Here's a guy who sells a custom made thread adapter to mate the larger DK17m threads into the smaller threads of the 2370 eyepiece adapter. However, it seems to make the DK17m sit further away from the camera eyepiece than with the custom Dremmel made opening, so it might not give full frame viewing for FF DSLRs. The 2370 Eyepiece Adapter does slide onto my 1Ds just fine.
I just ordered my parts from Adorama, so I should have them the end of next week or the week after. I really wonder how much of a difference it's going to make on my viewfinder.
Looking through the eyepieces section on the site form B&H, I saw this: DK-21M Magnifying Eyepiece for Nikon D200 Digital Camera
It has the same shape as the 20D, not round like on a D2x. Maybe this will fit on the 20D without an adapter. It is not available yet, so we have to wait a while
i got all the parts and must say i like the setup. nice and big viewfinder but a little dark in the corners. not sure if i'd use it all the time but for closeups it seems essential.
Maybe some of you know... This was brought up on another forum... Several places it says that with the D200 comes the DK-21M Rubber Eyecup. Can the ordinary rubber eyecup and a magnifying eyepiece have the same model numbers? Because the camera doesn't come with the magnifying eyepiece originally, does it? That wouldn't really make too much sense, I guess, sounds highly unlikely...
Has anyone here tried mating the DK-17M to the original Canon Eb 20D eyepiece? This would have the advantage of having the clips from the Canon eyepiece to keep your home brewed DK-17M in place a bit more securely.
I wonder if you could just enlarge the square hole in the Canon Eb big enough to fit the round threads of the DK-17M and fill in the gaps on the sides with black epoxy?
sanggarra wrote:
Could one of the pioneers care to post some pics of the image thru the "improved" magnifying eyepiece? Dan? Vernon? Thanks in advance.
Contemplating this project but is getting a lil confused with the different ways each person approach this...
I'll try to get one up tomorrow if someone hasnt already.
ForeverUnknown wrote:
I'm really curious how much of a difference this will make on my 20D.
Sidney: Please keep us updated as I'm planning on ordering the DK-17M for my 20D when someone like B&H gets it back in stock.
Are you going to use the Nikon 2370 or the Canon Eb as shown here: http://www.knock.ne.jp/~moly/Photo/equip/DK-17M/2nd/ I'm wondering how well the eyepiece will stay on the body without benefit of the locking tabs that the original Canon eyepiece has.
Well I've finished my eyepiece. I think it came out pretty well. Looks exactly the same as Veron's (rathman).
First off I'm very proficient with a Dremel, but when I tried my girlfriend's with a sanding barrel, the lowest speed was already pretty high. Almost melted some of the plastic. This Dremel didn't have precise speed controls like my personal one. I then tried a small rounded hand file which worked wonders. I was able to have more control with what I was doing.
I filed down the plastic on the Nikon 2370 adapter until the DK-17M eyepiece could fit nice and snug by itself. Before putting the eyepiece on the adapter, I put the DK-2 hood on the eyepiece and used the metal ring that came with the hood to help hold it in place. I then stuck the eyepiece onto the adapter and used a paperclip tip to carefully put epoxy where the eyepiece and adapter meet. From first file to epoxy, it took me roughly 25min.
Here are two images of the original eyepiece and the new modded Nikon. I used a p&s and stuck it as close as I could to the eyepiece. I zoomed in to have more of the viewfinder in the frame. I kept the zoom the same for both shots so you can see how much bigger the viewfinder looks.
There is very, very slight vignetting for me with the new eyepiece, but goes away if you find the right spot to look at. It's nothing that really affects performance however. The 2370 adapter fits very nicely on my 20D too. Holds just as well as the Canon OEM piece.
1.2x magnification doesn't seem like much, but on a small viewfinder like the 20D, it does help a lot.
ForeverUnknown wrote:
1.2x magnification doesn't seem like much, but on a small viewfinder like the 20D, it does help a lot.
Sidney: Thanks for the followup.
Whats your verdict?
Usefull enought to say on the camera all the time or just now and then?
Is all viewfinder info is still clearly visible?
Also, can you post a before and after viewfinder pic with the body outdoors?
- On the XT the status LCD is on the back right under the viewfinder and the large eyecup makes it harder to see. You're forced to view it from the 6 o'clock position and the LCD is designed for 12 o'clock viewing so you lose a little contrast. I rarely check that LCD except when I first turn on the camera to check WB and drive mode so no big deal.
- Eye position is obviously more critical to keep everything in view. Sometimes this is a little more awkward when tripod mounted at a low hieght (say stomach level), but handholding it is fine.
More than made up for by the upsides:
- Image seems way larger than it should given it is only 1.2x. I can't stand viewing without it now.
- Don't have to smush my face against the back of the camera as much.
- The real eyecup cuts out way more ambient light which more than makes up for any loss of brightness from the 1.2x mag.
One big downside that isn't a problem for me:
- A friend with a 300D found that he had trouble using this since he wears glasses and can't get his eye close enough for a clear easy view of the whole frame and status info.
I just put one of these together, and I'm not sure I'm going to keep it. I also just bought a Canon Magnifier S. So I will practice with both of them this weekend and decide which one to keep.
Now that some of you have used this for some time what are your thoughts on it? Do you really feel it makes a differnce when MF?
