This is number 1 as it is the most recent addition my professional photography equipment.
I am not that bothered about gear. Sure I like cameras, phones and stuff, but when it comes to my photography these days I am only really interested in things that I will use and that will help me improve my photography.
This all came about when I bought my new Canon 24mm L series tilt shift lens.
I bought the tilt shift lens as a logical development of my architectural photography work, and also for my interior photography.
One slight issue though with this Canon tilt shift lens.
It is manual focus.
I know.
Like going back a few years. Well a lot of years. Auto-focus is one of those things you don’t really think about. Until you haven’t got it that is.
So what’s the problem?
Well I suggest you turn off your autofocus and give it a go. Like I say its like going back in time.
And try focussing manually on a bright sunny day. Even more difficult.
And if you add into the mix the complexities of a tilt shift lens, what you want it to do and what you need to look at, well there is only one thing to do.
I need to find something that covers my the LCD screen on my Canon 6D, protecting it from the sun and providing magnification.
I believe it is called a Loupe.
But which one do I buy?
Well there were quite a few on Amazon, so I thought I would try 3.
The first one was the cheap one, which I opened up and, placed on my screen and put straight back in the wrapping. It did not completely cover the screen. So that was that one out of the way.
Next was the Neewer Mirino Perfetto Pieghevole 3″ LCD 3X Ingrandimento, which I had to fix to my camera.
Well I had to fix the screen protector/ mounting piece to my camera. This involved a bit of delicate work and a 1kg weight on the back of my camera for 24 hours. I was a bit concerned about how well this piece would stick to the camera, and also how long it would stay on, but it has been absolutely fine.
The actual viewer clips onto the bit fixed to the camera so it can be on the camera or not.
Just what I wanted.
And it cost less than £40 to buy from Amazon
I tried this one bright sunny day using my Canon 24mm Tilt Shift lens, and it was pretty good I have to say. It was a bright sunny day and I managed to get some decent images, and also experiment with the tilt and shift movements of the lens. The 3* magnification was fine, but I found that I only used this – there was no point using the hood without the eyepiece fitted. It worked ok but even with the 3* magnification I still found myself zooming in on my Canon 6D screen to focus.
But at least I managed to focus accurately most of the time.
Finally the only brand I had heard of before, Hoodman, and the Hoodman Loupe 3.2. Not cheap, over £130 at the time of buying with the additional piece of kit to hold it in place on the camera. But I hear that these are excellent quality.
The problem I had with this Loupe was that it was not designed to be attached to the camera, and the only way to do this was with an accessory that basically wrapped around the front of the lens. This is no good with a tilt shift lens, so the Hoodman was returned.
So I am using my Neewer Loupe, and have been really happy with it. I like using the loupe viewer. It has changed the way I take photographs.
And to be honest I could not use my tilt shift lens without it.
I haven’t found anything better, and am so pleased I am going to treat my viewer to it’s own case. It is one of my essential bits of photography gear, and I use it probably 95% of the time now.
Not bad for less than £40!
The viewer has been a logical and natural evolution of how I take my pictures with my Canon 6D mounted on my Manfrotto tripod.
My top 10 pieces of photography equipment