Viewfinders

Hi Guys,

I am interested in everyone's opinion as to which extended viewfinder they consider to be the best?

I am using a Nexus housed Nikon D70S and at this stage would be limited to the Inon viewfinders.

This is the tricky part. Ninety five percent of my U/W camera work is to do with macro or 'close-up'.

Considering this approach, which viewfinder do you consider to be the most "PRACTICAL", the Inon 180'

straight viewfinder or the Inon 45' angled viewfinder?? If you have any ideas please let me/us/the forum know?

If you have practical experience then this would be great...

Thanks everyone

Bruce...

Hi Guys,

 

Considering this approach, which viewfinder do you consider to be the most "PRACTICAL", the Inon 180'

straight viewfinder or the Inon 45' angled viewfinder?? If you have any ideas please let me/us/the forum know?

 

 

Bruce...

I've used a 45-degree Inon and the magnifying eyepiece from Nexus, but not the straight Inon. The 45-degree finder is much better than the magnified image, so I guess that the 45-degree finder is best. The problems I have had with the angled finder are in "telephoto" macro of fishes, when it's difficult to point the rig in the right direction, though this comes with time. The angled finder is very good with static macro, letting you float above the reef and still get nice, low angles on your subject.

Rotating the Inon finder from horizontal to vertical format is very stiff if it isn't thoroughly soaked between dives.

The angled finder is just great with wide-angle lenses.

Tim

B)

Thanks Tim,

I kinda forgot that Aquatica makes a supurb looking viewfinder.

I wonder as to whether that could be machined into the back of a Nexus housing??

With the 180' viewfinders, it is only a magnified extension of the existing eyepiece. The real

decision is how much benefit does the 45' angled eyepiece give to the diver?

Please jump in guys and help me out... is there anyone out there who has had the modification

carried out and then wished that they hadn't??

Thanks for taking the time guys,

Bruce...

HI

I use the Seacam S45 veiwfinder, which I find very easy to use once you get

use to it , great for when you are lieing on the bottem. I have not used the staight

veiwfinder so I can not comment, I have used the Subal veiwfinder once, have buddies

who use them, they find them great to use with small veiwfinders like on the D70.

The only problem is once you have looked though one you want one more expense

Andy

hi bruce,

i use the angled inon viewfinder for a year now and also looked through other angled viewfinders underwater (seacam) and also checked the straight one.

inon straight and angled give the same image in the viewfinder.

in the beginning finding things through the angled finders is much more difficult compared to a straight one. but after a while the advantages of the angled one beat the straight one ... you are much more flexible and can take images you just can't take with a straight one (at least not without destroying the reef). also you get used to the angle very fast and when i tried another straight finder a while ago i had the same effect again ... i was looking on the wrong spot, because i was so used to the angeld one.

compared to the inon finder the seacam finder is a bit more comfortable ... i must admit that. harald from seacam let me try his viewfinder on a dive and we swopped cameras. after the dive i told him, that his viewfinder is much more comfortable and he told me, the inon is better than he thought ... so the seacam is (as expected) the better one, but the inon offers good value for money.

if you decide betweed the two inons and shoot mainly macro: go for the angled inon.

i dont know about other viewfinders on Nexus housings. i think inon is the easiest way.

I have been using a 45 Inon finder on an Ikelite housing for a few months. I am a big fan. For me the huge advantage of the 45 is for wide angle and fish portrait shots where you want to be shooting a little or a lot upwards rather than horizontally. After years of twisting my back while tilting the camera up, the 45 angle is a big improvement and seems very comfortable and natural. Of course it is also great for macro work near the bottom. The two disadvantages of a 45 are finding a fast moving fish in the viewfinder and shooting straight down. Even with practice such shots can be challenging.

I have the Seacam S45 which is fantastic for all the reasons mentioned previously.

You do have to swivel it to shoot vertical, so it is one more thing to do when changing orientation so be prepared for that.

There is only one other scenario when it comes unstuck, and it is a pretty particular set of circumstances: open water over / unders.

When you are not standing on the bottom a 45 degree finder means your head must be a long way out of the water to see into the viewfinder too far out for the average tread-water. In fact I have found the only solution is to swivel the viewfinder downward and look up into it.

