Is the Nikon DA-2 Action Viewfinder worth the money?

[PGraham3]

Howdy, APUG!
I have a Nikon F3 with an HP viewfinder, and I'm considering getting a DA-2 viewfinder. What are your thoughts about it? Pros/Cons? Is it worth the money?

Your honest and detailed insights will be verymuch appreciated.
-Paul

 

[JimCee]

Here's what the MIR site has to offer in his description of the Nikon DA-2 Action Finder:

Action Finder DA-2 features special prism optics that let you view the entire image with your eye up to 2 1/2" from the finder - a vital advantage in situations requiring protective eye wear, when the camera is used in an underwater housing, overhead inverse coverage news sessions or for split-second sport action coverage.

I guess if you foresee any situation that might be similar to those described (e.g. underwater housing, etc.) the DA-2 finder might be useful. Personally, with my Nikon F3HP I've never found much use for the various accessory finders that were made for the Nikon F3 (I do have a DW-4 accessory finder that I picked up once from a sale, but it certainly hasn't experienced much use for me!).

Hope this helps...

Jim

 

[PGraham3]

Yeah, I had checked on the MIR site about it, and it helped. I'm also hoping for some more personal observations from my fellow APUGers. Thanks for sharing yours, Jim.

-Paul

 

[Les Sarile]

What is your reasoning for considering this finder? Is it for a purpose or historical perspective?
What are you expecting it to improve on the F3HP?

 

[Ai Print]

I used it for aerial work with an F3 and F4 when wearing ski goggles to keep my eyes from tearing up. Otherwise I stuck with the regular finders.

 

[mshchem]

I have or have had these finders for F2, F3, and F5 cameras. They really should be called helmet finders. It seems to me that the primary purpose of these finders is the long eye relief to allow use on aircraft, ships at sea , as mentioned above ski goggles etc. I never have had any occasion to really use them. However they look and are really cool.
Buy it and have some fun.
Mike

 

[Mick Fagan]

I took to the city last week to test some JCH Street Pan 400 film with my F3. I had my MD4 drive (which is almost permanently attached) and, I mainly used my Nikkor f/1.4 85mm lens, complete with its big(ish) lens hood. I did use a 50mm and 24mm as well, but by and large, the 85mm lens was almost permanently on that day last week.

I have just weighed that combination on my electronic kitchen scales at 2,263g; this is the weight figure with the 85mm lens on the body.

I have also used this combination of body, drive, lens (85mm) and viewfinder, very successfully for quite a few portrait sessions

The DA-2 Sport finder is a wonderful piece of kit when used normally, better for those interesting shots you almost cannot get with a normal viewfinder.

I originally picked mine up to use on the back of motorcycles facing backwards to photograph bicycle races wearing a motorcycle crash helmet about 25 years ago. It worked perfectly and was a very useful addition to the armoury of tools one has, or attains over the years.

I just tested it in the back yard in brilliantly sunny cloud free conditions, alongside the standard HP finder. I wear eye glasses, so that in itself presents some problems for viewing the scene with some viewfinders; but not with the HP finder.

I also tested with the DA-2 viewfinder having sunlight on the viewfinder glass, as well as my spectacles having sunlight coming from the side and making the whole scene a bit of a glare. I could still see the image, albeit not that great, but I could focus and do whatever I needed to do. That would be the worst case scenario I could imagine under reasonably normal conditions, with that viewfinder. With the sun behind me, in front of me, or coming in from the side, the viewfinder worked.

With a motorcycle crash helmet, the DA-2 finder works perfectly; really perfectly. With Oxygen/Acetylene welding goggles, also being a perfect solution to a problem.

With usage in a city walkabout, the DA-2 does help a little in that you can focus perfectly with your forehead being up to and around the 75mm to 80mm from the viewfinder. This allows you to be far more aware of your surrounds, something that may or may not be an issue to you.

Probably the best feature is that you can focus on the entire image area at and around the 75mm to 80mm forehead distance from the viewfinder eyepiece. This is not possible with the HP viewfinder. With the HP viewfinder you can see the entire image area up to around 30mm forehead distance away from the viewfinder eyepiece, no more. 75mm to 80mm is about the limit, after that you can still focus, but, like the smaller HP viewfinder, only in the central portion and you don’t get to see the entire image area

There is a downside, there is no rubber to stop scratches on expensive spectacles, as there is on the HP viewfinder. However, this is nit-picking, it is supposed to be used with your body well away from the viewfinder.

I just had an idea about using longer lenses; which I rarely use free hand, so I whacked on my Nikkor f/2.8 135mm lens on. As I thought, with the longer lens on, camera shake becomes a bit easier to notice; this is for multiple reasons.

One, the camera viewfinder homing in on an ever tightening scene, certainly makes one more aware of camera movement.

Two, the fact that you use this viewfinder with the camera almost a hand distance away from the body, not against the head and eyebrow/spectacles as would be the case with the standard or HP viewfinder, almost certainly adds to possible camera movement.

Some thoughts, Mick.

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

I have the DA-2 and have used it over the years. It works well but I feel I get better focus with the standard DE-5 (the F3P prism) the standard High Eyepoint finder. It does look really cool and the giant view is really fun to use, however the size of the finder makes it really really easy to bash about and ding the housing and the lightest tap can and does crack the prism glass. I took mine apart to clean out some debris from the small fracture on the prism from the previous owner. I covered the prism housing with closed cell foam from the craft store to help reduce the chance of another impact.

 

[PGraham3]

Wow, Mick! What an awesome response! Much appreciated!
To answer others' questions, I'm looking for an alternative to the HP Finder for general street photography, and I'm figuring the DA-2 would be a finder that I can use for very easy viewing and being able to pay attention more on what's going on around me. However, as you mentioned, and what gives me concern, is that I won't be able to notice camera shake as much, and I may perhaps not be able to focus in detail as much. I tend to hold the camera very very steady with the HP Finder, and I'm guessing this may not be the case as when using the DA-2.

I'm also looking into the DX-1 Finder. I know it was made for the Nikon F3AF, but I've read one can mount it on a Nikon F3.

Have any of you ever used a DX-1 finder on your Nikon F3? If so, how did it function? Would you recommend it?

Thanks so much for all your observations! Much appreciated!
-Paul

 

[narsuitus]

Is the Nikon DA-2 Action Viewfinder worth the money?

I found the Nikon sports/action finder (see the finder in center of the image below) very useful when I was shooting macro to avoid unwanted camera movement when looking through the viewfinder; sports where keeping my eye away from the viewfinder allowed me to keep better track of action on the field; and at gun ranges where I had to wear protective eyewear such as goggles.




Nikon F2 Viewfinders by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[narsuitus]

I also use the Nikon sports/action finder when shooting with a long lens to avoid the unwanted camera movement caused when looking through a standard viewfinder.



Long 1000mm Lens by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[PGraham3]

Nice! That is some lens, Narsuitus!

 

[Halford]

I have the equivalent on my F4. It looks fantastic but IIRC I lose matrix metering (which may or may not affect life with the F3, I can't remember). I like it, but I don't think I'd spend money on it separately if the camera hadn't come with it.