I'm about to buy the D70, and of course will consider a housing for it someday. I currently use a Coolpix 950 in an Ikelite housing, and am concerned about using a viewfinder.

With the non-SLR digicams, the LCD provides a 'live' view from the camera's lens, making it IMHO quite a bit easy to frame a shot. I can poke the camera into a crevice and still be able to see whether the octopus is still in the scene, while hanging out upside down and swimming against the current (standard practice in the Puget Sound).

Putting my mask up against the back of a housing, looking into a tiny passive optical viewfinder through several air spaces, three glass plates, some water, as well as a mirror / prism seems to me like a real disadvantage.

I've been a huge fan of the Coolpix swivel lens, and really wanted to develop an U/W housing that made use of that feature, so I could look down, or angled into the camera, rather than having to place my face directly at the back of the camera. Aquatica had a great idea with the Coolpix 995 housing, with the 45 degree LCD angle. I honestly don't know how U/W photographers frame their pictures when the camera is sitting on the bottom.

Any comments on the use of DSLR viewfinders???

Hi!

Have a look through an optical finder and you'll see the difference!
I can't check the focus properly on LCD. No problem with the finder. It may be harder to handle under some circumstances but the same applies to the LCD. I don't have any problems in shallow water with the sun coming from behind e.g. with my DSLR. Checking focus is the main advantage, I think. Having a crisp clear view on what's going to hit the chip *immediately* after you push the button.

Helge ;-)=)

Hi Mark,

I moved up from an Olympus Digicam to a Nikon D100 and had the same concerns you do before I started using the DSLR camera. I also dive in Puget Sound, and was used to being able to hold the camera body at odd angles and still take pictures via the LCD.

However, once you get used to looking through the Viewfinder, I think you'll like it. You do quickly get a sense of how crisp the focus is, even in our murky waters, and you can see (and use ) the exposure meter and other information in the viewfinder. After a few dives I think you'll actually prefer the viewfinder.

I also use a modelling light on my housing to aid focusing, and I find I am still able to snap a picture at an odd angle if needed, and can judge the framing by the location of the light beam. Not the best way to take a picture, but it can produce some interesting results.

Bodyski

Boydski: that's an interesting technique and one that is also used by "advanced" slr shooters to shoot super-macro of tiny critters.

You can use the modelling light and light beam to aim without putting your eye to the viewfinder if you "dial it in" on the camera table before the dive.

When the light is on the critter, THEN you put your eye to the eyepiece and do your fine focusing.

Cheers
James

After years of looking through SLR viewfinders, I took a Coolpix 995 underwater. When I got through using it, I drop kicked it into the closet until someone insisted on buying the housing from me.

Look through viewfinder and see what you see the way you normally see it, not some ever changing, ever fuzzy LCD screen.

Nothing compares to looking through the viewfinder of an SLR. The rear LCD's of most P&S cameras even have a slight delay, couple that with the glacial like shutter lag, and noisy sensor...I have yet to see the advantage.

...IMHO ;-)

p.s. I dive in British Columbia as well as the tropics.

Stu