Nikon DK-17M Magnifying Eyepiece

For the money this is by far the greatest add-on accessory and I have these on all my camera's. This makes the already large view finder's of my Nikon D4s and D850 even larger! This is both helpful for wide-angle lenses and super-telephoto lenses, it makes the optical viewfinder experience so much better. I use these in conjunction with the Nikon DK-19 rubber eye-cup and with the included plastic ring, both stay in place really well. There is the added benefit of not getting face grease all over the back screen of the camera as this setup sticks out a ways as well. Hopefully one day Nikon will make a new version though that has the fluorine coating applied, that's the only thing that stinks about replacing the DK-17F that came with the D850. Overall though this is made really well, Nikon quality engineering and a pretty decent price to performance ratio in my opinion.

I've been figuring things out through trial and error. Bought a DK-21 eyepiece for a D300 I used to own and it made the puny DX viewfinder even more pigeon-holed. This DK-17M arrived for my other body at the time, the full-frame D700, and I was expecting the same. So pleasantly pleased. It was wonderful. Nothing is cropped from the viewfinder, and with the full-frame D700, it's like looking through a medium-format finder. As a career professional, few things surprise me anymore. It's a substantial improvement and something you notice every time you are shooting - particularly if you are using two bodies. I can say this now after a year using two D700 bodies - one with the DK-17M eyepiece, the other with the factory eyepiece. I modified my review after coming here to buy another DK-17M - when it occurred to me this morning that I was always using the same body - even switching lenses from the other body to favor the one with the DK-17M. As one other reviewer states, he can't understand why the FX bodies don't come with this eyepiece as factory-standard. $37 is a silly-modest investment for a very noticeable difference every time you put a camera to your eye.

If you use a D2 series camera, this is a must-have item. Essentially, it eliminates that "tunnel" effect created by puny crop-factor viewfinders. Crop factor viewfinders are, of necessity, 1.5x smaller than full-frame or 35mm film viewfinders, giving an annoying tunnel vision effect when looking through them. This item magnifies that 1.5 crop viewfinder by 1.7, making it in effect 20% LARGER than a film or full-frame viewfinder view. You are still seeing what your lens sees, and your photos will still be the same 1.5x crop factor, but manual focus, composition, and reading the HUD readouts inside the viewfinder are all vastly improved. It does not stick out too far at all, in fact, if anything, it makes your nose not have to press so hard into the back of the camera. Very great item, especially if you shoot all day, as I do, in low light (weddings, events, etc.). Eyestrain is reduced because you don't have to squint so hard to see what you're focusing on. I'd recommend using this with a Katz Eye split-image focusing screen for even more brightness, clarity, and focusing ease. Conclusion: a great (and small) investment that goes a long way, especially if you're stuck without the full-frame goodness of a D3 or D700. I'm sure some pessimist may find something to whine about, but overall, this item is a great help to me, and probably will be to you as well. Got a D200/300? You might try the Nikon DK-21M Magnifying Eyepiece for Nikon D200 Digital Camera .

It's slightly fiddly to assemble onto your camera, but not difficult. The magnification it offers isn't as dramatic as you might expect, but is certainly noticeable. With a D500 it does provide noticeably more visible detail, to my eyes, which is a relief since that's what I wanted it for. The only downside I've seen is that it can exhibit rather strong chromatic aberration around high-contrast edges, in a way I don't recall ever seeing with the built-in viewfinder alone. At first this really confused and perturbed me, because of course I thought my lenses were inexplicably suddenly having these issues, but scrutiny of many sample photos confirmed that the aberration is solely in the viewfinder, not in the lens (and thus not in the actual photos taken). Still, since chromatic aberration *can* happen in the lens, and previously I was reasonably able to tell when it was, this is a bit of a problem - for now, with this eyepiece, I can only assume any chromatic aberration I see is just in the eyepiece, and occasionally I discover once I get home that there was *also* some chromatic aberration happening in the lens too, that I perhaps otherwise would have realised and addressed at the time. Thus why I can't give this a full five stars. Note also that this *does* work perfectly well in concert with the DK-19 Rubber Eyecup. In fact the two together are better for me than either alone, as this eyepiece sticks out further into the eyecup, meaning you don't have to push your face into the eyecup as far to get up against it, compared with the built-in viewfinder.

