Eyepiece magnifier

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  • 08-29-2011, 07:37 AM
    Anbesol
    Eyepiece magnifier
    I've been considering getting a specific lens for a bit now - Sony's 135mm f/2.8 [T4.5] STF lens, which produces the most beautiful bokeh imaginable. However, it is a manual focus only lens, and my primary camera is an A77, which has no manual focus check or magnified live view, so I imagine that to some level, the focus accuracy will be hit or miss.

    Of course with a Sony SLT, this is not a problem at all. But for my A700 I thought about getting an eyepiece magnifier, like this one. I'm curious how they perform as reliable focus check magnifiers, and if they would indeed improve the focus accuracy in such a situation.

    *edit - DOH! This is probably a better fit for the "Digital SLR" forum, instead of the "help" forum. Can a mod please move, thanks.
  • 08-29-2011, 08:27 AM
    mjs1973
    Re: Eyepiece magnifier
    I guess it would depend on how you planned on using it. The right angle viewer that you linked too is great for shooting really low to the ground or at strange angles where getting your eye to the viewfinder is very difficult. I would think it would be a bit too cumbersome to try to use something like that for 'everyday' type of shooting. I have seen replacement eyecups that you can simply use to replace the current one on your camera that I think would be much more practical. Something like this. Not sure if they make one for your specific camera, but I think it could be a better choice, depending on the style of photography you plan on doing with that lens.
  • 08-29-2011, 03:46 PM
    Anbesol
    Re: Eyepiece magnifier
    I've got the A700, the one sony makes is only a 1.15x, which is nice and I'll probably do that as well anyway. I found another seagull option which looks nice, its a fixed magnification of 2.3x. link

    I wouldn't really be using this for 'everyday' shooting, but more portraiture oriented. However, you have a good point, but I don't think 1.15x would offer much of any real focus check improvement, I wanted something a little higher than that. (Currently accustomed to a 7x focus check on my Pen). This 2.3x may be a fixed mag but it sure would be a lot more practical to use in a variety of scenarios, the hinge allows it to switch between the normal viewfinder and that.

    Thank you for your input.