"And if it's cool outside, why not just use your jacket?"
Frostbite?
"And if it's cool outside, why not just use your jacket?"
Frostbite?
Dang, I had no idea the t-shirt solution was so popular!
An even simpler solution is the hooded windbreaker. I was shooting up at Tahoe recently, wearing said windbreaker, and for darkness all I had to do was pull the hood over the top of the camera. Takes 3 seconds. I initially forgot about this approach because here in California it is usually too warm for me to wear a jacket while shooting. Unless it is so grey and ugly that you don't want to shoot anyways. Like today.
As to the cheapness issue, I didn't start t-shirting till after I owned a BTZS cloth and a normal darkcloth, that I had made my wife sew various pieces of velcro onto. I actually prefer the t-shirt.
If you're backpacking, why carry a dedicated focusing cloth? And if it's cool outside, why not just use your jacket?
Uh, I carry a darkcloth so I can see the dadgum image on the groundglass. Try pointing an f/8 lens into a dark patch of mossy tree trunks, with open sky behind you. And because if it's cool outside, I want my jacket on me, not on the camera. I'm too old for that stuff: I've earned the right to be warm.
I'll chime in with an answer several others have suggested: Elastic.
I'll go one step further: Elastic _and_ velcro!
I took the cheapest, most generic darkcloth (which was just a sheet of rubberized fabric) and just sewed a line of elastic around one end. This is the side I loop over the camera back. I then sewed a line of elastic along the bottom seam of the darkcloth so I can just sort of seal it up, or even open a hand-hole along the middle.
Works like a champ.
T-shirts and hoodies. Cool. Being a fairly newbie to l-f, (couple of years) I thought I was the only cheap one out there! The idea of a windbreaker does work pretty well. I personally use the "hoodie" sweatshirts. Oversized hoods that pull over my head and over the back of the camera very nicely. In the winter you look kinda like a Byzantine Monk and in the summer-time, it looks cool with the sleeves either cut at 3/4 length, or completely off. And as Frank pointed out... get it set close, pull the hood over long enough to "fine-tune" the shot, and get out.
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