guaranteed.
Tom Caldwell wrote:
Louis_Dobson wrote:
Dr Hal wrote:
Go to website www.clearviewer.com . It is easy to use, inexpensive, and small. I have been using one for years.
Hal
It appears to be a magnifying glass. What's it for?
You cannot focus an eye on an lcd like an evf without a glass focusing aid. Therefore the lens-on-a-stick idea is merely to allow your eye to get close enough to the lcd to use it as a viewfinder.
There are bulky enclosed loupes that do much the same thing.
The Clearviewer style is a simpler version of much the same thing.
The idea is basically that on a bright light day your eye pupils naturally contract to the ambient light. Once this happens your eyes cannot read the lcd as it does not put out enough light to compensate. If your eyes could get close enough to focus on the lcd alone they will adjust to the light that comes off the lcd. The idea of these devices is to allow your eye to come close enough to the lcd to shut out most of the ambient light so that they can adjust. It works and the eye to viewfinder suddenly finds the lcd quite readable. (Just like "magic").
This points out the commonly held fantasy - that reflected glare causes the lcd to wash-out. The reflections are still there but are found to be only a very small part of the problem. A full covering loupe will certainly shut out reflected glare as well but comes with the baggage of monstrous size and inconvenience. The lens-on-a-stick cancels the main ambient light problem and the glare can be pretty well eliminated by a hat brim or a suitably placed spare hand - but the small residual glare does not worry me as much as it might worry a perfectionist. But as you are going whole-hog with the GM5 and inbuilt evf such useful devices are not a real concern.
The real reason I don't like the Clearviewer myself is not because it is not a useful device (it is) but that it is semi-permanently mounted on the tripod mount and folds up when not in use - this turns into quite a lot of extra baggage on what is supposed to be a very cmpact camera body. My home-made version is magnetically attached and clips on and off in a second when needed and folds into a very small package when demounted. Therefore I only need mount it when it is useful - which is surprisingly often.
The side benefit of one of these devices is that it encourages using a camera "normally" with eye to finder stance supporting lens with left hand rather than waving it about in front of your face.
