D70 Viewfinder inaccuracy

[beetleboy]

Has anyone noticed if their D70's viewfinder is quite innaccurate? I'm a little concerned that this may just be a problem I'm having with my D70 but would appreciate if others could give me some feedback! I did a test with my 50mm and 80-200mm and the problem is more obvious with the 50mm as you get closer to your subject. In fact, when shooting products at a shopping centre on Wednesday I was about 45cm away (around the minimum focus of the 50mm 1. and found I had to compose the left most product right against the top edge of the frame (shooting vertical) to get the products in the centre....

My biggest concern with this is when I'm shooting from the hip - you don't have so much time to consider composing then reframing to "guess" where you're cropping!

I'm also aware that there will be a little bit of inconsistency but this seems pretty extreme. If anyone wants to comment on the composition/image quality; go right ahead! Feedback is always welcome!

The red outline is what I was seeing thru the viewfinder.....

This is the 50mm 1.8



80-200mm at 80mm



80-200mm at 200mm



Liam

[Alpha_7]

I've never really tested mine, but I've often gotten back home and thought... I'm sure that was composed with a bit more space here or there.

[beetleboy]

I should have done a test up close with the 50mm because it becomes quite extreme..i'll see if I can find the image I mentioned in the post.

Here tis..

50mm at Minimum Focus:

[greencardigan]

I can't say I have noticed this problem with mine.

Looks a bit excessive to me.

[beetleboy]

Tell me about it! I'm not sure if this has always been the case with my camera but it would explain a few 'foot-chopping' incidents!

How could something like this be restricted to just my camera tho? Was the guy drunk when he stuck my CCD in?!

Liam

[glamy]

Mine seems to be the same. I always get too much sky and so on... I think it is because the viewfinder does not show the whole area of the sensor, and the hidden area seems to be at the top which can be on the left when you shoot in portrait.
Cheers,
Gerard

[beetleboy]

I'd be happy if it was just giving me more on the top but the fact that it crops off the bottom is what really concerns me!

Liam

[Marvin]

Yes, mine is the same. I've tested it similarly after being positive that I lined it up very horizontal and ending up with a horizon that tilts down slightly to the right. I just put up with it!

[Nosh]

Any Idea if the D70s has the same problem?

Nosh.

[beetleboy]

No idea..

I'm hoping the D200 doesn't!!

Liam

[Nosh]

just saw this on Ken Rockwell's site. Normally everything taken with a pinch or handful of salt, but seems there is substance in the last paragraph.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d70perf.htm#finder

Nosh.

[beetleboy]

He was lucky, his is only slighlty rotated! I managed to score that AND more!

I'm surprised it's taken me so long to notice but maybe it's because something has changed?!

Liam =]

[redline]

i think my d70 is fine. it helps with my trademark shooting drift action.

[Grev]

I don't think mine is that bad...

Although yeah, I remember it being off a bit, and sometimes if you compose things near the edge it will be a problem.

[Steffen]

Ha, that's the problem with 90% finders. I had the same effect with with FE2. They didn't say the 90% were centered in the frame, did they?

Get a D2 and be happy

Cheers
Steffen.

[MattC]

I guess that I have been lucky then... 6 out of 6 are spot on.

Cheers

[Yi-P]

The "ball" is around the centre of the viewfinder (aligned with focus mark)

I might need to do some more test to determine if this is correct or not...

[beetleboy]

Yours doesn't look too bad!

Liam

[cordy]

Just to add to this, mine is out of alignment too. Might get them to sort it out when it goes in to get the bglod/stuffed light meter problems fixed

Chris

[greencardigan]

I had a very quick look at mine and it seems OK with the sensor capturing a little bit around all sides of the viewfinder image.

I might test a bit more in depth if I find the time.

[greencardigan]

Here's what mine looks like. Not too bad but still annoying.

The red markers were right in the corner of the view finder. The black line in the first one is the extent of the viewfinder.

[beetleboy]

wow..yours is a bazillion times more accurate than mine! The only slight issue with yours is the tilt, but i have that AND the huge displacement!

I wonder if there's any way of rectifying it?

Liam =]

[greencardigan]

I wonder if there's any way of rectifying it?

Liam =]

Bump it again?

No idea. You might need to get Maxwells to look at it.

[rokkstar]

I tell you what, I've noticed that mine has an extreme tilt to it so much so that I have to physically tilt the camera quite a lot to get an accurate image.

Now I know most people will laugh and tell me it's my technique but it happens even when it's on a tripod. I have to adjust the head to compensate for the tilt.

I'm used to it now, but it's certainly annoying

[beetleboy]

might wait till my D200 arrives then get it checked out..

or i might just drop it and see what happens =]

[Yi-P]

might wait till my D200 arrives then get it checked out..

or i might just drop it and see what happens =]

If you ever want to drop your D70, I do that for you, drop it into my mailbox and it will be okay to save you from trouble of recycling the pastic and circuit boards

[Mal]

Interesting post.
I just did a check on my D70 and I seem to be lucky. I get an extra bleed all around the edge. No tilting, just more frame. Explains a few things, like how I thought I cropped something only to find out later that it was in the shot.

[MattC]

Mal, thats normal. IIRC, the D70 VF only displays about 95% of what the sensor sees.

Cheers

[admajic]

My D50 is the same as Mals. Perfectly straight with some bleed around the edges. Ill have to test it though. What do u do take a photo of a piece of paper with a rectangle drawn in it?

[MattC]

That'll do it. I used a largish notepad and aligned two edges in the VF and took several shots with notepad aligned in different corners. Too lazy to draw a proper rectangle. That is enough to get a feel for what is going on.

Cheers

[greencardigan]

What do u do take a photo of a piece of paper with a rectangle drawn in it?

I just pointed the camera at a wall and stuck the red sticky things on the wall so they were only just visable in the view finder.

[beetleboy]

I'm glad I brought this up cos at least now I know mine is definitely out of whack. Think I might pop the mirror up tonight and have a look under the bonnet..maybe I dropped a nut in the carbie or something?!

Liam =]