Barronofbostic Loc: Boston

Hi,
I use a Nikon D5200 camera.
I went to see the Victory in Europe (VE Day) in Washington DC on May 8th to photograph the historic flyover by all of the U.S. planes that took part in the war. The show was terrific and I got many still photos of good quality. I was not able to take video, however, because I couldn't use TTL sighting. It was impossible, in the sun's glare, to find the airplanes and follow them on the movable video screen. I was so disappointed to have missed the video of a once in a lifetime flyover. It looks as though video on the Nikon 5200 is meant for inside or just around your house, providing it is not too sunny to see the screen. Do I need a dedicated video camera in addition to my Nikon 5200, and if so, which ones are recommended? Have any other digital camera makers solved this video problem? Thank you for your help.

tomeveritt Loc: Fla. + Ga,NY,Va,Md,SC

check out some "Hot Shoe Viewfinders"

https://www.google.com/search?q=hot+shoe+viewfinder&biw=1139&bih=680&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=-udRVbf2FsXHsAX1iIGABg&sqi=2&ved=0CEwQsAQ

Barronofbostic Loc: Boston

The only optical viewfinder from Nikon costs $449. That's pretty steep for me. Is there anything less expensive?

tomeveritt Loc: Fla. + Ga,NY,Va,Md,SC

If your just trying to "Point" the camera at the flying subject, use a cheap viewer, you can judge the results after a few tries.

Some of the cheaps could include:

--> ANS Optical Tubeless Open Style Red Dot Sight, with Mount Base & Hot Shoe Adapter for Camera

http://www.amazon.com/ANS-Optical-Tubeless-Adapter-Camera/dp/B00J4EIVUY/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1431439669&sr=1-3&keywords=hot+shoe+viewfinder

The 2 links go to amazon

--> ANS Optical Tubeless Open Style Red & Green Dot Sight Four 4 Separate Reticle 3 Levels Brightness with Mount Base & Hot Shoe Adapter for Camera

http://www.amazon.com/ANS-Optical-Tubeless-Separate-Brightness/dp/B00LO2MQOG

Good Luck, I was looking for a low cost answer to let you see the planes, you know the size of the image it will be recording.

Barronofbostic Loc: Boston

Thank you TomEverett. This looks like a solution I can afford. Will order from Amazon.

georgevedwards Loc: Essex, Maryland.

I am thinking with the movable screen, you should have found a shady angle, although it is a little awkward to center an image when the articulated screen is at an abnormal position. I have a D5200 and am thinking that any other camera would have the same problem, without the articulated screen. I do not see how the articulated screen would introduce a sunlight problem, if it did just put it back into its original position like any other camera. I have noticed the bright sunlight problem in viewing any screen on any of my cameras or devices. I may be missing something here, did Nikon change the viewscreen properties in the 5200 to make it different for video than other cameras? I will admit I have never taken a video with any DSLR camera (or any other camera for that matter). Maybe your problem is comparing DSLR video to a specifically designed for video camera, a completely different animal, I see they seem to have elevated eyepieces or something, a completely different arrangement from a DSLR camera.

Barronofbostic Loc: Boston

Hi George,
Thank you for your help. I was standing at the WWII Memorial, out in the noon day sun at 12:10 pm. I had a 300 mm lens on which gave me just a small patch of sky to look at. The airplanes were coming across low, 1000 feet, and at speeds of 250-500 mph. Trying to sweep the sky to find your target was nearly impossible, no matter what position the screen was in. It was better with the screen in its original position, but still very glaring.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

I've had this problem with birds using my 55-300mm lens on my Nikon D3100. Trying to sight in at 300mm is like trying to spot a needle in a haystack. The solution for me was to zoom out to 55mm, find the right patch of sky, then zoom in while keeping the right area in the viewfinder.
Bob