Magnifying Eyecup

I have just got one of these and was wondering what others with this nice little add-on do with it. Do you leave it on the camera perminantly or just use it when doing macro or for other manual focus situations?

It seems to me that I can see all the viewfinder through it, that includes all of the viewfinder information and there appears to be no vinyeting!

As long as you can see all information with no vignetting, I would leave it on permanently. I would, however, like to know how this works for us wearing spectacles.

The cup is surrounded with rubber and the Dioptor adjustment still works. Though I don't wear glasses yet I do sometimes use the camera with sunglases and I don't thing the new eye cup will have any detrimental effect.

Was this the original Pentax one, or the Nikon one (that I believe fits and is slightly lower magnification)?

I'm very short-sighted so have to wear specs all the time and have held off this accessory because of possible vignetting issues... I'd really like to know if it's a worthwhile addition

Matt

terje-1, if we are talking about the O-ME53, I wear glasses and I leave it on all the time, but just move me eye around the viewfinder to see everything.

I find this has an advantage with composition on non fast moving stuff.

I bought the Nikon one a few months ago and it has never been off my K10D.
Stays on all the time (I don't wear glasses but it seems ok with sunglasses on).

This is the O-ME53 Pentax one. I will let you know how it hold up in use. Seemed good in initial test, still needs a field test and that won't happen till the weekend.

I have the Pentax one and I use it most of the time on my K10D, particularly when doing macro. It does help with fine focus. There is no vignetting and one can see the LCD display at the bottom of the screen. An excellent accessory and not expensive.

Just an update...
Have got my sticky mits on McBrians O-ME53 and have it fitted on the K10D.
I wear specs (very short sighted + astigmatism) and, yes, there is some vignetting in the top corners, and yes, I need to move my eye fractionally up to get a clear view of the LCD information - but it's not a problem.

Does make a difference - feels more roomy
Matt

I was using it yesterday with my FA50mm 1.4 at 1.4 and I did manage to get some shots in focus. It did make a difference, though I still need practice to get my manual focus back to what it was in my Program A days!

The rest of the time, it did not have any affect on what I was doing. Mine is set to stay on the camera. The only issue I had was on a wet day when it fogged up, something I had not noticed with the normal viewfinder, and of course I had to remove it to dry under the housing and to make sure that there was still no water behind the rubber of the cup.

It's always difficult to judge other people's difficulties with focusing. I'm fortunate that I'm short sighted - this makes operating camera controls and so on very easy. Without glasses, inches away, everything is crystal clear!

I've shown some people ME Super cameras and they've been unable to focus them at all....and others who are long sighted can have a real problem juggling with glasses.

If you have real difficulty with manual focus I would suggest the following: first with newer cameras make sure the dioptre setting is right. Point the camera at an even white surface and adjust until the guide frames in the viewfinder are sharp. You do not need to focus on anything whilst you are doing this. Then you are looking without strain at the focusing screen.

With older cameras with no sdjustment they are usually set at -0.5 or -1 dioptre. Try focusing wearing reading glasses. Works a treat for me and you might find it helpful.

I have ordered two of the O-ME53's from SRS.

They should be at home this evening but I may not find time to try them out until the weekend.

Someone once asked if I wear glases (I don't) as my dioptre was off, I hadn't really though about it till then, however, I have always tried to do it using a focused scene! Thanks for this tip, I will try it tonight.

The reson that this doesn't work is that the eye tries to adapt and focus on the scene as opposed to the focusing screen. That's why it's essential to use a blank background or a defocused sky or something similar.

Oh thats a good tip,i also do it using a scene