I sometimes find it useful to use a right angle viewer. I have one for my Nikon D90. I recently got a D800, and I note from some of the comments about it that it might be more trouble than it is worth to use a DR-5 with it. What do you all think?

Leonard Evens
Professor Emeritus, Department of Mathematics, Northwestern University

I still occasionally use one on my cameras. I think it depends on how much you shoot very low angles, since that's where it helps the most.

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Brian... a bicoastal Nikonian and Team Member

My gallery is online. Comments and critique welcomed any time!

Good question I think it's good to have in ones arsenal. I know a guy (don't we all) who uses one for candid street work, as he thinks the subjects are less likely to be concerned as he isn't shooting at eye level.

If you are worried about removing the eyepiece why not give it a go now?

Cheers
Rob

It's all about the light

I moved from a D300 to the D800E and had to buy a new RAF. I like to do macro work and the finder is almost essential in some cases and certainly very useful for accurate focusing. It is a real pain to use compared to the one for the D300. You have to unscrew the eyepiece on the camera, then screw in the RAF. When you remove the RAF, very often, the threaded adapter stays stuck on the camera, so you have to dig the little wrench out of the case to unscrew the adapter. (I've learned to barely tighten it when I'm screwing it on in the first place, so I don't need the wrench every time.) Then, of course, you have to screw the eyepiece back onto the camera (again being very careful not to tighten it too much or you'll have a helluva time getting it off again). It is ever so much easier with the D300 to just slip the RAF on and off. I have adjusted, but I find myself using it much less often than I did on the D300. I'm unhappy with it enough that I'm considering going back to a DX camera for macro work so I can use the DR-6.

Strangely, I find it harder to focus through the viewfinder on my D800 (for macro work) than I did with my D300. I've tried the magnifying eyepiece, but don't find it to be of much use. My D800 is in the shop at the moment, so I shot macro with my D300 last weekend and I was astonished at how much easier it was to focus through the viewfinder. (I only do manual focus with macro.) From all I read, it shouldn't be that way, but it seems so for me.

Cheers -
John

My Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancingtuna

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I'm holding off on the purchase of a RAV and considering a wireless tether for my iPad/iPhone. CamRanger was released just a couple months ago and looks extremely promising. An RAV might run close to $200, the CamRanger is $300, so price isn't too bad considering what it can do. And what it can do is offer FULL wireless remote control to your D800 while viewing your subject on a large retina display. No screwing in/out a RAV. Just plug in the transmitter. Since the CamRanger was just released, I'm waiting to see reports of actual usage, and for the developers to work out the bugs. I'm willing to wait for the second iteration.

>I'm holding off on the purchase of a RAV and considering a
>wireless tether for my iPad/iPhone. CamRanger was released
>just a couple months ago and looks extremely promising. An
>RAV might run close to $200, the CamRanger is $300, so price
>isn't too bad considering what it can do. And what it can do
>is offer FULL wireless remote control to your D800 while
>viewing your subject on a large retina display. No screwing
>in/out a RAV. Just plug in the transmitter. Since the
>CamRanger was just released, I'm waiting to see reports of
>actual usage, and for the developers to work out the bugs.
>I'm willing to wait for the second iteration.

I have an Eye-Fi card which I can use to view a picture on my Galaxy Note II, after I take it. But arranging for something to hold the smartphone is not easy. I do have something that will work with a tripod, but it is bulky to use. So the right angle viewer would be easier to use, once it was connected to the camera.

Leonard Evens
Professor Emeritus, Department of Mathematics, Northwestern University