Angle finder C - Badly designed?

[evilenglishman]

I got mine delivered this morning and one thing that bugs me (especially because of the price tag) is that when you switch from normal magnification to 2.5x the image is completely blurred and you have to refocus it. Once re-focused and you are happy with the camera focus you flip back to normal magnification only to find everything blurred again.
I understand that this may be a limitation of the hardware but it bloody sucks in my opinion. I don't have time to focus a lens and then focus the eyepiece twice :evil:

rant over.

[abel]

i considered getting one but the price turned me off of it. then i did some research and found out that an Angle Finder B w/ S Adapter would work on my 10d as well. i picked one up on ebay brand new for $60. it was all aluminum and very solid.

[Longwatcher]

WHile I though that was kind of annoying at first myself...

One quick question.

Do you have to adjust the focus (or for the lazy among us (which includes me) using autofocus, does the camera have to) when you change the focal length of your lens? Of course you do. You are changing the zoom factor of the angle finder so you need to refocus.

I would hate to think how much it would cost (or how much bigger it would have to be) if it had autofocus installed.

Lastly, at least you don't have my problem. After many years of looking through a zoom 500 microscope, my eyes have a bad tendency to adjust the focus themselves to compensate for the optics, making it hard for me to know for a fact that the lenses are correctly focused for the sensor plane (I think I have mentioned multiple times that I hate the 10D/D60 focusing screen). This is one of the reasons I like the angle finder C, if I am going to have a short depth of field, where focus is critical, then I put it on 2.5x and play with it and the lens until I am confident that the lens is focused correctly. I can sometimes use the 1.25x setting, but almost never have been able to trust the camera viewfinder by itself.

I personally love the Angle finder C as it has saved me severe neck strain on occasion and it occasionally helps with focusing. I don't always use or need it, but when I do it helps a bunch. MY only complaint with it is it seems a little loose and I agree that the price seems a bit much (although I figure it is a supply demand issue). I am happy with the quality of the optics themself, so feel the price is acceptable (especially since I have it already and have gotten good use out of it.

[evilenglishman]

Do you have to adjust the focus (or for the lazy among us (which includes me) using autofocus, does the camera have to) when you change the focal length of your lens? Of course you do. You are changing the zoom factor of the angle finder so you need to refocus.

I would hate to think how much it would cost (or how much bigger it would have to be) if it had autofocus installed.


good point, but I don't think its really about focus, its about magnification of what is already focused. The point of the 2.5x magnification is just to enlarge the centre area of the viewfinder image isn't it?

[CyberDyneSystems]

This means that either the Angle finder is malfunctioning.. or perhaps the diopter adjustment is wrong...?

Increasing the magnification on the angle finder should not in ANY way effect the focus needed on the lens..

What it SHOULD do is give you a much closer view that will allow you to fine tune the focus to be ore exact than can easily be achieved with the standard viewfinder alone.

There has to be something wrong in the optics path Mr. Englishman... though I would not know where to look for the fault.. I'd assume it may be with the Angle Finder itself.

[CyberDyneSystems]

I'm sorry.. I misunderstood the post, I thought you were refocusing the LENS.. not the Anglefinder...

Duh... :?

[evilenglishman]

From the manual:

after switching the magnification, dioptric correction will be necessary


seems like its a built in "problem". In normal mode it is extremely sharp, but switch to 2.5x and it is way off

[aeroshots2003]

I just tried it with this setup : EOS 1N RS + 28-105 + Anglefinder. Mine seems to be working flawless.

Maybe try it like this :

autofocus the camera viewing through the anglefinder with 2.5x. If it's blurred, correct the anglefinder view with the top focussing ring.
When the image is sharp, bring the magnification back to 1.25x. Still blurred? If so, I think the anglefinder's faulty...

Aero.

[Jon]

Have you made a diopter adjustment in the viewfinder? There may be a combination of viewfinder and anglefinder adjustments that won't require re-focussing (ideally, 0 diopter in the viewfinder would).

[evilenglishman]

Have you made a diopter adjustment in the viewfinder? There may be a combination of viewfinder and anglefinder adjustments that won't require re-focussing (ideally, 0 diopter in the viewfinder would).

Bingo!!!! first prize!!!

Thanks for the idea. Due to my dodgy eyesight i had changed the setting on the camera viewfinder - now ive fiddled with it and it works 100%

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

cheers mate!

[Jon]

'Cept now you'll need to keep changing diopter in the viewfinder when you use/remove the angle finder . . . Some days you can't win!

[evilenglishman]

true but at least i know everything works okay (except for my eyes) :D

[Longwatcher]

I'll have to see if that works for me

He runs down stairs, puts his camera back on it's tripod, brings the Angle Finder C into position. trys it without touching the diopter, sure enough usual problem...He sets diopter to 0 and

Doooh, why didn't I try that.



Now I just have to remember which diopter setting I use.

I knew there was a reason I stay on this forum, even if I ocasionally give bad answers, I am usually not quite that stupid, but you guys always correct me the good way.

[evilenglishman]

Maybe canon should have put this info in the manual :wink:

[Jon]

If you do a lot of jumping back and forth between angle finder and not, it may be worth getting a separate dioptric adjustment lens . . .

[evilenglishman]

I'm not actually sure which i would have to buy as there are no settings on my camera to indicate what the setting is.

[Jon]

Try some drugstore reading glasses to find out what works, or check with your eye doctor about your prescription. Since the zero-point on the diopter adjustment is set for -1 diopter, it's already got some correction built in for the apparent distance (1 m.)