Tamron adaptall 19AH 70-210mm, spring flowers, with a loupe

marcusBMG · Joined: 07 Dec 2012 Posts: 1313 Location: Conwy N Wales

I am experimenting with using a loupe for manual focusing. I spotted the Tarion loupe on ebay and thought it was worth checking out. I already have a perfect GGS loupe that I used on my K5 but it's clip frame is too small to go around the lcd on the K3. The Tarion has a nice metal multi-adjust bracket. It doesn't have diopter adjust (the newer TVR2 model does) but its large eyecup means I don't have to take off me specs.

Verdict so far: I think its a good item, well made, good optics. Works well with LV on th K3, which is more useful and user friendly than it was on the K5. For use with a lens like this I am not entirely convinced, I think my OVF magnifier is almost as good. But with a Viv (komine) 28mm f2 it was the biz.
Pentax K3, middling f's, mainly 150-210mm.

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dickb · Joined: 04 Apr 2008 Posts: 821

Being able to zoom in on the liveview image can be useful for precise manual focus, so in that way this will beat any OVF. Still, you are limited to the resolution displayed on the screen, so with a better loupe you may well see larger dots rather than more detail.

Oldhand · Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 9:50 pm Post subject:

Very impressive results.
Next best thing to an electronic viewfinder and focus assist of the mirrorless cameras.
Well done

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

you've certainly nailed the focus, that's a good accessory, and a very good lens. But someone still has to use it, those are very good pictures.

guardian · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 1746

Those are impressive photos in the OP, regarding both composition and splendid focus. And of course the Tamron 19AH is a MF lens of legendary quality.

Only yesterday I spent at least an hour attempting to reach a decision on an LCDVF for my Pentax K-01. I never ran across the Tarion shown in the OP, which I believe might be this item:

https://www.amazon.com/TARION-Universal-Display-Viewfinder-MarkIII/dp/B00PGW727G

Instead I was thinking about the Kinotehnik line, among others. Whereas the Tarion is a universal swingaway design, the various Kinotehnik viewfinders attach magnetically and detach straightaway.

My key takeaway, as I was trying to learn the ropes of these things, was the importance of the camera body's screen aspect ratio. At least that seemed important to me. It's because, while nailing focus with MF lenses and using your camera outdoors in bright sunlight are both very important, so is access to the camera's various buttons and controls. A wrong-sized LCDVF can cover the latter, an outcome I find unappealing. Hence, with the Kinotehnik devices, there are five variants sold, all having different aspect ratios:

https://www.kinotehnik.com/#lcdvf-compatibility

I suppose perfect screen coverage also contributes to getting just right the composition of your photo. Looking at the photos in the OP though, it seems clear a universal device works quite well indeed when it comes to nailing focus.

For me, only, cost and achievement of focus are the principal drivers of my decision. Also, I'm uncertain I will like an LCDVF at all once I have one to try. The Chinese versions are so inexpensive. Thought I might try one of them first, then go from there:

Click here to see on Ebay

The Chinese, with their various "versions", also allow buyer to choose proper aspect ratio. I like that.

marcusBMG · Joined: 07 Dec 2012 Posts: 1313 Location: Conwy N Wales

Thanks for your comments folks.

Yep guardian thats the one. In my OP there is a link to the description I posted of the loupe on pentax forums. As you can see from the pics there, there is a knob that does encroach on the control buttons area, but most importantly I am able to get my finger to the centre button to magnify the LV image. I did look at replacing that knob with a low profile nut instead but it won't come off!
I was hand holding with these pics so the reason I am not so convinced with a ltelephoto zoom like the 19AH is that the more you magnify, the more the image jiggers around due to your own slght movements. Also as you point out more mag doesn't necessarily mean more definition, pixels and blur all magnify too. But I was pleased with the exactness of the focus with my viv 28mm f2. I think there is a big benefit with that because OVF focus runs into the limitations of the focus screen (optimised for slower F).
The dial on my K3 runs easily through the mags 2x, 4x, 6x ...
But K3 + loupe won't fit easily into my camera bags.