Alright, so I saw one of these crazy things (http://www.milwaukeetool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_27_40028_-1_753476_197137_192137) recently, and I want to get my hands on some of that tech. I'm guessing the battery only powers the display, so my design should be pretty straight forward.

I'm making a portable camera boom for filming skateboarding, and I really want to be able to see what I'm doing. The LCD will be really far away, so I was thinking what better to use than fiber optics. The idea is that I would make a fitting to pop over the regular viewfinder that you look through [top right] (http://66.230.222.40/pics/jvc-grd290.jpg), then run the cable up to some modded out sun glasses. Then I'd be able to see what's really happening with one eye, and what's in my camera's view in the other.

Could fiber optics possibly help me accomplish this? I don't know much about them, although I'm starting to read a lot right now, so I don't even know yet if this is feasible. All I know is that I saw some cables for $10.

Also- I think the viewfinder thing is .44", though I can't find the exact number at the moment.

Having a display in your sunglasses of your skateboard while you are skateboarding would really confuse you and you will not be able to skate.

No, I would definitely be able to skate. I'm not retarded. That's not the question I asked anyways, so that's my problem to figure out.

IMO you'd be better off removing the viewfinder (or the LCD screen) and extending the cables that run to it and just using that. It'd likely be very hard to make an even reasonably good looking image.

RDP

I don't think I could handle relocating as a beginner at electronics, though I'd like to hear your opinion on that just to make sure. You know I got my soldering iron just in case ;). Yours is still in my trunk. But yeah, let me know if you think I could do it, I definitely will have some time to kill soon. If that proves too hard, I think I'll stash this idea away until I'm decent enough at soldering and such to try it.

I guess I overestimated the clarity of fiber optics...

Moving the view finder isn't that hard.

And I'm not saying you are retarded and can't see two different angles at the same time. It would just confuse your brain at first.

At first, yes. I think I could get used to it fairly easily though, as balancing/turning/riding on a skateboard and filming using the view finder is quite easy [holding the camera out with my arm]. I think I would be able to process the two images with a little bit of practice, the same way you can monitor speed or rear view mirrors in a car while watching the road ahead. And I won't be concentrating that much on the LCD, just enough to know what shape is the rider and how they're positioned in the screen [I'll want them fairly centered most of the time, possibly off to one side or the other depending on the shot].

I'll search tomorrow, but of the top of your head can you remember any sites with tutorials on extending an LCD from a camera like I would have to? Thanks for the help.

You'd have to take it off first to see what kind of connections there are to be extended. But if you are moving the LCD there are probably just a few wires running through the "swivel" portion of the screen hinge. This is where you'd splice to extend the wires then relocate the whole unit to where ever is good for you.

RDP

He might have to deal with a ribbon cable though.

probably easier and less risky than relocating the viewfinder is getting a small, cheap 2" lcd from china, and hooking it up to the video out of the camera. If you really want, you can then strip that down and mount it onto your glasses somehow.

saves you tearing apart your camera, s'all :)

Yeah the ribbon thing is what I was worried about, I didn't know what to call it. Those have like 50+ wires running through them, right? So realistically they are non-extendable.

I really like the idea of attaching a small LCD to the video out, I will look into that. Could you recommend a site to buy one from? Ideally one with a small battery pack and a video input, but I probably won't get that lucky...

it depends on the ribbon cable. If they are small and have relatively few wires you can slice it length ways between the wires and then splice them. Otherwise, the video out option seems plausible but would need another power source.

RDP

I know older video cameras have very simple interfaces to the viewfinders. Simply 5v power, ground, and composite video. Newer ones might use a ribbon cable directly to the LCD, but you could always attach an old viewfinder to a new camera.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15000 there sure is :)

theres a 3" one for $5 more.

RDP- This is why I'm afraid to try this. If I damage the ribbon cable my LCD will die, and I don't want to hurt it.

Tsar- I think I'm going to take your approach if I can figure out the electrconics. I have an old broken Hi8 cam with a 2.5" LCD I could steal. I'm also thinking of attaching this in old snowboard goggles so I can use it this winter. Just gotta make the screen adjustable so you can get it just right.

r&r- This will be my backup if the electronics prove too daunting. Thank you very much for the site.

Oh, and rdp, your shit's in the mail.
And I got my rear projection tv putting movies on my basement ceiling, it's pretty awesome. Let me know when the comps ready, I'm pumped to get going on solidworks.

So I've hacked apart the LCD on my Hi8 and it's got two bundles of 12 cables running into the cam. I can't imagine why the connector inside would be any different, but I guess it's worth a shot. I'm thinking I'll just rip up the rest of the cam to find how where those end, and if I can use the connector. If this proves fruitless, out comes the view finder.

I probably will end up not being able to use these, so in that case Tsar can have them as long as you post pics of whatever you use them for.

Thoughts?