using the live view on a D5100

wooders

wooders

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Im getting to grips with my D5100 and have read in the manual that when using live view you should remove the rubber eye piece and place the plastic cap in its place .Do other users bother doing this ? does it really affect the exposure like the manual says .I no i will end up losing either the eye piece or cap if it is essential to swap .
 
Ive never heard of this and never done it before, I dont even see how it affects the exposure unless the D5100 live view works differently to the D3200 live view?

Just to clarify, I was referring to the mirror flipping up meaning no light should come through the viewfinder anyway, unless it works differently in the D5100.
 
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This affects all cameras.

There are 2 routes for light to get to the sensor, the obvious route is through the lens to the sensor, the other route is through the eye piece. You normally have your eye and head against the eye piece blocking the light, but when you use live view, light is free to enter the eye piece.

I've never had an issue with this and most won't

Times it can cause an issue is when you are using an ND filter and the light entering through the eye piece will be much stronger than entering through the lens.

It can also come up on long exposures and also I believe you can get reflections off filters in front of the lens when the eye piece is uncovered.

This is all in theory and from what I have read on here, I've not seen any signs of this on my D3100 :)
 
Dale_tem said:
This affects all cameras.

There are 2 routes for light to get to the sensor, the obvious route is through the lens to the sensor, the other route is through the eye piece. You normally have your eye and head against the eye piece blocking the light, but when you use live view, light is free to enter the eye piece.

I've never had an issue with this and most won't

Times it can cause an issue is when you are using an ND filter and the light entering through the eye piece will be much stronger than entering through the lens.

It can also come up on long exposures and also I believe you can get reflections off filters in front of the lens when the eye piece is uncovered.

This is all in theory and from what I have read on here, I've not seen any signs of this on my D3100 :)
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For the most part, spot on.

However while light can reach the sensor through the eyepiece there is not a massive quantity that will. It is not your eye/face that is blocking this route but the mirror inside the camera. When you open the shutter, and when you use live view, the mirror is flipped up blocking the light path from the eyepiece.

Still, the light seal is not always perfect so for long exposures it is advisable to cover the eyepiece too in order to better block it out.
 
I did think it was blocked, but wasn't 100% sure
 
Easy to experiment - set the camera up on a tripod with its bach facing the sun. take a meter reading with the eyepiece uncovered and another immediately with it covered. Some light can (and does) get in through the eyepiece and somewhere there's a posted image of the effect.
 
Its a total faff to take the rubber off then slide the little plastic cap on, then back off and put the rubber back on! just cover it with a lens cloth or handkerchief or something if you are that worried.
 
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