I have finally caved in and purchase a Hoodman Loupe – and like a lot of people I want to know why I waited so long to buy one. Maybe it is because what it does is so simple and the price seems pretty dang pricey. The Hoodman Loupe is placed over the LCD screen of your digital camera so you can see the screen if you are outside in bright sunlight.

It took me a while to figure out how to get the Hoodman Loupe to focus properly. You twist the eyepiece till things come into focus. At first the twisting felt like I was going to break it – it was so tight. But once I got it going focusing was easy. And I won’t have to focus again, unless my vision changes.

$79 sounds like a lot of money – but I imagine you could do this with an empty toilet paper cardboard roll. And with how often I photograph outdoors this will definitely make things easier to know when things are exposed properly and if focus is sharp.

Excellent question and of course there is a small debate whether you should cover your LCD screen with a plastic protector. My Nikon cameras came with plastic covers and I use them ALL the time. If I want I can pop the cover off and put it back again afterwards. Over the years there are scratches, nicks, and even some dust.

I have had my Canon 5D Mark II for a week now and it did NOT come with a plastic cover and there is now a crack in the LCD screen. I am writing this post out of shear “ticked off-ness” cause it has only been a week and I am brought to great sadness. I’ll get it repaired – it hopefully will only be $15 to fix – but it is possible it’ll cost a lot more money. I am living with the regret that if I had found a 3rd party plastic cover my LCD screen would not be broken.

Do plastic covers get in the way? I don’t think so – I am use to them. And to be honest the best way to enjoy my photographs isn’t on an LCD screen – but on a wall print!

So here is what a broken LCD screen looks like – photographs are going to be so beautifully displayed with that scar running through the high definition display. Remember people, using a plastic cover on an LCD screen is like insurance (or using condoms) no one likes to use them but the are necessary to avoid accidents or in the case of insurance pay for those accidents.

Canon 5D Mark II broken LCD screen

Another view of my broken Canon 5D Mark II.

Canon 5D Mark II broken LCD screen

And here is my Nikon D90 – with the plastic cover. I have never had a problem with the plastic cover – I can see through it and I know my camera is relatively safe. This is how to protect your camera.

Nikon D90 with the plastic LCD cover

And this is my Nikon D90 without the plastic cover. It takes less than a second to pop off and a second to pop back on. Yes the images look great with the plastic protection, they look better without the plastic protection, and they look their best on a computer monitor or as a wall portrait!

Nikon D90 without plastic LCD cover