[AntonioD]

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Hello --

I am trying to figure out how I can "extend" the eyecup on my K-3. It is just a little too far away from my eye such that I cannot get a good look through it to take pictures.

I have looked at the O-ME53 and the K200D, but these seem like more of a magnification system and I cannot determine if they put the viewfinder eyecup farther away from the camera, which is what I need.

I want to maintain the rectangular aspect ratio of the current viewfinder eyecup with anything that I replace it with. As I said in my post title, I simply want to "extend" it -- or have it protrude more from the camera, if you will. Can you please help me find the right solution?

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

[marcusBMG]

The O-ME53 is a very slimline magnifier. I have just reviewed a 1.08-1.60 magnifier which probably would achieve what you want in terms of "extending the eyecup" and because you can drop the mag down you can reduce the vf vignetting to hardly anything.
The tenpa 1.36x I use has the most benefit in terms of putting a bit of distance between my eye and the camera (and therefore making space for my nose )

[vonBaloney]

I had a Tenpa and it worked fine, but the extension makes the real viewfinder vulnerable -- got some pressure put on it in my camera bag and the whole viewfinder cracked. I now use a KPS magnifier model that has a very slim profile and has an optional circular eyecup which I like quite a bit. You can also just get a cheap replacement eyepiece that is a cup which won't give you extension but will help block out light (and which tend to fall off since they are so cheap, so it might need a little something to help keep it on.

[Not a Number]

I'm afraid I don't understand. Extending the eye cup is not going to bring the viewfinder closer to your eye. It will just mean you have something to rest your eye against and block out extraneous light. Magnifiers are just going to cutoff more of the viewfinder.

Since I wear eyeglasses I can't see all of the viewfinder to begin with. I've just learned to live with it and shift my eye around if I need to see parts of the viewfinder. With a diopter of -10.50 on my right eye the alternative is either to wear contacts or LASIK. At my age and the amount of correction LASIK usually leads to cataracts so my eye doctor said wait until I need cataract surgery and he can correct the vision at the same time.

[marcusBMG]

With a diopter of -10.50

I suggested in my review that the 1.08-1.60 Vf magnifier could be good for large diopter correction but if I remember right from specifications on the ads that was up to about -4.5, ... even with -2.5 on the camera as well that's not enough!
I am lucky that my -3.5 eye is accomodated by that VF magnifier, and also by the inbuilt -1 of the tenpa, so I can shove my specs out of the way and really look through the viewfinder.

[Not a Number]

Before adjustable diopter viewfinders they used to sell diopter correction eyepieces - I don't recall what the max was maybe +/- 4. They also used to sell just the frame so you could have an optician cut down the lens of an old pair of eyeglasses to fit in them.

I suppose you could get an old lens cut down and glue it to the frame of one of those cheap aftermarket universal eyecup adapters. Maybe by adjusting the diopter on the viewfinder you could your eye closer.

[lmd91343]

Canon makes a true eyepiece extender. It slightly decreases the image size, making the image about 3/4 of the original size. If you are near sighted and wear glasses, it is the same effect as the image size reduction as when you put on your glasses.

The two models on the page below have the prongs set at different widths. I don't know which is appropriate for Pentax. A bit of research is required to figure out the proper choice. A ruler to measure your Pentax EP prong slots and a web search to find which Canon model is nearest in size.

I've been meaning to try one as I am an eyeglasses wearer.

canon eyepiece extender Buy or Learn at Adorama

[Not a Number]

Canon makes a true eyepiece extender.

Interesting, however the spec sheet and reviews say it reduces the viewfinder image size by 30% making it very difficult to use manual focus through the OVF. Since I mainly use MF lenses this may not be a good solution in my case.

[lmd91343]

You can make the image larger and crop out part of the field of view or shrink image and keep the field of view. DSLR users have wrestled with this for a while now. With the top of the line film cameras, speed finders were available.

[AntonioD]

I just wanted the viewfinder eyecup to extrude from the camera more, so that I could get my eye up to it.

[LarsW]

I have the O-ME53 for my K-5 and it's about 2mm deeper than the original (I don't have both here so I can't say more exact)

[aleonx3]

I just wanted the viewfinder eyecup to extrude from the camera more, so that I could get my eye up to it.

The O-ME53 does extended the viewfinder out quite a bit so your nose does not have to rub against the rear LCD. I have it on both my k-5IIs and k-3 camera. It works quite well on both cameras IMHO.

[AntonioD]

Hello and thank you to everyone who took part in this discussion. Although I thought there was no hope, LarsW and aleonx3 brought it back with their helpful comments. A special thanks to LarsW and aleonx3 for that! I will definitely be purchasing the OME-3 for my camera in the near future. Thanks and thanks again!

[Not a Number]

If that's all you are looking for there are always these:

6 in1 Rubber Eyepiece Eyecup Eye Cup for Canon Nikon Sony Minolta Olympus Pentax | eBay

[AntonioD]

Thanks, Not a Number! I will definitely consider one of those as an option, probably buying it before the $35 OME-3.