Another Good Hoodman Idea

Hoodman do have some dandies - good ideas I mean. Their initial design of the Hoodloupe 3.0 was the definitive answer to seeing an LCD screen image in the bright Australian sun. We sold squillions of them and people hung them round their necks while outdoors shooting.

Then Hoodman invented a number of ways of attaching these loupes to the back of digital cameras - rubber loops, plastic scaffolding, and eventually dedicated metal frameworks. These latter solutions were made possible by the fact that new Loupes - the Hoodloupe 3.2 - have a 1/4" screw socket underneath them just like a camera and the whole thing can be screwed together tight.

However - there are still people who prefer to keep the Loupe separate from the camera - and Hoodman have now released an accessory to let these users do so without a lanyard dangling from the neck. It is called the Hoodman Link. It's the second cousin of the humble retractable key holder that some peole keep on their belts.

There's a three foot length of Kevlar cord in the Link and a quick release attachment on the outer end near the Loupe. It's spring loaded and has a catch to let it stay out without tension - press the central button and the whole thing reels in again.

Look, folks, let's face it. As we get to be older photographers we tend to accumulate lots of things dangling around our necks. Guilt, eyeglasses on chains, rings on chains, medals on chains, padlocks on chains ( special club ), and no end of ID badges, fake bullets, and other jewellery. Anything that gets one dangler off is a darned good idea.

At Last - Hoodman Makes The Video Loupe We Have All Been Waiting For

Yup. Hoodman have done it. They brought out the camera support frame to marry their new Hoodloupe to the Canon DSLR cameras.

This was on the cards for a while - as soon as the H-32  and CH -32 loupes came out with the integrated 1/4 20 threaded socket set into the underside of the body, we knew they were working on a support system for it.

In the past they had depended the 3.0 loupes from the hot shoe of various cameras - and we hasten to add that this option does still exist for users of cameras other than Canon. And there were rubber straps that hugged the DSLR body to position the 3.0 loupes as well. Heck, I even got one to sit successfully on an Olympus compact camera, which surprised even me...

But now we have the new Custom Finder Kit. Machined aluminium anodised black frame, with a firm and direct connection to the 32 loupe, and a proper connector for the tripod screw socket at the bottom of the camera. As you'll see from the images, there are also two adjustable support arms that rest against the front of the camera body and prevent twisting away from the loupe.

We do not know if these arms are going to let the custom finder frame sit against cameras from other manufacturers, but you can bet we're going to find out in the next few days. A little experimentation with an allen key is in order.

You'll note a big brass knob on the LHS of the frame - you can release the loupe holder from the main frame if you want to take the rig apart for normal still shooting.

Okay - if you are determined to take video with your Canon, this is your rig.