D70 Viewfinder

Roger wrote in news:klkfu0tmk10v4bq796gp9t7jckainrdut2@
4ax.com:

the D70 viewfinder seems to me dim, small and doesn't contain enough
information.

As for the brightness, it might be accounted for by the maximum aperature
of the lenses attached. I was in a camera store, and the sales guy
demonstrated f/2.8 vs. f/4.5 lenses on bodies side by side. Dramatic.

Bob

Roger wrote in news:klkfu0tmk10v4bq796gp9t7jckainrdut2@
4ax.com:

the D70 viewfinder seems to me dim, small and doesn't contain enough
information.

As for the brightness, it might be accounted for by the maximum aperature
of the lenses attached. I was in a camera store, and the sales guy
demonstrated f/2.8 vs. f/4.5 lenses on bodies side by side. Dramatic.

Bob

I entirely agree with you that the D70 viewfinder is small and dim. I think
the amount of information you can see in the viewfinder is more than
adequate as you would have to take your eye away from the viewfinder anyway
to make most adjustments that are not controlled by the two wheels on the
right side of the camera.

The cameras you list are at the high end of the Nikon food chain. As you
descend down the chain viewfinders deteriorate accordingly. The viewing
screens in the "amateur" Nikon 35mm autofocus lineup are not easily used for
manual focusing.

The small view in the D70 is in part related to the APS sized imaging
sensor. However I have an old Pronea APS slr and the view through that seems
brighter and more magnified, although it is entirely possible that to save
money on production Nikon (Mitsubishi?) engineers adapted that existing
mechanism for the D70.

I entirely agree with you that the D70 viewfinder is small and dim. I think
the amount of information you can see in the viewfinder is more than
adequate as you would have to take your eye away from the viewfinder anyway
to make most adjustments that are not controlled by the two wheels on the
right side of the camera.

The cameras you list are at the high end of the Nikon food chain. As you
descend down the chain viewfinders deteriorate accordingly. The viewing
screens in the "amateur" Nikon 35mm autofocus lineup are not easily used for
manual focusing.

The small view in the D70 is in part related to the APS sized imaging
sensor. However I have an old Pronea APS slr and the view through that seems
brighter and more magnified, although it is entirely possible that to save
money on production Nikon (Mitsubishi?) engineers adapted that existing
mechanism for the D70.

You might try a viewfinder magnifier. Doesn't increase your information
display, but at least the view is bigger.

What else do you want displayed in the viewfinder?

You might try a viewfinder magnifier. Doesn't increase your information
display, but at least the view is bigger.

What else do you want displayed in the viewfinder?

On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:16:59 GMT, "bmoag" wrote:

The small view in the D70 is in part related to the APS sized imaging
sensor. However I have an old Pronea APS slr and the view through that seems
brighter and more magnified, although it is entirely possible that to save
money on production Nikon (Mitsubishi?) engineers adapted that existing
mechanism for the D70.

I can't remember if it was in this group or on a website that I so the
info, but I believe that the D70's finder is indeed "borrowed" from one of
their film bodies and basically masked to give the correct framing.

Regards,
Graham Holden (g-holden AT dircon DOT co DOT uk)
--
There are 10 types of people in the world;
those that understand binary and those that don't.

On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:16:59 GMT, "bmoag" wrote:

The small view in the D70 is in part related to the APS sized imaging
sensor. However I have an old Pronea APS slr and the view through that seems
brighter and more magnified, although it is entirely possible that to save
money on production Nikon (Mitsubishi?) engineers adapted that existing
mechanism for the D70.

I can't remember if it was in this group or on a website that I so the
info, but I believe that the D70's finder is indeed "borrowed" from one of
their film bodies and basically masked to give the correct framing.

Regards,
Graham Holden (g-holden AT dircon DOT co DOT uk)
--
There are 10 types of people in the world;
those that understand binary and those that don't.

On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 08:25:28 -0600, Roger wrote:

I've see countless great images from the D70. I travel on business at
least one week a month with colleagues who have D70s and have used
them with great results. However, I do have some vision problems and
the D70 viewfinder seems to me dim, small and doesn't contain enough
information. I've been using Nikon F (F/F2/F3/F100/F5) for years and
I'm used to bright, easy to use high eyepoint viewfinders - and in the
case of the latter two bodies, information rich viewfinders.

The D2* offerings are just going to be too far out of reach dollars
and cents wise and I'm not interested in putting off my DSLR choice
any longer.

So are there any other past 100% Nikon viewfinder users who can relate
to me their experiences (e.g. likes and dislikes) about the D70
viewfinder.

On the very encouraging side is that I've heard very little about the
lack of reliability with the finder - something that I expected to
hear about a pentamirror implementation as opposed to their film
sibling's pentaprism implementation.

Comments please.

My wife and I have shared an F5 for 4 or 5 years, and had never seen
such a viewfinder before. I awaited the availability of the D70 with
trepidation, mainly dreading the pentamirror. Perhaps because of that
prior dread I was pleasantly surprised and bought it.

My eyesight is ok for a 69-year-old man, so the lack of the handy
eyepiece adjustment the F5 has is not so bad. I think my wife keeps
her glasses on.

As for small size, I think that just fits the sensor size, so I
imagine the D2 viewfinder is smaller than the F5, but of similar
quality.

My brother's Canon 10D has a small viewfinder as well. If I had Canon
glass I would have bought that. I like it fine in use after a few
minutes to get used to the controls. I expect the 1D has a large
viewfinder to suit its large sensor.




Rodney Myrvaagnes J36 Gjo/a


Ask not with whom the buck stops . . .

"Rodney Myrvaagnes" wrote in message
news

My eyesight is ok for a 69-year-old man, so the lack of the handy
eyepiece adjustment the F5 has is not so bad. I think my wife keeps
her glasses on.



But the D70 DOES have a viewfinder diopter adjustment... it's a vertical
slider directly to the rigth of the eyepiece.

As a Nikon F2/F3HP/F4 user, I agree that the D70 viewfinder isn't up to the
"pro" bodies' standards, but I get along with it OK. The only thing that
really bugs me as missing information in the viewfinder display (or the
camera's LCD display) is the current ISO setting.

The D70 is a wonderful camera!

Good shooting,
Bob Scott