Elizabeth Lowrey
Well-known member
I wanted to urge all those using any viewfinder type device (whether the Carbonite Scope, the GRID VF, or some other loupe) to learn from my mistake and to take VERY seriously the warnings about the potential of such devices to burn a bad spot or "hole" in your LCD screen if proper precautions are not followed. The particular product doesn't matter, because it could happen with any loupe or similar viewfinder device with a lens. But my experience just happened to be with the GRID.
I bought the GRID around a month ago, in advance of a major shooting trip that I just returned from last week. I love the GRID's construction, its light weight, magnetic attachment, great functionality, very reasonable price, and the fact that I don't need to worry about glasses when looking at my LCD at very close range. It's a wonderful product that comes with a very conspicuous warning about using the included and attached light-sealing cup for the eyepiece whenever the GRID is not in use but attached to the LCD. Before even purchasing the GRID, I'd read posts reminding of the fact that, as a matter of physics, any lens is going to focus direct light to much higher intensities so that, in the situation where the sun is directly behind a VF lens, it can act as a light and heat magnifier and essentially fry a bad spot onto the screen if it's left uncovered for (unspecified) periods of time. I appreciated this potential as a matter of theory but had no real world experience with just how quickly it could happen.
Still, I was, I believe, vigilant in always capping the eyepiece of the GRID whenever I stepped away from the camera for more than 15 seconds or so and regardless of the position of the sun, even though I knew that it would take direct (not oblique or reflected) sunlight to do damage and even though I presumed it would take many minutes for that damage to occur. I was trying to make good practice such a habit that I would never have happen what actually happened. Which was that I was fiddling with dolly track, fine tuning some things away from the camera on a shot, working by myself, and having to make repeated trips back and forth to the camera. On one such occasion, I suppose I thought I would just be a few seconds and so had neglected to attach the protective eye cup, got distracted with my task, which turned out to be longer than expected, and returned to the camera about 2-3 minutes later unaware that I had not followed my own safety protocol until I saw the eyecup dangling beside the GRID. This was my last day of shooting on the trip and probably the first setup where the sun was directly behind me, so it was the first time that anything could have even happened with my neglect.
But that perfect storm was enough. Two or three minutes was enough. My heart sank when I looked in the VF and saw an ugly, yellow-rimmed "hole" in my LCD where the sunlight had used the GRID to burn it. The LCD still functions otherwise, has all its touch features and displays normal picture everywhere except for the approximate 5mm diameter bad spot. But I will assure you, you won't feel very good if this happens to you. So if you use any VF with your LCD, always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS cap it if you step away from the camera, no matter for how long, no matter where the sun is. A fellow GRID user tells me he always keeps the GRID around his neck via the lanyard for this very reason, so that it comes off the LCD whenever he steps away from the camera and thus the potential problem is averted. I'm not sure his solution is the one I'll use, as I find wearing it around the neck hampering in many circumstances I have to confront as a solo shooter (and sometime subject of my own shot!). But at the very least, I will have to make so ingrained the habit of ALWAYS using the eyecup that it's never a matter of "oh I'll just be a few seconds" and then losing track of the time and realizing those seconds were a couple of minutes. So I'm hoping others can learn from and avoid my misfortune.
I bought the GRID around a month ago, in advance of a major shooting trip that I just returned from last week. I love the GRID's construction, its light weight, magnetic attachment, great functionality, very reasonable price, and the fact that I don't need to worry about glasses when looking at my LCD at very close range. It's a wonderful product that comes with a very conspicuous warning about using the included and attached light-sealing cup for the eyepiece whenever the GRID is not in use but attached to the LCD. Before even purchasing the GRID, I'd read posts reminding of the fact that, as a matter of physics, any lens is going to focus direct light to much higher intensities so that, in the situation where the sun is directly behind a VF lens, it can act as a light and heat magnifier and essentially fry a bad spot onto the screen if it's left uncovered for (unspecified) periods of time. I appreciated this potential as a matter of theory but had no real world experience with just how quickly it could happen.
Still, I was, I believe, vigilant in always capping the eyepiece of the GRID whenever I stepped away from the camera for more than 15 seconds or so and regardless of the position of the sun, even though I knew that it would take direct (not oblique or reflected) sunlight to do damage and even though I presumed it would take many minutes for that damage to occur. I was trying to make good practice such a habit that I would never have happen what actually happened. Which was that I was fiddling with dolly track, fine tuning some things away from the camera on a shot, working by myself, and having to make repeated trips back and forth to the camera. On one such occasion, I suppose I thought I would just be a few seconds and so had neglected to attach the protective eye cup, got distracted with my task, which turned out to be longer than expected, and returned to the camera about 2-3 minutes later unaware that I had not followed my own safety protocol until I saw the eyecup dangling beside the GRID. This was my last day of shooting on the trip and probably the first setup where the sun was directly behind me, so it was the first time that anything could have even happened with my neglect.
But that perfect storm was enough. Two or three minutes was enough. My heart sank when I looked in the VF and saw an ugly, yellow-rimmed "hole" in my LCD where the sunlight had used the GRID to burn it. The LCD still functions otherwise, has all its touch features and displays normal picture everywhere except for the approximate 5mm diameter bad spot. But I will assure you, you won't feel very good if this happens to you. So if you use any VF with your LCD, always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS cap it if you step away from the camera, no matter for how long, no matter where the sun is. A fellow GRID user tells me he always keeps the GRID around his neck via the lanyard for this very reason, so that it comes off the LCD whenever he steps away from the camera and thus the potential problem is averted. I'm not sure his solution is the one I'll use, as I find wearing it around the neck hampering in many circumstances I have to confront as a solo shooter (and sometime subject of my own shot!). But at the very least, I will have to make so ingrained the habit of ALWAYS using the eyecup that it's never a matter of "oh I'll just be a few seconds" and then losing track of the time and realizing those seconds were a couple of minutes. So I'm hoping others can learn from and avoid my misfortune.
