Separate LCD screen

Hi Sorry my second post is a question. Does anyone know of a separate LCD screen /viewfinder attachment like the Zigview but waterproof to a reasonable depth to attach to the outside of a digital SLR housing. I know this need marks me as a rank beginner but while I much prefer a viewfinder for land shots I have been seduced by the advantages of the live LCD screen on compacts by my Cannon G1 for underwater and am now finding the use of the viewfinder difficult on my Nikon D70s in Ikelite housing. Alternatovely any hint or tips on how to use it best gratefully received.

Thanks

Tim Digger

External viewfinders are common for high-end video rigs, but I'm not aware of any for still cameras.

You didn't specify the issue with using your LCD, but here are some pointers to cover some common problems:

- Use an LCD shade on your housing

- Adjust the LCD contrast and brightness

- Use the LCD to check proper composition, and the histogram to confirm good exposure

- Use a magnified viewfinder on your housing

- Use stick-on bi-focals inside your mask

Hello Tim,

If you want that for Live view and to use it to compose etc... IMHO you will not get it because your nikon does not preview the image therefore does not have a signal to send to the LCD. You would need to use an olympus 330 as is the only dSLR with live preview...

Hi Sorry my second post is a question. Does anyone know of a separate LCD screen /viewfinder attachment like the Zigview but waterproof to a reasonable depth to attach to the outside of a digital SLR housing. I know this need marks me as a rank beginner but while I much prefer a viewfinder for land shots I have been seduced by the advantages of the live LCD screen on compacts by my Cannon G1 for underwater and am now finding the use of the viewfinder difficult on my Nikon D70s in Ikelite housing. Alternatovely any hint or tips on how to use it best gratefully received.

Thanks

Tim Digger

Thanks for your replies chaps,

I really want a real time image of my view finder, if this is available for videographers and the technolgy is relatively straight forward, I would have thought that the number of DSLR cameras and housings out there would have meant someone would have produced a product to view an image in real time with attachment related to the housing and not the camera. How do you compose seriously through a viewfinder a housing lens and a mask that prevents close apposition to the eyepiece?!

Regards Tim Digger

Hi Tim,

You've got a D70s which has a small optical viewfinder and you've got an Ikelite housing which does not have a large magnified eyepiece - so naturally you're frustrated. Not all cameras and housings are like this though. The D80 camera has a much better viewfinder, and there are housings on the market that offer optional magnifying viewfinders. So all is not lost.

I don't think a good solution would be some kind of LCD screen to look at. These have very few pixels and make fine focusing very difficult. The image may look in focus on the LCD but in fact it's not. That's why most SLR shooters like the optical viewfinder.

Cheers

James

Thanks for your replies chaps,

I really want a real time image of my view finder, if this is available for videographers and the technolgy is relatively straight forward, I would have thought that the number of DSLR cameras and housings out there would have meant someone would have produced a product to view an image in real time with attachment related to the housing and not the camera. How do you compose seriously through a viewfinder a housing lens and a mask that prevents close apposition to the eyepiece?!

 

Regards Tim Digger

if what you are looking for is compose, frame and focus through a "liveview" lcd screen on a dslr then you own the wrong camera and should look at the olympus e330, afaik it's the only one one the market that allows that (and has a housing for to boot).

there's a review here

http://wetpixel.com/i.php/full/olympus-evo...housing-review/

if not i'd consider what james is suggesting and look at a different camera/housing/optical viewfinder combination

/paul