Canon P eyepiece question

[jgoody]

I have recently acquired a Canon P and love the smaller feel in the hand compared to my Canon 7 - but I need to figure out way to add an eyepiece diopter. For the 7 I made a very successful adaptation of a Nikon eyepiece diopter. The P is a little more challenging as the viewfinder is frankly not as good, and requires one to really get the eye tight to it. My question is this - if I unscrew the eyepiece cover, held on I assume by the one visible screw, does it just come off without buggering up anything inside? My hope is to replace it with something that holds a diopter. That way I will be able to keep my eye tight to the viewfinder and hopefully see all of the frame lines.

 

[jgoody]

Since no one responded I unscrewed the single screw. It just holds the frame, which hooks on the left side, under the metal of the top plate. In my camera there is a clear glass protective lens to keep dust out (with no diopter) in the eyepiece frame. It appears to be beveled and slid into the metal frame, as well as being glued.

 

[EdColorado]

Do you think you could get that glass piece out of the frame and replace it with something of the proper diopter? I've heard of people buying cheap plastic lens reading glasses and cutting the needed piece out of those.

I wouldn't mind a diopter on my P but my eyes aren't bad enough yet to make it necessary. I can still see the split image well enough to focus. Give it a few years though and that may not be the case. :\

 

[jgoody]

I am concerned about mucking up the eyepiece frame so I thought I would try to replace the metal part. I took an old lens from a discarded pair of glasses and drilled into the plastic for the screw and mounted it - I though I would just cut the lens to the size of the metal frame. The vision was much better than with my glasses but I have to figure out how to make the part that hooks under the left side as the new lens doesn't sit tight against the left side. Or try to remove the lens in the existing frame and replace...

 

[jgoody]

I ending up doing the same thing as I did with my Canon 7. It is way better than shooting with my eyeglasses on but the 35mm frame line is still dodgy.
I modified a Nikon rectangular diopter DK 20c ($15) which normally slides on the Nikon (also works on the OM 1 or 2 cameras) eyepiece. I removed the lens and cut off the tabs (on the side and top of the mount) with a hacksaw blade, making it much thinner, reinstalled the diopter lens, and put on a few strip of removable thin foam tape near the edges, and stuck it to the camera. Perhaps I can figure out a way to mount it to the P without the foam tape which is holding the diopter a little away from the eyepiece and probably limiting my use of the 35mm frames. On the 7 with the .8 finder I can see the 35mm lines, not so much on the P.

 

[EdColorado]

Looks very nice, good job! Only issue I see is, as you mentioned, the ability to see the 35mm lines. I find with my P I need my eye as close as I can get it and this looks like it could be an issue. I've gotten pretty used to just winging it with the 35mm already though, so depending on how much this changes the view it may not be an issue.

Well done.

 

[jgoody]

I'm thinking I could just leave off the Canon P eyepiece and affix mine right to the body -- that way push it closer in a touch.

 

[Trask]

Always nice to ready about someone's ingenuity. With my P, while wearing glasses, I also just guesstimate the 35mm FOV as "bigger than the 50mm lines." Your solution is attractive, though I would always worry about the camera/eyepiece rubbing against my clothing when I carry the camera and so getting knocked off. I've already lost an ORAKO off my Leica by it's being bumped somehow, so I can easily imagine the a taped eyepiece diopter taking flight too. Not too hard to replace, thankfully.

 

[jgoody]

Seems to be staying on -- but only $15 to replace if it goes AWOL. Is there anything for Leica that's $15?

 

[spydrxx]

After much diopter frustration with my Canon P, I decided to take action. I removed the black eyepiece holder cpntaining a protective cover glass and removed the clear coverglass. Next, I disassembled a Nikon diopter of the appropriate strength removing the lens itself . The lens was too large to fit in the Canon holder, so I scored it, cut it, and sanded the edges until it fit the Canon eyepiece holder. Next I cleaned the diopter lens thoroughly, placed it on the holder and using a microdrop of super glue at each corner fixed it in place. I reattached the black eyepiece holder with the diotper and report that it solved the problem. I'm now happy as a clam with my Canon P.

 

[jgoody]

Nicely done!