REVIEW: Hoodman Hood Loupe 3.0 and Cinema Kits

I LOVE my old Hoodman Loupe and whenever I go on outdoor photo walks and show it to my students they fall in love with it and borrow it so much that I realize that I probably shouldn’t show them how great it works! :-) If you aren’t familiar with this awesome product, just check out the video above (if you haven’t already) to see how it works.

A Must Have for Video

You can either upgrade your Loupe by adding Cinema Strap and HoodMAG 3.0 3x Magnifying Eyecup for HoodLoupe 3.0 or you can just by the full Hoodman Cinema Kit from B&H to have a proper eye piece for doing video with your DSLR. This is a dirt cheap alternative to the popular but crazy expensive Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x (especially for pro bodies where it cost over $450 as of the time this article was written!).

For those who want something more durable than the Cinema Strap, Hoodman also offers the HoodCrane which is available in the Cinema Kit Pro for a solution that is on par with the best Zacuto solution. Here’s a video that shows the the pro solution works:

Conclusion

The official title for this base unit is the Hoodman HoodLoupe Professional LCD Screen Loupe for 3" Displays, but I still call the new one “the new Hoodman Loupe.”  At $79.95 (as of 12/16/2010 on B&H) this is a pricey little gadget, but after owning the original one for about a year and a half I totally forgot about the price – I just know how much I love mine. Put quite simply, I don’t leave home for an outdoor shoot without it.

Now that I’m shooting video more often, I find myself just leaving the Cinema Kit attached to my 5D Mark II most of the time. This makes for a great combo when I’m on a big shoot. I can just reach into my ThinkTankPhoto Airport Security v2.0 backpack have my 5D Mark II ready to go for video and my 1D Mark IV as my all-purpose photo camera.

Disclosure

I was provided a Cinema Kit and Loupe 3.0 by my friends at B&H for the purpose of this review, and I may receive a commission if you purchase products using the links in this article. Please show your appreciation of this article by making your purchase using the links on this blog.