The Folding Viewfinder Hood - A Tale Of Digital Wonder - Hoodman Loupes

Those of you who have used, or do use, a 500-series Hasselblad, or a Rolleiflex, or a dear old Bronica S2* will be perfectly familiar with the folding viewfinder hood. You have been unfolding it regularly for years to let you see the viewfinder screen while out in the sunlight. It keeps the glare off the screen as you peer downwards.

You are people of surprising facility - your minds have long since mastered the art of seeing things reversed in the horizontal mode and then tracking your subject. You can probably write your name backward in a mirror at parties. But you are in dead trouble when you try to see the screen of your new digital camera in that same sunlight.

The screen whites out - and the manufacturers have not thought to include the dear old waist-level folding hood to help. Too old-school? Grrrrrrr...

Ingenious users will rig up cardboard and gaffer tape hoods and then Blu-Tac them to the LCD screen. Gadget geeks will search the internet for strange little plastic folding hoods that were current about 8 years ago - they were made for smaller screens so it will be anyone's guess how to stick it on.

We've found the Hoodman 3.0 and 3.2 Loupe products and their associated accessory holders to be the best compromise right now. Each case is an individual experiment, so anyone contemplating it would do well to bring the camera in and fiddle. Blu-Tac is not unknown...

We can arrange the sunlight.

* Bronica S2 users are recognisable by their massive forearms and deafness - caused by holding the things and firing the shutter in confined spaces.

The 15-Second Wonder From Fujifilm

If you are the owner of a Polaroid ID camera camera, or the Polaroid instant back that mounts to a Hasselblad, Mamiya, or Bronica camera, you can score a cost-price bargain right now.

We have an embarrassment of Fujifilm FP-3000B Professional film packs. These have 10 shots each of an 8.5 cm x 10.8 cm size inside them. The film is ISO 3000 black and white instant type.

In this case it really is almost instant - 15 seconds from pull through the rollers to peel-apart. Super good contrast and fine grain.

The fridge is full of fresh packs - and we need room.They are normally $ 35 a pack but we're sending them out now for $ 28 per pack. If you need instant ID photos for your job site this is the cheapest you're ever going to see for film. Also good for low-light work.