Hello everyone. 

 

What's the difference between: 

 

1- the old and new Nauticam angle viewfinders

 

2- 32º/1:1 vs. 42º/0.8:1

 

I have a Nauticam housing for the Sony A7Rv.

I'm considering a 45°.

 

Would an Inon unit work? 

 

Thank you

The new viewfinders are designed for the electronic viewfinders of newer mirrorless cameras, which are physically larger so need a viewfinder with a larger field of view to render them sharp across the frame. The net result is the older viewfinders are blurry in the corners on the newer mirrorless cameras.  The older viewfinders are fine on DSLRs generally.

In addition to Chris’s explanation, the new viewfinders come in both a 1:1 and 0.8:1 options.  I find the 0.08:1 more desirable as it gives a little extra corner and overall full view over the 1:1.  It’s personal preference, but I feel that little extra width in the viewfinder easier to use when viewing settings while composing the scene. 
 

I understand it’s another added cost, but I find it a valuable piece of gear as I use it on every dive and literally every frame I make. 
 

Edited August 25, 20241 yr by ChipBPhoto

Thanks, gents. 

 

How does the Inon for nauticam model fare in comparison? 

2 hours ago, ChipBPhoto said:

In addition to Chris’s explanation, the new viewfinders come in both a 1:1 and 0.8:1 options.  I find the 0.08:1 more desirable as it gives a little extra corner and overall full view over the 1:1.  It’s personal preference, but I feel that little extra width in the viewfinder easier to use when viewing settings while composing the scene. 
 

I understand it’s another added cost, but I find it a valuable piece of gear as I use it on every dive and literally every frame I make. 
 

I am still using my old 1:1 45deg Nauticam viewfinder on my new Z8. The Z8 has an option to make the viewfinder display slightly smaller which allows it to work just fine with the older models. That's $1700 you do not need to spend! 

 

I am sure the new models work slightly better, but not that much better. 

Regarding the INON , a review here of the original Nauticam and it mentions it's better than the INON:

 

https://wetpixel.com/articles/thoughts-on-viewfinders-and-mini-review-nauticam-45-degree

 

Sounds like the original Nauticam 45° can work OK on the Z8 but other makes may not have that option.  I have an original Nauticam 45 and the corners of my EM-1 MkII and my OM-1 are a bit blurry.  

I have used the Inon viewfinder for many years. Then Seacam and now the Nauticam viewfinder for 8 years. Optically, the Inon viewfinder cannot keep up. It is much darker and has a narrower field of vision. On the other hand, there is almost $1000 in between. Nevertheless, as with lenses, money is well spent on good glass.
Dave's tip with the viewfinder reduction in the Nikon Z8 is really great.

On 8/25/2024 at 6:50 PM, Chris Ross said:

Regarding the INON , a review here of the original Nauticam and it mentions it's better than the INON:

 

https://wetpixel.com/articles/thoughts-on-viewfinders-and-mini-review-nauticam-45-degree

 

Sounds like the original Nauticam 45° can work OK on the Z8 but other makes may not have that option.  I have an original Nauticam 45 and the corners of my EM-1 MkII and my OM-1 are a bit blurry.  

Bumping this up a little since I'm looking for a 45 degree viewfinder for an EM1-ii, how significant do you think trying to find the newer MIL version is vs the original DSLR?

49 minutes ago, Grantmac said:

Bumping this up a little since I'm looking for a 45 degree viewfinder for an EM1-ii, how significant do you think trying to find the newer MIL version is vs the original DSLR?

I have the original Nauticam 45° which I used with the EM-1 MkII before moving it to my OM-1. The attachment is different between the MIL and DSLR versions, but the mounting can be swapped over to suit either a mirrorless or DSLR housing.

As I recall the corners of the viewfinder were a little soft in the EM-1 MkII, while in the OM-1 they are softer still. The centre of the image is fine but reading to info in the corners is a little harder. The new versions are reported to be better in the corners.

this approximates the view through the 45° on the OM-1 , ignore the vignetting as that's due to alignment issues with the lens and viewfinders. The blur in the corners is halfway between the far left and right side of the info bar at the bottom of the viewfinder image. It's difficult to get everything lined up using a camera lens compared to just placing your at the viewfinder. The EM-1 MkII viewfinder view is a bit better than this but the corners are still a little blurry.