SLR view finder

[usub]

Hi,

I'm currently checking out the oppertunities for moving to a dSLR setup from my old Canon G9/Ikelite compact rig.

I have been looking at housing for Nikon D7000 and Canon 550D/t2i including Ikelite, Aquatica, Nauticam and hugyfot

It's my understanding that in the SLR world the view finder must be used, because the LCD screen in live view mode is too slow.

When looking in the viewfinder of a SLR house, I find the SLR house viewfinder quit small and unclear compared to my G9 lcd screen.

I must add that I have only looked in the viewfinder in the shop (without mask), not in it's real usage envionment under water. But I don't expect it to improve when i get the mask on as well.

I would appreciate very much if some SLR users could tell me if this is a problem in real use or not.
I had a chance to look in a Inon external mounted viewfinder and it looked like it improved things a lot but is also quit costly

 

[bvanant]

Actually it is not as big a problem as you think. However, if you have the money get the expanded viewfinders offered by Aquatica and Nauticam. They are great.
Bill

 

[AussieByron]

Actually you will find in the water that looking through a VF on a DSLR gives such a clear and precise view. Just the same as looking through the VF on a DSLR on land. It comes down to you having the right settings to copy what you see in the shot. Often I look through a VF and think that this scene is awesome but fail in trying to capture it on the camera itself.

The Standard VF is often small and hard to get a view of the whole frame especially with a mask on. As Bill said this can be overcome by an external VF like the ones made by Nauticam, Aquatica, and Inon. Yes they are expensive. But one you used one for a few dives you never go back to the standard VF.

Regards Mark

 

[AussieByron]

On an other note I beleive that the using Liveview (LCD) on the Nikon D7000 is alot better than past Nikon models. But I personally always use the VF as it provides the best detail and also focuses alot faster than the LCD. I only use the LCD for video.

Cheers Mark

 

[BigJeff]

There are SLR (&SLT) cameras out there where you can use the screen as a viewfinder and lose no speed at all.

Sony has quite a few in their range that use both contrast & phase detection in Liveview (so no loss of focus ability). The newer models also include autofocus when recording HD Video.

I use one and have never used the viewfinder.

An option to consider if you don't already have a stack of SLR lenses....

 

[usub]

Hi guys,

thanks for advising. Sounds like it would be a good idea to start by giving the standard viewfinder a chance underwater before investing in a external one.
I'm pretty hooked on the Nikon 7000 after I've read some test reviews and played with it in the shop.
But just had a look on the new sony A55, which I must admit looks very interesting as well. Specially it's liveview capabilities. Only problem is a more limited choise in uw housing. Only Ikelite makes one as far as I can see.

 

[AndyT]

I was pleasantly surprised by what I could see when I swithched from a PnS to a DSLR - in fact I actually prefer it and would have a hard time going back to live view. Only took a few dives to get used to it.

Something that may help is switching to a low volume mask such as those used by spearfishermen. I use an Omer Sub Alien, but ther are many others.

 

[usub]

Well, good to know and perhaps it's not as bad as I thought at first. I must admit my G9 lcd is not the perfect world ( I use reading lenses in my mask to read the screen clearly) but my first impression looking into SLR standard viewfinder was not impressive (in this case an Ikelite house).

 

[Doc Harry]

I recently purchased a Nauticam viewfinder for my Nikon/Nauticam housing.

The only problem that I have with the Nauticam viewfinder is that you've got to be looking straight in to see anything. Not a problem during the day, but at night or in caves it does take some searching to get the angle correct so that you can see through the viewfinder.

I will use an analogy of looking through binoculars. If you try to look through binoculars from an angle, you aren't going to see anything. You've got to look straight down the barrel to see anything. Same with the Nauticam viewfinder.

The Nauticam viewfinders are really for composition. Perhaps it is my age, but I still end up with a few photos that are slightly out of focus despite the better view. Maybe I need new bifocals.