D600 light leaks and live view

<p>I've been reading about light leakage through the viewfinder, which according to some is more of a problem on the D600 than most cameras. <br>

I've never had the problem on my D600, however I normally switch to Live View when the camera is on a tripod, and therefore surely the mirror is up and you cannot get light leakage ?<br>

p.s. I've rarely used that silly bit of plastic that Nikon gave you on my previous cameras and never on the D600 !</p>

<p>The mirror is always up when the still image or video is captured.</p>

<p>So are we talking about setting the D600 on a tripod with no photographer behind, and somehow light coming from behind the camera affects the meter inside the viewfinder?</p>

<p>I guess I'm being 'precautionary' as I said I've never (YET) had a problem, but yes I think it refers to the exposure being affected if there isn't either an eye, or a piece of black plastic behind the eyepiece.<br>

Am I correct in assuming that Live View would NOT allow stray light to enter the eyepiece ?</p>

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<p><em>Am I correct in assuming that Live View would NOT allow stray light to enter the eyepiece ?</em></p>

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<p>No. That has nothing to do with the viewfinder optics, other than the mirror being in the up position. Light can still enter through the eyepiece from the back. Stray light entering the viewfinder from the back could affect meter readings (and autoexposure), since the cells for center-weighted and matrix metering are in the prism (<strong>above</strong> the mirror).</p>

<p>I don't think the camera still uses the meter in the viewfinder when it is under live view/video. That would make no sense.</p>

<p>I believe you are correct Shun.</p>

<p>So in summary light <strong>can</strong> enter the viewfinder eyepiece in Live-View mode, but <strong>it doesn't matter</strong> for metering purposes. :-)</p>

<p><em>(edit - 11:02)</em> However, it would be "best practice" to use the viewfinder cover in some lighting conditions (bright sun from directly behind the camera for instance), since <strong>some</strong> stray light entering the eyepiece can leak around the upraised mirror and into the mirror box area.</p>

<p>Great so I can continue as I am - one of the really good things about the D600 (cf my old D200) is the LiveView.. I don't have to lie on the cold damp ground any more to take closeups</p>

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<p><em>"... so I can continue as I am"</em></p>

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<p>Yes ... and no. ;-)</p>

<p>See the edit I made above around the same time you posted.</p>

<p>That's OK - bright sun is pretty rare in these parts !</p>

<p>Probably the same kind of light leak as with a 24-70: lenscap on, exposure several minutes and in bright sun light.......</p>

<p>It can happen on the D800 too but it has a little shutter which can be pulled over to shield it, don't know if the D600 has this feature? However, such light leakage is usually only an issue with long exposures, you shouldn't find this an issue in normal usage. It did happen to me recently on my D800 but that was with me using a ten stop ND filter, some stray light came in through the viewfinder leaving circular marks on the image.</p>

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<p>So in summary light <strong>can</strong> enter the viewfinder eyepiece in Live-View mode, but <strong>it doesn't matter</strong> for metering purposes</p>

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<p>This does not make sense to me : There is metering in liveview too, and if the light entering the eyepiece can reach the sensor when taking the shot, then it can also influence metering in lifeview i'd say</p>

 

<p>A bit of a late response to this, but I feel that the issue hasn't really been addressed so far.</p>

<p>There's a reason that Nikon provides an eyepiece blind in their higher-end cameras, and that's because it's <em>needed</em>. Nikon's TTL metering has always been sensitive to light entering the eyepiece, right back to Photomic finder days. If you don't have your eye to the camera and you're relying on TTL exposure automation, then you really should consider blanking off the 'finder. Especially if there's direct light on the eyepiece or if you're using ND filters or small aperture lenses. In fact in any situation where the subject or camera image is darker than the ambient light.</p>

<p>If you don't believe it's an issue, then see what exposure time you get with the lens cap on and the eyepiece uncovered in bright light, compared to the time you get with the eyepiece blanked.</p>

<p>Edit: BTW this has nothing to do with light hitting the sensor from the eyepiece. With the mirror up that just can't happen (we're not talking about Olympus OM-1s or kiev 60s here!). With Nikon DSLRs it only affects the metering and can lead to quite severe underexposure.</p>