On the N70, a little plastic piece is used to cover the viewfinder when using a tripod with any automatic mode, to avoid stray light from entering through the viewfinder and affecting the metering. Covering the viewfinder in this way is very inconvenient, and usually drives me to use manual metering, but there are times when I would prefer automation.

It would not be difficult to adapt the shoe from an old, broken flash unit (which I have) to hold a viewfinder shutter on a hinge, which I could swing down to cover the viewfinder and swing up when I want to look in it. Since I hardly use flash, this would be very helpful.

Now here is my question: Might an old (metal) flash shoe, not designed forthe N70, short out any of the electronics on the camera? Any other suggestions?

-- Hector Javkin (h.javkin@ieee.org), April 06, 1999

Answers

One of the nice things about being the moderator is that you can go back and see when you have given way too much information, and make corrections......

I think the accessory the other poster was refering to was probably the Hama camera eye piece cover. I have only seen it in Adorama's catalog, so I don't know who else sells it. Adorama's part # is CZEPC. I was wrong about the price. It is $7.95. I have had pretty good luck ordering from them in the past, but like most people, I prefer B & H, mainly because they use FedEx and seem to deliver faster. Most of the New York camera stores will probably be closed for the next few days due to holidays.

-- Brad (bhutcheson@iname.com), April 07, 1999.

I've seen the very accessory you describe, made entirely of plastic and priced at a couple dollars, in various mail-order catalogs. It might not be worth the hassle of crafting your own.

-- John Kuraoka (kuraoka@home.com), April 06, 1999.

Thank you very much for your answers. Now that you've pointed out that what I wanted to build already exists (and is incredibly cheap), I will not try to make my own, but go buy one. Cheers.

-- Hector Javkin (h.javkin@ieee.org), April 06, 1999.