I have often lamented that vendors of cameras and camcorders have removed the viewfinder in favour of the LCD only option. There are many arguments as to why this has been done varying from "fewer people used them", to what I suspect is the real reason of cost savings.

What is common across the board though is that in bright sunshine - especially as we get it full blast in Australia - the image on the LCD simply cannot be seen and therefore correct framing becomes hit and miss. If shooting at a sporting event, it becomes mostly impossible especially in fast paced events.

The HoodLoupe 3.0 from Perth based CameraElectronic may be just the ticket for you. It has a sturdy rubber coated body that fits over the screen (best check it fits yours before you buy) and also has a dioptre to adjust to your own eyesight.

By David Hague

David is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He lives at Sydney's Avalon Beaches nearly on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety, fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com