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This question probably smacks of inexperience or worse, ignorance, but I shall ask anyway and attempt to weather the barrage.

If I holding my Nikon D40 at an awkward angle and it is hard to see through the optical viewfinder, is it possible to use the screen as a viewfinder in the same way that compact digital cameras are used? Now, if this is so, I am not going to run around holding my d40 our in front of me to do portraits etc.
steve

Unfortunately not, the D40 LCD cannot act as a viewfinder. The D300 and D3 have a similar facility through "live view" however.

There are some other options aswell, there is a eyepiece adapter that the real name escapes me but its a bit like a videocamera monocle that allows you to frame shots at funny angles of low to the ground. (Its a bit like a L piece of a periscope) I think they aren't too expensive, a few members have them, wish I could remember the real name.

The Zigview is also another option, its basically another adapter but battery powered with a small LCD that shows you what it sees through the viewfinder. One of the versions comes with the LCD attached via a cable so you can have it a few feet from the camera. It isn't the cheapest of toys.

Otherwise as Shakey said the newer model cameras have live view that would do the trick, but I don't recommend upgrading for that feature alone.

Alpha, I believe the first gadget you mentioned is an angle finder?

eg.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/2-5X-Angle-Finde ... dZViewItem

Zigview sounds like an interesting idea.. never heard of such a thing hehe

-j

Angle finder! arh, you had one on the walk around the harbour right ?

the zigview are cool!
http://www.zigview.co.uk/