A Viewfinder Problem Solved.

As a spectacle wearer I've always had a problem with being unable to see the camera settings in any camera's viewfinder because of stray light.
I was particularly disappointed in not being able to see the K-5's electronic level in the viewfinder.
I've had many suggestions on how to combat the problem, such as wearing a hat with a large brim, using a rubber viewfinder eyecup etc.
Sometime ago, I got a large very fine black micro fibre cloth that came with the Amateur Photography magazine.

My solution is to use the left hand to support the camera as usual, and at the same time holding the piece of cloth against the forehead just above the spectacles, The cloth drapes over the Flash/Mirror Housing thus blocking the stray light.

It's real easy to do, the camera is still properly supported by the left hand.
The micro fibre cloth also comes in handy for shielding the Monitor screen so that one can see the Electronic Level when using a tripod.

Have fun out there!

An alternative is to fix a much larger piece of black cloth to the bottom of the K-5, mount it upside down on a tripod, and use the black cloth as per the old plate camera days!
Best regards,

Good idea, but I think a baseball cap would give you a bit more street cred, and do more or less the same job. It does for me.

Hi Pete,
A Baseball cap, even one with a very large brim is useless in bright daylight conditions, it simply isn't possible to exclude the stray light no matter how the Baseball cap is positioned over the camera.
With regard to street cred, this is not an issue, as the black micro fibre cloth is unnoticeable as it appears to be part of the camera, in any event, the cloth is only in use for the briefest time and is largely hidden in the left hand.

Kind regards,

Glad to know you've solved your problem.

I have another problem still unsolved, bright daylight prevents me seeing my cars speedometer. I have to rely upon my Satnav that sounds alerts when 30 and 40 mph are exceeded.
Perhaps a map light or something much brighter would illuminate the speedo, so far I haven't managed to source such an item.

As my car (consider it as a large Camera accessory) regularly transports the light of my life, my Pentax K-5, I feel that I am justified in posting in this Forum section

Have a lot of fun out there!

Best regards to all,

everything old comes back into fashion..
why it was only forty or fifty years or so ago when every photographer out there was draping a black cloth over thier rig..

Still used with viewcamera's though so can you call it old?

Hi Don,

I remember the camera well, but the tripods used to be made out of wood!

I go back much, much further than that, my recent purchase of my K-5 was my 78 th birthday present. I needed to cheer myself up after enduring Shingles for 7 months that just about destroyed my central nervous system. The chicken pox I caught as a 7 year old left a virus in my spinal cord that waited 70 years before biting me in the butt. This was followed by two bouts of back to back pneumonia. I guess i was entitled to cheer myself up after these illnesses. Nothing like a Pentax K-5 to bring a smile to your face.

I used to build my own Plate Cameras, including lapping the ground glass, making the bellows, even all the brass fittings, the only bought in item was the lens & shutter.
As a schoolboy, I built my own enlarger, using Silver Steel rods along with laboratory tubing for the friction drive focussing system. Bellows were hand made out of paper.
Later, after saving my pocket money for a whole year, I bought a top quality factory made enlarger. Sadly, I had wasted my money, my own hand made enlarger worked much better and was vastly superior.

Can you imagine the fun I'm having using the K-5 after using the 3fps Sigma SD14 camera along with the 'come back later buffer"?

My best regards,

Have a ball out there,

Hi Peter,

Herewith a photo of the micro fibre cloth positioned on top of the K-5 Mirror Housing. In practise, I just dump the scrunched up micro fibre cloth (that I might have in my hand or that I have just fished out of a pocket) on top of the Mirror Housing, the camera is offered up to the eye and then the cloth is pressed against the forehead, simple. It works even on the brightest of days.
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SDIM8958 Full Size Jpeg by roystoys1, on Flickr[/img]

Regards,

Hey Roy, glad you're feeling better... I love building stuff, almost as much as I love kidding around....

the important thing is it works.... you would not believe some of the crazy ideas I've played with.

look at this: link


then pat yourself on the back for the money you saved!

