Aging eyes and alternatives to external monitors

[u/funipants]

When I started using a prosumer mirrorless camera several years ago (mostly for documentary work), its fold-out screen was totally adequate for my purposes. As I've aged, the image on the screen looks blurrier and blurrier. Glasses help, but my eyes' minimum focus distance has increased to the point where I need to hold the camera further away to see clearly, making it more difficult to see details.

Anybody else in the same boat? I know external monitors are an option, but I'm wondering if there's anything else I'm not considering (since a more compact rig is always nice).

Also, for those of you who've gone the external monitor route, how big of a screen would you recommend?

[u/movil_tv]

Maybe a monitor loupe?

[u/Robert_NYC]

Bifocals.

[u/Peaks_n_Valleys]

Well, if your eyesight struggles to focus on things close to you, a solution like a loupe or EVF isn’t going to help that much. I’d also wonder if a larger monitor would really help in that regard, because you might run into the same problem of it looking blurry unless it’s far enough away from you. I think you should look into glasses, contacts, or corrective eyesight measures that would help you overcome this problem since it’s likely to affect more than just your camera operating.

Still, I have some low cost solutions that I own personally I’d be happy to share with you. One is a loupe I found on Amazon and I’m actually quite happy with it. I bought it because I don’t always like having the added weight of a monitor on my camera rig, and for me it’s just more about being able to see if I’m filming in sunlight or other bright conditions. https://a.co/d/0d6Avq8Z At $35 it’s pretty cheap. There IS a lens element inside of it that magnifies the LCD screen, so when I look inside the eye piece even the 3” screen is clear and I have no problem reading on screen data or nailing focus marks. With my camera rigged up the way it is, the electronic viewfinder on my S5iiX is basically unusable since it doesn’t tilt.

Another thing I have for seeing the LCD better in bright conditions is a simple Smallrig screen shade. https://a.co/d/04Wwdahj I bought mine on eBay on the used market because it was made for the Panasonic GH6, which has the exact same LCD as my S5iiX. But it looks almost the same as the one linked above so maybe they’re identical, I’m not sure.

Another option is an electronic viewfinder. However, they can be quite expensive if you get a brand like Zacuto, and rigging them can be its own headache, but the people who like them swear by them. Not sure a Zacuto would weigh less than a modern monitor. But I found this one when researching and it looks both lightweight and very versatile. https://ebay.io/m/q8g9aE and this is the slightly older one https://ebay.io/m/oRsdZz I think the consensus is it’s better to power them from a separate USB port since many cameras don’t output enough power over HDMI to just use the HDMI port alone. But if you’re powering your camera with vmount batteries that shouldn’t be an issue. I know my Panasonic S5iiX can’t power them from the HDMI output but I can’t speak for other cameras. Personally, I think this looks like the most lightweight EVF solution, and would be far easier to rig comfortably than a Zacuto unit (not mention the cost difference).