Image in viewfinder

is it zoomed right out

Please also ignore this answer, (see askers comment above). I've only posted it so that this question doesn't continue to appear as an unanswered one.

If anyone else has this problem please go to
http://www.fixya.com/support/t2637498-image_nikon_f80_dark_cloudy
for an answer.

I have the same problem except everything is white, not black.

inside the viewfinder there is a button, called amazingly enough ZEBRA, next to the OIS button,(optical image stabilizer button). You push this button to turn zebra on or off. In the menu, you adjust the zebra to show at 80% or 100% of optimal exposure on the brightest spots of your shots. You need to dial your iris up or down to make the zebra go away, then turn it back up until it barely registers on the brightest spot of your image, then you are using zebra to it's effective use. When shooting in zebra 80%, try to make the people's faces barely register a tiny bit of zebra striping to have their faces exposed at the best light. The white shirts will be blazing, but then again, they should not be wearing white shirts anyway if your pre production crew did their job when advising talent what to wear. (No stripes, solid colors are best. Dark colors are even better, especially for dark skinned people.)

You should go into the menu, camera settings and set the evf to on. EVF stands for electronic view finder. This can be set to be on when the lcd is open or closed. CAreful, if the evf is set to on and you point the viewfinder towards the sun, it will burn white marks into the viewfinder and ruin it.

ag-456 vf is black and white only.

cleaning with rubbing alcohol may have aggravated your problems - rubbing alcohol contains glycerin, which may tend to worsen the connections. to clean the connectors, use only _denatured_alcohol or electrical contact cleaner. the only connectors I have had to clean are the two leading to the video head.

Things to try. I don't promise solutions. Check your Monitor. Reading the description lead me to think of a tube display rather than a chip. Otherwise order a head cleaning tape and give it a rotation.

the hinge is definetly damaged and is going to need replacing. these hinges do need replacing if used allot because this is a moving mechanical part. This is not a easy thing to do, it needs to be done by a panasonic technician.

just follow the battery and you will see the small fuse color white and have a mark of 3.15 at the bottom of the battery socket..