Anyone have experience of the solution of using a Peak loupe on the Nikon CP 950 LCD? I bought a teleconverter lens but find it's useless in the sun as it obscures the optical viewfinder -- shocking design Nikon, especially at the price of the lens which is about AU$250!!!!!

I have seen the accessories mentioned on the web as solutions for LCD in sunlight, and ordered the Hoodman, but this doesn't really do the job when using the teleconverter. What I want to know is does anyone have experience of the Peak Loupe solution? Specifically, can you put your eye to that and SEE -- that is, does it work like a substitute viewfinder? $50 is a fair chunk of money to pay for something that won't allow me to see with eye to lens. (I have very odd eyes. *G*)

-- Robin Rowlands (robrow@northnet.com.au), March 26, 2000

Answers

I have used (still use) the Peak Loupe. Yes, you can put your eye to it and see the image. It is magnified 4x and looks rather "dotty" but it is still quite useful for judging focus and composition. It is sort of like a reflex viewer but given that the refresh rate is as slow as it is moving objects tend to look a bit wierd.

Rather than affixing it as most do with velcro (hate putting glue on my camera) I fashioned a holder from a piece of flat elastic and two small flat mirror hanging tabs. The tabs look like a small piece of thin metal wrapped around a D ring with a small whole drilled through. In the intended use a small nail is driven through the small whole into the backing board supporting the mirror. The D ring is then hung on picture hooks on the wall. What I did was to slip the pins in the Peak (intended for a neck cord) and then wrapped the elastic through the D rings and arround the camera under moderate tension. The elastic had velcro sewen to it to permit the adjustment of the tension.

All in all it works quite well for me when making macro photos of flowers.

Bill Cook

-- Bill Cook (billc@wcook.com), March 28, 2000.

I have an Xtend-A-View (see www.photosolve.com/xtendaview.asp) that provides 2x magnification that may be of interest to you.

Peter Frankston South, Victoria, Australia.

-- Peter Carless (pcarless@enternet.com.au), March 28, 2000.

Checkout John Cowley's page for his suggestions. See: http://www.lonestardigital.com/LCDviewer.htm

-- Paul Killen (pdkillen1@email.com), March 29, 2000.

Check out my website http://www.geocities.com/clampod/. I have created a sort of Home Page for this subject.

-- clampod (realtv@usa.com), May 29, 2001.