Like I said, very particular circumstances, otherwise I'm very happy.

Thanks Guys,

All good to know. I'm pretty keen on getting one fitted, so it looks like it will be the Inon 45 angled.

It would be a nice 'pipedream' to have one of the Seacam's fitted, but I don't have a spare million $'s..

Thanks for your info fellas,

Bruce...

Hi,

I am using the INON 45° for a year now and I love it. It is generally great at lowdown Macro. As written previously the half-half photos are a bit more tricky. Be sure that you will be able to tilt it 90°, ie no buttons etc in the way.

I have to admit that it took a bit of time to get used to it in the beginning, buit a couple of dives and that part was ok.

I also find somewhat troublesome to find at Night dives, for some reason. Otherwise

Just a bit of physics trivia. Several people have mentioned it takes a little getting used to. One even said "going back" took getting used to again. Our brains are remarkable instruments. Did you know, if you wear a set of prism glasses which turn the world upside down, after a period of time your brain will flip everything right side up? And sure enough, when you take the glasses off, you'll see the world upside down. In fact, images on our retinas are upside down and our brain flips them over. Weird world. Point being, we can get used to anything, so if the vision is optically better, if we use it long enough, it'll become second nature to shoot those mantas with a 45 degree scope. (Of course, if you see Mantas only once, on your first dive, well, that may be too bad...)

The human brain is a remarkable instrument. And when given enough time can pretty much resolve, adapt and manage most problems (some faster than others), but for me, that period of adjustment with dealing with 45 degree finders just doesn’t cut it.

Don’t get me wrong. They certainly are great for getting low to your subjects for macro work and when doing splits (over/under), but when you a subject that is only going to grant you a fraction of a second to get the shot, straight on is the only way to go.

Pilot whales as seen through a Subal GS finder

I used to have the Subal housing with a Coolpix 5000 and really liked the 45 degree finder which was pretty much the default. For macro or close-up to the reef it was terrific and stopped the temptation of reef-trampling. "Telephoto" shots were a bit trickier but you did get used to it.

I really missed the 45 degree finder with my D100 and then D200 systems. I've ordered the new Subal 45 degree viewfinder for the D300 housing so I can go back to it. Yeah! Of course it would be nice if my new housing would actually arrive! ARRGHGHH. I'm due to leave for Ningaloo Reef in two weeks and no sign of it yet. (Come on Carey at Seaoptics: sort out those guys in Steyr)

Fascinating physics trivia, David. Wow! What a party trick that would be. Actually, come to think of it, I've been to a couple of parties where the world ended turning upside down and I don't remember wearing prism glasses....... curious.

I received Inon/Nexus 45 degree finder this week & installed on my Nexus 'd200 cnvted to d300' housing and it works fine. Things I like most are;

1.Easy to change from my multi finder. I can install/remove it in 3 min. without any tool.

2.I can see every corner of camera's view finder very CLEARLY(I do not know what the trick is but, it works as advertised).

Sam

Another vote for the angled finder. I have the Inon 45 degree finder installed on my Aquatica, and it works great for all the reasons mentioned above.

Re. telephoto use - well, let me put it this way: I have an angled Pentax scope which I use at mags of 20-60x to spot raptors and seabirds, and it works fine for that. So I think using an angled finder for fish portraits is merely a matter of getting used to it.

I would not exchange the 45 degree for an angled finder. Ever.

Cheers,

Vandit

I received Inon/Nexus 45 degree finder this week & installed on my Nexus 'd200 cnvted to d300' housing and it works fine. Things I like most are;

1.Easy to change from my multi finder. I can install/remove it in 3 min. without any tool.

 

2.I can see every corner of camera's view finder very CLEARLY(I do not know what the trick is but, it works as advertised).

 

Sam

Hi,

Just to cralify my comment above, I purchased Inon 45 degree finder from Anthis(Nexus), with

Anthis part number 20589, which is built by Inon to fit Nexus housing without modification to the

housing. To install, simply remove standard finder (by unscrew the nut by finger) & exchange

with Inon finder & tighten the screw.

Sam