Nicool

 

How about a mirror and lots of duct tape? 

The image would appear upside down, and I'm not smart enough to frame a picture that way

 

WDYT?
cheers
Nicolas

 

Maybe they'll make one of these to fit the OM-D housing?

 

http://wetpixel.com/...r-and-sunscreen

 

 

Yeah I saw that one but:

-I don't think it can fit the OM-D housing back (due to the partial obstruction of the viewfinder), though I may be wrong.

-It still gives you a smaller viewing area, wereas I imagine it cannot rotate (unlike the angled viewfinder), it's only advantage would be the price.

cheers

Nicolas

Hi OM-D enhusiasts!

I did the switch to this very nice camera in Nauticam housing a few weeks ago, and I was using before a Hugyfot D7000 housing with 45 degrees Inon viewfinder (by the way the housing and some lenses/ports are still on sale!).
I like many things with my new setup. Especially, I have been impressed with the AF speed on the 60mm lens (seems as fast as my 60mm Nikon on D7000).

Inability to shoot from an angle
However, I have one disappointment: I really like the ability to shoot from an angle (hence the 45 degrees viewfinder on my previous housing), and I thought I would get a 15 degrees angle since the camera screen is slightly angled up inside the Nauti housing. However, I found that I couldn't really use that 15 degrees angle because:
-the standard viewfinder of the housing obstructs a bit your vision.
-the back window of the housing quickly starts reflecting outside light when you lift up your head: you cannot see through it. I think this happens partly because the back window is not angled.

How to get the shooting angle ability back?
The obvious solution would be to get the existing Nauticam 45 degrees viewfinder.
-Pros: it seems like a very good angled viewfinder
-Cons: a pricey item
-Cons makes the rig more bulky
-Cons: I am loosing the ability to frame my pictures via a very large, comfortable display: the camera's back LCD, and getting back to the smaller display of a DSLR viewfinder!

Optional angled housing back?
I guess a better solution for my need would be that Nauticam produces an optional housing back, that integrates an angled window (15 degrees, or even 30 or 45 degrees => with an updated camera tray to support that angle), without a viewfinder (use case is to shoot via the big LCD screen, so let's save on the viewfinder/make the display clearer!).
What do you think about the feasibility/interest of such an optional housing back? I don't know if Nauticam read this forum, maybe I will just drop them an email.

I think some experienced DSLR photographers are just happy with the 45 degres optical viewfinder, but I am thinking a bunch of people could be interested in such an accessory, especially those upgrading from point & shoot. Furthermore, several housing brands now offer housings for external LCD monitors, so there's a market for that, and I am just suggesting a more efficient solution: take advantage of the in-camera LCD monitor.

WDYT?
cheers
Nicolas

I bought the hugyfot viewfinder at last.

I tried it yesterday in open water...

The view is amazing, but its very hard to frame the little animals in the picture..

I have more non shots where the animal is not in the picture.

 

Is it a learning curve, how do you dive best with the viewfinder 45 degree.

Can i train on this aspect above water ?

In three days i have a liveaboard of 3 days...

Try to do as many training as possible, even in pool like Steve suggested, working on finding small subjects in the vewfinder.

It took me a few dives of frustration, but then I really liked the extra flexibility of an angled viewfinder, it really improved my pictures!

 

Condensation is a funny thing. Condensation basically forms rain under certain conditions, pressure being one of these factors.  Atmospheric condensation typically happens when air expands and cools.  If the air that expands is heated to a certain point, vapor forms because water molecules bind together.  A key part of the ambient pressure variance is heat. Under the right conditions, heat that is removed from air during expansion and evaporation can form vapor.  So think of the air in your housing as ambient pressure and temperature.  Dipping your housing in cooler water is akin to warm, ambient air rising into the atmosphere (heat rises) and forming clouds.  Dipping your housing in cooler water after assembling it in warmer, humid conditions somewhat replicates what happens when clouds are formed. Our goal, of course, is to not have clouds form inside of our housings

Thanks for the analogy :-)

I thought I read somewhere else that one benefit of depressurizing your housing was lower chances of condensation (compared to the same housing staying at 1 bar), guess I was wrong.