I'm glad I took a chance on this magnifier. Even though Nikon claims (and reviewers too) that Nikon Df has a big and beautiful viewfinder, that isn't accurate. It's actually pretty small compared to other cameras and fairly dim. Magnification isn't great overall and corners of the image were hard to see. This viewfinder magnifier brings the apparent size of the image to acceptable levels. The image appears big enough for manual focusing and the image isn't any more obscured than without it. Installation was fairly simple and the increase in size is manageable.

This is a great magnifying eyepiece and very helpful, especially for focus which is the most important thing. Well worth the price. Nikon should have incorporated this magnification in the design of their better cameras anyway, but since they didn't this works just fine, and it is now part of my camera. As a side note, I want to say how pleased I am with Amazon. Without one exception, everything I've bought through them, over the years, has been exactly as described and their ground shipping is very fast. Thanks Amazon.

This allows you to see exactly where you're focusing more clearly than you'd be able to with the standard eyepiece. My main gripe is how you have to get your eye against it just right to see the whole frame, and the right position is pretty uncomfortable. I don't think this is a dealbreak, nor do I think it warrants less than five stars. It's to be expected that something outside of the standard design, meant for a specific purpose, might be less comfortable than the standard options. I think it does what it is intended to do. If you don't like that, you can always revert back to the standard eyepiece until you need to use it again. Takes about three seconds to install/uninstall.

As they say, the profit is all in the accessories. And I think I've made a lot of vendors happier because of this. Case in point: DK-17'M' - for magnifying. I have yet to see a generic one, so I went ahead and sent for this pricey piece of glass. Installing it needed a quick look at the instructions since it wasn't intuitive for me. Once I popped off the old one, and bayoneted Mr. DK-17M on, the change in view was much better! I like how it magnifies the image in an already-bright screen of a D700. Since it does protrude back quite a bit, it tended to fog when the camera viewfinder was near my stomach area (hanging from the neck strap). Not an issue with a small microfiber cloth. Eventually, I got the rubber cup (DK-22) and it made it even more comfortable experience over all. Highly recommended! Update (8.20.2013) The DK-17M is still mounted on my D700, and noticed two things you may want to know before purchasing: (1) Since it magnifies the image, you will certainly get more than what you framed when you originally composed your picture. (Not an issue if you will crop tighter during post processing. (2) When attaching the rubber eyecup, be sure to install the retaining ring so you lessen the chances of losing your eyecup (or even just the original rubber) -- I found out the hard way, and lost an eyecup, as well as the original rubber ring. The fact that the 17-M protrudes by about 1/4" behind, makes it even more susceptible to losing the rubber ring/eyecup when moving about.

I know this is not compatible with all rectangular eyepiece cameras, but I needed to fit it to my D610. Solution was to purchase a DK22 and the DK17. Of course they do not mate but if you file down the tabs on the DK17 and bit of shaving on the DK22 you will end up with two mating surfaces. A good of bead with some strong Super Glue, some pressure overnight for good measure and voila. Next day it was fitted and I picked up the camera by the eyepiece. It is still there. Hope this has helped

Proporciona una magnificación moderada (1,2x), pero claramente apreciable, que permite observar todo el encuadre, aproximando suficientemente el ojo al ocular, lo que no es posible, o se ve dificultado, utilizando gafas, por lo que no me parece tan recomendable para quien necesite utilizarlas. Para quien no las necesite, la calidad de imagen es excelente y la magnificación resultante ayuda mucho en el enfoque manual y con la visualización de los modos de recorte en las cámaras que lo permiten, como las Nikon D800/810

An meiner D800 verwende ich in letzter Zeit vermehrt manuelle Objektive (Voigtländer Nokton, Helios 40-20); eine vernünftige Schnittbildmattscheibe gibt es nicht (Konditionen!!), so habe ich mir das Vergrößerungsokular bestellt. Damit funktioniert die Scharfstellung besser. Meine Erwartungen wurden erfüllt.

Excellent product; makes it clearer to frame photos life is easier

Makes focusing on flying birds and objects in low light that much easier. Definite increase in keeper-rate in my photography since I've started using this. Absolutely worth it.