Glasses and viewfinders

[Alex Fallas]

So I wear glasses and am not a fan of contacts or laser surgery. Problem is my prescription is pretty high, so the viewfinder adjustments on most arris and panavisions just dont work. I can frame up fine but it would be nice to be able to check my AC if his/her focus is off right? So any solutions to this, special adapters or something I can keep with me?

[Stephen Williams]

So I wear glasses and am not a fan of contacts or laser surgery. Problem is my prescription is pretty high, so the viewfinder adjustments on most arris and panavisions just dont work. I can frame up fine but it would be nice to be able to check my AC if his/her focus is off right? So any solutions to this, special adapters or something I can keep with me?

 

Hi Alex,

 

Many people just wear their glasses without problem. I know others who have a diopter made to fit in the eyepiece.

 

Stephen

[James Baker]

There was a thread somewhere here not too long ago. I can't remember the title. Do a search.

 

The gist, I recall, was that some people have a diopter made by an optician that can be inserted in the viewfinder......

[Stephen Williams]

There was a thread somewhere here not too long ago. I can't remember the title. Do a search.

 

The gist, I recall, was that some people have a diopter made by an optician that can be inserted in the viewfinder......

 

Hi James,

 

The only problem with that is the Director & possibly somebody from the Agency may realize that the DOP is blind! :lol:

 

Stephen

[John Sprung]

Hi James,

 

The only problem with that is the Director & possibly somebody from the Agency may realize that the DOP is blind! :lol:

 

Stephen

They need to be sent to video village. The actual camera finder should be set up for the operator only.

 

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[Stephen Williams]

They need to be sent to video village. The actual camera finder should be set up for the operator only.

 

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

 

Hi John,

 

Very true, but unfortunately every time I move away from the camera somebody has to have a look. If I am using the Ultracam I always flick in the anamorphic optics to see if anybody comments, they never do

 

Stephen

[John Sprung]

Very true, but unfortunately every time I move away from the camera somebody has to have a look.

Long ago, I gripped on a show on which the DP/Operator told everybody that he had an eye infection -- it worked, nobody messed with his finder. ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[David Mullen ASC]

If you are jusy operating for a rehearsal, just wear the glasses.

 

I have a single-lens diopter that I got years ago at Panavision that fits snugly into the eyepiece, but it tends to fog up.

 

If operating, I just wear my glasses and make a little extended cup of blackwrap around the eyepiece that I can mold around my glasses when I look thru to get rid of any light leaks. Not the most comfortable thing, blackwrap against your cheek, but it's the only thing that holds its shape.

 

You can get the long eyepiece for a Panaflex at Panavision adjusted during the prep to add more diopters internally so you can focus for your eyes even without your glasses, but you can't do that for the short eyepiece, hence the external diopter lens I have.

[Bob Hayes]

Both Panavision and Arriflex make special eye cups that hold diopters. All you need to do is get the dimensions and have your optometrist make one up. Then you just order the diopter eye piece in addition to the regular one. When someone else wants to look through the camera just switch the eye cup.

 

I have a pretty strong stigmatism. So I went to one of those one hour glasses places and had a generic round diopter made. It is about 1.25" in diameter. I then cut a foam donut out of high density foam that is slightly larger on the exterior and slightly smaller on the interior. It has a shallow slit cut on the inside to hold the dipoter. To use it I jam it into the eye cup. Because I have a stigmatism I have to rotate it to get it sharp. This is a very low tech solution to the problem. The benefit is I can use it on any camera film or tape and I don't need to have a special eye piece to make it work.

 

Long ago, I gripped on a show on which the DP/Operator told everybody that he had an eye infection -- it worked, nobody messed with his finder.-- J.S.

 

I am a big advocate of not allowing people to look through the camera. Your eyes are one of the main entry points of all infections into your body. I let the first assistant look and sometimes the director. I explain how easy it is to get an eye infection through the eye piece and imply that I might have one right now. We usually have a separate chamois for the director. No one else looks period. An eye infection can really screw up an operator's career. This is not a small issue.

 

On the first feature I ever shot the director had a dripping case of conjunctivitis. Of course we didn't have the money for a chamois and the director was constantly sticking his infected eye to the eyepiece. I went to the store and bought a small bucket and a gallon of 99% rubbing alcohol. Every time the director stuck his eye to the camera I would give the eye cup a dunking.