M2 Eyepiece Aperture install?

Not difficult IF you have the tools to remove the top plate. If you don't have the tools then it is impossible/dangerous (you'll scratch your camera trying to open it up).

The tools you need are called flexi-wrenches, they're ungodly expensive for what they are, but you can apparently make them out of various materials like plexiglass or even soft, non scratching metal if you have a jewelers saw.

Once the top plate is off it's a 1 minute switch.
 
You need several of them because there are several sizes of collars/nuts that need to be removed.

If you buy on ebay you should just buy one of the 6 or 9 piece sets.

I think just making some might be easier and cheaper - you can buy a jewelers saw for $10 including a dozen blades for it, then just find a thin sheet of aluminum or plexiglass and use that to make tools in each necessary size for the M2. All they are doing is squeezing on the round collars or nuts without scratching them. If you hated your camera you could do the same job with pliers.

Here's a video on how to take off the top plate of the M2/M3 - the guy in the video specifically mentions installing the new aperture / eyelet piece around the middle of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqYi_sP1WNs
 
just so you know... if you remove that mask (nevermind putting a different one in with a bigger hole), nothing really changes. No extra view... I'm pretty sure. I took that mask off and kept it off because, well, umm, weight reduction.

edit: I see it says that the other aperture frame allows you "to see 20% more". Well, with my glasses on I still couldn't see outside the 35 frames (before I dropped and blacked out the finder, that is)

I made my flexiclamps out of plexiglass (and the one for the rewind post out of metal-- that one's the trickiest); not too hard to do if you've got a dremel tool.
 
I do have a dremel. Seems like you could drill to the right size, then cut out most of it with a cutting blade?

That isn't a bad point, it doesn't even need to be in. Leaving it out doesn't seem like it would matter except maybe the black helps keep some reflections down?

I've just noticed that the stock mask hides a fair amount of the out of frame information. I prefer to see that because it lets you adjust quickly without searching around.
 
yeah... that's the idea. Pretty sure the wind lever screw is a little big for regular drill bits but it's not that hard to grind it out. You can see my set of tools here. The one for the screw beside the counter broke but it doesn't bother me since I lost that screw anyways (tighten your screws, folks!).

I took the mask out completely and noticed no difference at all. No more reflections (though the finder was cloudy and garbage since forever... until I broke it), no increased peripheral view. I guess the front lens of the RF is the limiting factor, and opening up the rear aperture doesn't do much (if anything). But that's just my experience; if the guy says it lets in 20% more view, maybe he's right. I just didn't notice any difference, positive or negative.
 
When I shift my eye around to the top and bottom I can see a little more than I would of been able to straight on.

Perhaps your eye is closer to your forehead and nose than mine happens to be.
 
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