I'm a BIG RDS fan. The dot is projected on the glass "screen" so you can see it while holding the camera away from you. I hold the camera at arms length pushing against the neck strap to steady it. This first pic shows the dot on the target and how you can see the overall scene. The inset photo shows what would be seen through the viewfinder. A half shutter press activates autofocus on my FZ-50 and if I am on target I'll hear a beep. If focus is not achieved there's a different sounding beep. So as you pan with the bird, plane, speeding boat or race car targeted by the dot get focus keep panning and complete the shutter press. I set my JPG quality to low so I get up to five shots per burst.
This is my first setup using a cheap plastic sight and a home made hot shoe mount. It worked well enough to make me a believer, but that's about it. The slightest bump would knock it out of alignment.
I bought a gun quality compact RDS and a VERY STURDY mount from Photosolve. I modified the mount so I could tighten it with a thumbscrew instead of a hex wrench and trimmed and smoothed it to suit my needs.
To maintain proper "sighted-in" alignment a sturdy mount is a MUST. If the dot doesn't align with the center of the viewfinder and the camera's small focus spot it won't work right! The Photosolve mount fits the shoe snug on the up and down plane and it expands side to side to tighten against the outer edges of the hot shoe. When I put mine on the camera it comes pretty close to proper alignment, but I do a test shot to be sure. If it's off a bit a little nudge sets it right and I tighten it down. It's IMPORTANT to keep it accurately sighted-in.
If I'd had my eye in the viewfinder I would not have seen the second eagle swoop down and join the other in the frame. With the RDS I saw it coming and was ready to trigger the shutter as they came together. It was only for an instant.
The RDS not only works for BIFs using a strong telephoto but it also works well for me targeting those flitty little birds that hop branch to branch hardly ever staying still. Takes practice and a good bit of luck to get them in focus among branches, but I get shots I never could if I was trying to follow the little flits through the viewfinder.
Mark
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