191010

Since I designed my MK1 NBC eyecup for the HS10 viewfinder I have been able to give it a good try out. When I posted the blog detailing its construction the weather was somewhat overcast and cloudy with no sun and it worked fine. However, since then we have had some fine sunny weather and I have to say that although MkI does improve things, in bright sunshine it suffers from some light ingress.


Nil desperandum as they say, I made a last desperate attempt to find another solution in the Milton Keynes branch of Jessops. I took my HS10 along and a young man – Chris – quickly removed an eyecup from a new NIKON SLR and offered it up to the HS10 viewfinder. Bingo! It was looking good. Chris explained that this was the only eyecup on any camera in the shop that had a large enough viewing area that would allow the viewfinder and the eye sensor to remain uncovered

Chris could not sell me the eyecup as it had to go back on the camera but he provided me with the details and offered to order one for me but told me that I’d probably be better of going to Ebay. In fact I ordered through Amazon and it arrived this morning.

Fixing it on the viewfinder was a simple matter of cutting three narrow strips of double sided selotape and applying to the back of the eyecup then carefully pressing it onto the HS10 viewfinder shroud. This is the result:

We had bright sunshine this morn so I into the garden to give it a go…….and?

Spiffing stuff matey! Only when shooting into bright sunshine does it allow a bit of light in but I rarely shoot into the sun anyway so no problem there. I suspect that if I removed my Delkin LCD shroud I would be able to get my eye in closer and achieve even better results but this will do for me OK. The eye sensor is unaffected and continues auto switching between viewfinder and LCD screen although I have this permanently turned of - in my opinion it’s a dopey idea and Fujifilm would have made a better job of the design by using the space to provide a larger viewfinder

MkII then gives the result I was looking for and can be considered a success. Oh happy day!!!!

If you want to carry out this simple mod to your own HS10 you need to order a NIKON DK-20 eyecup. As I mentioned before, I ordered mine through Amazon, it cost £5.99 with free delivery. Once again this mod will not void your warranty as the eyecup and selotape can be easily removed with a little surgical spirit to clean up. If the bloke who flogs these eyecups on Amazon reads this could I suggest 10% please?

Many thanks to the very friendly and helpful staff at the MK Jessops branch and especially Chris.

If you implement MkII on your HS10 I would be tickled to hear from you and how you got on either here or via my email ad.

PS. since I posted this entry I have had plenty of chance to try the mod and have found that the selotape kept coming unstuck so I have stuck it on with gel type superglue and it seems like its on there for good. (Added 11.05 on Boxing day - 26/12/10)

grampyblog@aol.com

And now for something else completely different – again!!!!

Down to the pub a few days ago for a glug and was quite taken aback by this piece of truly remarkable engineering confection in the car park...........

I spoke to the driver of the machine - a chap sporting a Parachute Regiment sweatshirt...."you what"? ; and he told me that this design is known as a “Phoenix” and “it’s powered by a 1600 VW engine”. I didn’t say anything to him but I quietly reflected that it would look fantastic being hauled instead by three snorting, straining, snow white stallions ………..now that’s real horsepower!..........that's romantic.........but it's NOT "para" so I'll just have to dream on won't I?

So long and see you later.

081010

And now for something completely different……


Recently, I bought a new Fujifilm Finepix HS10 bridge camera to replace my S9600. One of the main reasons I chose this camera was that it had a proper viewfinder. (I find the LCD screens on cameras are all but useless in sunshine).

It’s a good camera except for the silly little viewfinder which is made worse by the lack of an eyecup. The result is that you can only see the information in the viewfinder in subdued light. I have been onto Fujifilm and they do not supply or have any plans to supply, an eyecup. I have trawled round various camera shops to try and source a third party eyecup that might fit even with a bit of modding – but to no avail. So I gave up – until this morning.

As I locked up my workshop yesterday I accidently knocked a package from a shelf which landed on the floor. I didn’t try to pick it up and left it there. Then in the early hours of this morning in that half asleep half awake state I could see this package laying on the shed floor and I thought “camera!”. Now you might have thought that a pair of ex-government nuclear, biological and chemical rubber gloves (for that is what the package contained) had about as much in common with a camera as a politician and honesty,  but there you would be wrong.

So if you want to breathe life into your HS10 viewfinder do this:

First remove this finger.

Pay attention FUJIFILM it must be this finger!

Cut a piece like this from the finger.

Stretch it over the viewfinder shroud then take a piece of thinnish wire and form it into a shape similar to this.

Feed the wire loop over the protruding rubber then fold over the rubber to make a neat hem – job done!

It works well, does not in any way damage your camera and will not invalidate your warranty. The diopter adjuster knob is left clear for continued accessability The HS10 is a great camera and this mod will make it even more pleasurable to use. Total cost was 25p for a pair of NBC gloves bought from a car boot sale about five years ago. Technical detail – the rubber material the gloves are made from is .032” thick and nicely stretchy.

If you implement my mod on your camera and you like it I would welcome your feedback either here or at:

grampyblog@aol.com

Pip-pip chaps!