Nikon D7000 -- SMZ800 with trinocular head

pittendrigh · Post by **pittendrigh** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 7:58 pm

I have a Nikon D7000 and a Nikon SMZ800 microscope with "trinocular head," so I can shoot photos through the microscope.

Focusing through the range finder is possible but difficult.

Live view on the camera's LCD screen is a better way to focus, at least when it works. In live view I an examine the lcd screen with a hand held magnifier while manually focusing the microscope, slowly and accurately.

However, the live view only shows a well-illuminated image for 3-5 seconds, and then dims significantly. When the live view dims I can still see the image, but not well enough to focus.

Setting or re-setting the camera's LCD display brightness does not seem to help. I have never seen this LCD screen dimming happen when connected to a camera lens. Only when connected to the microscope.

I can struggle on with the range finder. But the LCD screen is essentially useless. Unless there is a way to fix this.

Pau · Post by **Pau** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:20 am

Wait for answers from expert Nikon users (I shot with Canon) but I think that your problem can be solved if you use a chipped adapter ("AF confirm") that tells the camera that a (faked) Nikon lens is attached. Low end EOS cameras have a similar, but not identical, problem.

pittendrigh · Post by **pittendrigh** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 5:45 am

Pau wrote:Wait for answers from expert Nikon users (I shot with Canon) but I think that your problem can be solved if you use a chipped adapter ("AF confirm") that tells the camera that a (faked) Nikon lens is attached. Low end EOS cameras have a similar, but not identical, problem.

Thank you. That sounds right. I'll do my best to follow that lead.

On a slightly related subject I tried "tethering" a live view on my Linux computer with the open source "darktable" software. But I wasn't able to get the "live view" to work yet--looks like I'd have to make and install the "development" version of the software.

I have Mac and Windows boxes too. Is there any software, commercial free or otherwise, that support porting a "live" camera view directly to a computer screen, rather than the camera's built-in LCD?

Wim van Egmond · Post by **Wim van Egmond** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 7:02 am

I use a Nikon but not a D7000. But could it be that when you adjust the shutter speed to the right speed the image gets the right illumination?

The camera has a hdmi output. It could be interesting to look for a computer screen with a hdmi connection. Than you can see the live view on that screen.

Good luck,

Wim

chrismower · Post by **chrismower** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:01 am

If you have a monitor with a HDMI input you can connect the 7000 to the monitor as there is an HDMI socket under the flap on the side opposite the SD card door. Make sure that you get the correct cable as the HDMI connection on the 7000 is smaller than the HDMI connector on most screens. I had to buy a cable with standard HDMI to what I think is Mini HDMI. Here is a link to one -
http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D7000-HDMI- ... B005DNKTGE

Also, in the setup menu there is an option to control the screen dimming which may help as well.