Viewfinder magnifier for R-D1 / eyepiece unscrew problem

[Kawabatnam]

I have just received a x1.3 viewfinder magnifier from Megaperls (very fast delivery from Japan to Europe, by the way), and everything seems fine, except that I have a terrible time trying to unscrew the original eyepiece in order to screw the magnifier: I could probably apply more force, but how to avoid scratching the body, tearing appart the rubber ring, and maybe flawing the eyepiece itself etc.?
Any one, any hint? Thanks.

 

[mfogiel]

Hmmm, if it comes to the worst, you can pretty much destroy it, as any Nikon eyepiece can be applied, and it does not cost much... I suggest putting rubber gloves on and trying to unscrew with your hand, if it does not work, take a pair of electrical pinces and see if it works.

 

[jlw]

Get a piece of flat rubber sheet (hardware stores sell these for fixing toilets!) and cut out a section about one inch square. Lay this over your R-D 1 eyepiece, then press your thumb down firmly on the rubber sheet and try to turn it. The extra friction of the rubber sheet against the rubber eyepiece ring may be enough to loosen the ring, and there's almost no risk of marring the camera.

 

[kully]

Good ideas from mfogiel and jlw, you may also want to consider washing you hands to get rid of any grease, also dabbing the rubber eyepeice in washing up liquid and cleaning away with a wet paper/cloth towel and then putting some heft into it.

 

[JNewell]

When I was in high school I worked in a gas station. We had a saying: "get a bigger hammer." This was the workingman's version of "if force doesn't work, you're not using enough."

In this case, however, I strongly urge ignoring that principle. If it's not unscrewing with reasonable force, something may be wrong and given the service situation you could find yourself (best case) severely inconvenienced. I'd go slow and NOT force things...the suggestions above are good, but I'd be really careful about just dialing up the torque.

 

[rsl]

When I was in high school I worked in a gas station. We had a saying: "get a bigger hammer." This was the workingman's version of "if force doesn't work, you're not using enough."

In this case, however, I strongly urge ignoring that principle. If it's not unscrewing with reasonable force, something may be wrong and given the service situation you could find yourself (best case) severely inconvenienced. I'd go slow and NOT force things...the suggestions above are good, but I'd be really careful about just dialing up the torque.

I've had the opposite problem -- an eyepiece unscrewing itself and falling off. Fortunately it fell into my pocket.

But I agree with Newell. One thing you might try is taking a hair dryer and directing it toward the eyepiece for a minute or two and then trying to remove the eyepiece. Differential expansion might do the job. On the other hand, it might make the situation worse until things cool down again. Since I don't know the coeffcients of expansion for the body and eyepiece, I can't predict the result. But if the problem increases the increase should be temporary.

 

[Kawabatnam]

Well, thank you all, the rubber gloves did the trick! (though the rubber ring suffered quite a bit, anyway it wasn't new and had some previous marks). Now, time to enjoy that magnifier!

 

[georgef]

Has anyone tride the NIKON DG2 magnifier on an RD1? I like the fact that it swings out of the way when not in use.

The megapelrs magnifier...does it still show the 28mm framelines or hide them?
I am looking to get one for better focusing with my canon 50 1.2 and am looking to finalize my choice.
thanks.

 

[Kawabatnam]

Has anyone tride the NIKON DG2 magnifier on an RD1? I like the fact that it swings out of the way when not in use.

The megapelrs magnifier...does it still show the 28mm framelines or hide them?
I am looking to get one for better focusing with my canon 50 1.2 and am looking to finalize my choice.
thanks.

Well, 50mm and 35mm framelines are 100% OK; 28mm framelines are 70% usable: I mean that, since I don't wear glasses, I manage to "roll" my eye in the viewfinder (it is harmless...) to reach those framelines. In fact that is what I am already doing when mounting a 21mm lens (without the magnifier of course, and withouth an external viewfinder) -"rolling" my eye beyond the 28mm framelines to the entire viewfinder- so I am pretty used to that. This megaperls magnifier is pretty useful and from now on it will stay on the camera.
I guess the key point here is whether you wear glasses, but mind that this magnifier includes a dioptre adjustment facility (-3 ~ +2) that may or may not be useful to a glasses wearer...
Hope this helps.

 

[Tuolumne]

Could you provide a link to this magnifier? I'd like to get one.

Thanks,
/T

 

[Kawabatnam]

Could you provide a link to this magnifier? I'd like to get one.

Thanks,
/T

http://www.unicircuits.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=112

 

[SteveM(PA)]

Has anyone tride the NIKON DG2 magnifier on an RD1? I like the fact that it swings out of the way when not in use.

I have the Nikon DG-2, and I'm sure I talked it up at one time. With this finder, it's the 50mm frameline for which you'll be rolling your eyes. It is nice how it swings out of the way, the diopter adjustment is nice, but it ends up being a very clumsy attachment...going in and out of my bag, the rubber eyecup always falls off. And you'll need a spanning wrench to get the finder on and off with any grace. 🙂 I've chosen to defer to the 1:1 finder, keeping things small/uncomplicated. But the megaperls might be the trick.

 

[JNewell]

I have a DG-2 and find that due to the timing of the threads on it relative to the eyepiece it won't thead down all the way - the bracket with the hinge interferes with the rear of the camera.

 

[SteveM(PA)]

I have a DG-2 and find that due to the timing of the threads on it relative to the eyepiece it won't thead down all the way - the bracket with the hinge interferes with the rear of the camera.

I thought that was the way it is too at first (and the scratches on my camera will attest to it) but I found that you need to view the bracket and the screw thread as two independently moving parts. Make sure the finder is in its up position, and start screwing in the whole assembly. When the whole assembly has moved as far clockwise as it will go, grab the screw thread with your fingertips and hold it there while moving the bracket counter clockwise as far as it wil go. Then screw the whole assembly clockwise again...rinse...repeat...A spanning wrench really would make it easier, but fingers work.

 

[JNewell]

Ahh, interesting. I had wondered if that wasn't the case, Steve - thanks! I'll persevere next time I want to use it....which may be a while... 😉

 

[Tuolumne]

Bummer. I just tried ordering one and found out that Dirk can't ship it to the US because of some patent issues with Leica.

/T

 

[Kawabatnam]

Bummer. I just tried ordering one and found out that Dirk can't ship it to the US because of some patent issues with Leica.

/T

Have you read this on their page? "(...) Please contact us for DSLR use ". Probably Megaperls won't refuse an order for the dslr you happen to have... ?
Good luck.