What is the little camera lens some film directors hang round their necks and look through?

Bruce007

It's for perspective. The director looks through it to see which way the actual camera should angle itself for the best possible shot. Feb 26 06, 3:10 PM

xfacilitatorx

The word Diopter comes to mind. Diopter:A unit of measurement of the refractive power of lenses equal to the reciprocal of the focal length measured in meters, but I think this device goes by the same name. Feb 27 06, 4:13 PM

satguru

What sort of lenses does it use to focus the image, and where is it focused on? I'll check up a diopter now as I certainly had no idea it had a name! Feb 27 06, 5:38 PM

xfacilitatorx

I can not verify the term Diopter other than the difinition. The word comes to mind because I THINK I have heard the device refered to as such. Feb 28 06, 1:16 PM

satguru

That's OK, I know what it does now and maybe one day I'll find one and see how it works. I expect it's a zoom lens which allows you to see the view from varying distances without the need for an attached SLR camera, but that's just my guess. Feb 28 06, 5:49 PM