And it keeps the mind young

Hi Don,

Another Canuck, the other Canuck on the forum describes himself as a crazy Canuck!
I spent some time in Ontario & well remember Yonge Street in Toronto (the longest street in the world) some 16 miles long? Also, the fleet of snow clearing machines that used to keep Toronto's designated roads clear of snow during the winter.
I understand that due to weather changes, Toronto has got rid of it's fleet as it's no longer necessary. How true is this?
My enduring memory is the length of the winter that went on and on and on.....then one day the snow seems to have disappeared and this lifts ones mood. The next day you wake up to 15 feet of snow. Clearing the drive you then find that the tires of your car are frozen to the ground! Unbelievable, and this same scenario keeps repeating itself again and again.
I once visited the Sportsman's Show in Toronto, when we left the show we had to join a line of people that stretched from the show to the car park, each holding one another up because of the freezing rain that had made the ground a very slippy ice rink. People over here wouldn't believe that the freezing rain in Canada can ice up your windscreen some 2 inches thick in just a few minutes. To remove it you smashed the ice with a hammer to break it, less believable is that this doesn't harm the windshield in the slightest.
Then the snow finally disappears from the picket fences that prevent the wind from blowing snow onto the road, these fences lining all the main roads. Then spring arrives along with June Bugs to follow!. What a country, a country that breeds some pretty hard men.
Good people, the Canucks.

Best regards,

Great idea!!!

Hi Stefen,

Ah, a Dutchman, good!

errm! I don't know about keeping the mind young, my mind became addled quite early on!

I have a real problem remembering the name of familiar things, like the name of the Salt Cruet sitting on the dining table. I stare at it, struggling to remember what it's called, I desperately need to know what it's called as I need to ask my wife to pass it to me. All the while my wife is talking to me, she doesn't realise the torment I'm going through. Now I know what the Salt Cruet contains and what it's used for but what's it called....?
Suddenly, finally, I remember, I ask my wife to pass the blasted thing to me and apologise to her that I hadn't taken in her conversation and ask her to repeat what she had been talking about.
Holding conversations with people is difficult, 'cause I can't join in the talk because I can't remember names of people, or place names etc.
Even worse, sometimes I can't remember the names of the tools that neatly line the tool rack above my workbench. I'm a retired professional engineer, I've installed Pipelines, both land and submarine (on the sea bed) and other petro chem installations all over the world, I have real experience in just about every engineering discipline, from draughting, tool & mould design, Industrial Engineering, (been a consultant on machine tool)s, installed time based incentive schemes, (work study etc) civil & mechanical engineering, Planning, welding, (all welding processes).
I hold tickets for welding inspection and industrial radiography (Necessary for Lloyds approval)
I've even taught maths to technical students. I am fluent in Arabic both written and spoken (all Arabic dialects and know and understand the Qur'an inside out) yet on some occasions, I can't even remember the names of some of the tools that line my tool racks!
This memory failure hurts, it's called part of growing old.
How do you deal with it? what can one do, but laugh it off!(buy a Pentax K-5 Like I did)!
There's simply no future in growing old. Growing old, hell I'm already there, I AM OLD.
But, like any man, I'm still only eleven year old at heart, I'm still up for a game of cowboys and indians!
When I look in a mirror I expect to see me, but what appears in the mirror is this old fart!

Now recently, last week in fact, I had to request a home visit from my GP's surgery practice, because of chronic diarrhea caused by the Shingles medication, I had lost 18lb in weight over the previous 8 days!
A lady Doctor arrived, Her surname Mezas, a Dutch surname, she had a gorgeous personality that would fill a football stadium. She was so full of life, it was infectious, uplifting, what a friendly per soma, you could tell her anything. Meeting her has enriched both my wife and me, she brought laughter & hope into our home.
I felt better, no, I was better immediately after she left, what a female, what a doctor!
How I love the Dutch!

Best regards,