3 Slide Viewer for Viewing 35mm Transparencies

Most of the smaller digital cameras available today do not have an optical viewfinder. They depend on an LCD screen on the back of the camera to compose the picture. A common problem is that on a bright sunny day it can be difficult to see anything on the LCD screen, except maybe your own reflection.This old style slide viewer can be modified in a way that allows it to be held up against the LCD screen of a digital camera. The screen is then shielded from the sun and the operator's eye looks through the small end of the viewer. This system becomes almost like an optical viewfinder.The modification involves cutting off the opaque ( light colored ) end of the viewer with a hacksaw. This is an easy operation. Then lightly file and sand the cut area.Lastly I cut some fuzzy side Velcro that had a peel-off sticky back so I could attach it to the cut face of the viewer and avoid scratching the LCD screen. Some good kitchen shears will cut these narrow strips of Velcro easily. Sticky side felt strips should work well too.This modified viewer has an open end of 1-3/4 inches square which does not cover the entire LCD. However the viewer magnifies what it sees by 2X. I have found that it makes me more careful about looking at the entire scene when composing the image.This slide viewer does everything that I hoped it would at a low cost.

Bought this to digitize old 35 mm slides. Worked fine for my needs. See example photo (attached).I scotch taped it to an old iPhone 5 (see photo), then pointed it at an LED light bulb. Very kludgey, but hey, it worked. With this set up, I was able to take a photo of many old slides quickly. Taping this slide viewer to my iPhone allowed me to more easily focus the camera, and to take the picture of the slide without blurring (since any movement on my part would also move the old slide). Then I edited them later. During the edit phase, I had to crop them (simple to do using my iPhone camera app. I also have an Android phone (ZTE v8 Blade) and that worked as well, but I chose to use my old iPhone instead since I didn't want to keep having to tape (and un-tape) the slide viewer onto my newer phone.I tried using an iPad Air as well, but the focal length requirement of the iPad Air camera was longer than the depth of the slide viewer, so that didn't work. The pictures came out a little too blurry.

Cheaply made, not sure how long it will last. However. Another reviewer taped this lightweight to her smartphone's camera lens, said decent pictures could then be digitalized. I did the same. The phone corrects for the focus, and the output is surprisingly good. Use painter's tape, miss the buttons and you're good to go. Hate the lack of quality, but satisfied with the results.

I do not understand the bad reviews for this item. It is small (not too small), lightweight, simple to use, uses free ambient light. It is perfect for quickly viewing slides and seeing the dirt/fuzz to remove, and it uses no electricity nor has batteries or bulbs to wear out. The only thing I can say is not right is the title: "3 slide viewer". It allows one to view one slide at a time, in its cardboard holder; slips into and out of the viewer easily. The bad reviews are misleading. This has a good value (low price) and is great for previewing slides. I also recommend the Wolverine SNaP from Amazon to download slides, negatives, or photos to your computer or a memory chip. Remember to keep your irreplacable slides somewhere or at least have several back-ups and keep them off-site. Where did floppy disks go? That could happen to CD's one day, just like VCR's, 8 tracks, Beta Max, and even cassettes.

Useless & way overpriced. You must put one slide in, hold it to a light source, then squint with one eye in the viewfinder to see. Remove slide and repeat process indefinitely. Not worth more than $2.50 at the most - generously speaking. I will need to spend more to get something I can use. By the way, the name is Panaview 3, but you can only view one slide at a time. Yes, you need good eyesight. I bought it because of the multiple good reviews. I should have listened to the reviewer who said it's like a Crackerjack toy. PS: Not returnable unless I pay $5 or more to return ship it via UPS.

Originally I looked into the Hoodloup, but as one reviewer stated $80 for this item is priced a little high when you can purchase a used 50mm prime lens for less, I am sure the Hoodman will function much better then this item, but for the price and the way this works....best bet for your money, and if your unhappy with it then go and spend the money on the higher priced item, in the bright sun it works just fine, and if something happened, break or lose it, I'll get another one! Just don't have high expectations of a high end product; Bottom line is it works for what I need it to do.PS Thank you for the great reviews that lead me to this item!

Pana-vue 3 Slide Viewer for Viewing 35mm Transparencies From various descriptions, I knew before this was NOT the item I really wanted as the type I have used in the past have a slot in the bottom that allows for viewing not only of slides but 35mm film strips as well. I did think the price was too much for a small piece of plastic. When I received the item, I was shocked by the size of the box to hold one little slide viewer. I was even more shocked when upon opening, I discovered I was the proud owner of not ONE by TWELVE of a device I only half wanted. I know they are cheaply made but ELEVEN spares. The box itself makes no mention of the number of devices and I have reviewed the product description page at Amazon where I ordered and I can find no mention of more than one device. So I shall probably be requesting a return. One product I really did not want is one thing, but TWELVE!!!