DIY DSLR LCD Viewfinder

Photography & Video
DIY DSLR LCD Viewfinder

Why spend $150-$500 for an LCD viewfinder when you can make one for cheap out of household parts? Instructables user knoptop shows us how to make one out of a baby powder container, dollar store magnifying glass, headphone cover, and a couple of hair ties.

18 thoughts on “DIY DSLR LCD Viewfinder

  1. Anonymous says:

    I’m confused as to why this tutorial exists.. If it’s a DSLR, it should have a viewfinder (which I can see is there on this camera) which should reflect the image coming through the lens. Am I wrong? This just seems strangely excessive…

    1. Anonymous says:

      when shooting video the mirror goes up and blocks out the view finder

      1. Arch Parsons says:

        Yes, to clarify further, the video option on the new DSLR’s is comparatively new. Not only is the viewfinder not accessible for taking video but the autofocus is not usable either. For best results, you need to focus manually when taking video, something that is not easy to do in bright sunlight This is to avoid an interruption of the lens moving in and out. a process that is somewhat slow and noisy at least with the (cheap) kit lens on the Canon T2i .I would hope these (and other) shortcomings will be engineered out by the manufacturer in a year or two. All that having been said, it is a fact that on bright sunny days your aperture will likely be shut down and most everything from 10 feet to infinity will be in focus anyway. so no need to focus at all.

    2. Ric Rhodes says:

      In bright light the LCD view finder can be hard to see, also the LCD viewfinder shows the image as it will be taken with what ever settings you are using ie exposure,apeture opposed to the viewfinder which wont, so using an LCD Digital SLR Loupe / LCD View Finder Viewer Extender enables you to use the LCD screen as a view finder eliminating the light and showing you what the actual image will look like after you have taken the shot removing the guesswork with settings, these units can be bought on eBay from $50 to $150 AU for the professional photographer and the home made version from Arch

  2. Fake Teresa Strasser says:

    Wow, love this idea, can’t wait to try it on my D7000!

  3. Arch Parsons says:

    Comments below

  4. Arch Parsons says:

    See photos here http://s727.photobucket.com/albums/ww275/archp2008/
    The bottle I used was obtained at a Pharmacy counter bottles of 120 capsules for the price of 100. I put in the brand plus my comments but my posting got deleted! Lets see if this one gets banned. The supplements improve my health and the viewfinder improves my video! Thanks for showing how to do this. Trying again…

  5. Arch Parsons says:

    I tried to insert comments here before but they somehow disappeared when I tried to edit them. Quickly, I mentioned about using paint thinner for removing the glue under the medicine bottle labels. I also mentioned that the bottles were already black, but not the exact same color black as the camera. I also mentioned that the glue gun did not work so I used some blue stationery putty – the kind for sticking posters on walls – for holding the magnifying lens inside the bottle. I also intend to use some kind of futher force fit to keep the lens in place – possible a second bottle of the same size forced inside it and glued to make the whole thing more solid and secure. Picture link below….

  6. Ric Rhodes says:

    the answer to awoade’s confusion on the merit of making this tutorial is below

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I make cool stuff and write about other people making cool stuff on makezine.com. If you have something you think I should see, send me a tip.

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