Optical viewfinder and accessory shoe on digital

[FPjohn]

Hello:

This community might have a bias in favour of optical viewfinders. I'm wondering what proportion of us use a vf in preference to the LCD while taking digital photos. Viewfinders and accessory shoes are as obvious as hen's teeth for current midpriced digital PS in the shops.

yours
Frank

 

[Poptart]

I use a uni finder on a rfdr. I don't have a digital.

 

[GeneW]

It depends. On most days, especially in bright sunlight, I use the optical VF of my Canon S45. The main drawback is that it isn't accurate -- the view is cropped -- but I like using it that way. I usually do a test shot and check the histogram to make sure I don't need any exposure compenstation, then use the camera somewhat like a RF.

For some scenes though, composing on the LCD is akin to composing on my TLR screen.

When I owned a Canon G2 I really liked the tilt&swivel LCD display and would often swing it out so I could frame and shoot looking down, as with a TLR but without the reversed image.

I realize we're talking consumer P&S digitals. Looking through my DSLR is more like traditional 35mm SLR photography, except that the VF is dimmer and smaller and has no focusing aids for manual focus.

I'd love a true digital RF, even in a consumer version.

Gene

 

[FPjohn]

Subminiture view camera

Subminiture view camera

Hello:

The current crop appear, to me, to be subminiture view cameras. I wonder if in general use the framing is less, not more, accurate than a less specified model with a viewfinder.

Furthermore, along the feature list - is the tripod socket going as well?

yours
Frank

 

[aizan]

if i were to get a digicam, it would be an olympus c-5050. i'd use the tilting lcd and a vc 35mm brightline depending on the situation.

 

[jlw]

This community might have a bias in favour of optical viewfinders. I'm wondering what proportion of us use a vf in preference to the LCD while taking digital photos.

I always use a VF when taking digital photos with my Epson R-D 1. : )

More relevantly, I also own two lower-end digicams -- an Olympus 4040 and a Konica Minolta Xg -- and I picked those over various competitors specifically because they have optical viewfinders. I just won't buy a camera without one.

I suppose bias has something to do with it, but there are plenty of other arguments for using an optical viewfinder -- battery life being one of them.

I don't worry so much about an accessory shoe, since these cameras have zoom lenses and I don't feel I'd get much benefit out of using an optical viewfinder with them. On the R-D 1, of course, the accessory shoe comes in really handy whenever I want to use a lens longer than 50mm.

 

[pvdhaar]

On my DSLR, there's nothing but the viewfinder. It's reasonably accurate.

On my KonicaMinolta G530, I always use the back LCD, as the viewfinder is small, only shows a small portion of the frame and it is difficult to keep the horizon level.

 

[sfb_dot_com]

On my DSLR, there's nothing but the viewfinder. It's reasonably accurate.

On my KonicaMinolta G530, I always use the back LCD, as the viewfinder is small, only shows a small portion of the frame and it is difficult to keep the horizon level.

Pretty much ditto. Although I don't use low-end digicams much - when I do for example use my girlfriend's Kodak, I tend to use the LCD as the viewfinder feels really pokey. I do struggle with using them though, and I find the whole experience a bit disconcerting. That might be more to do with the fact that I'm a bit dyspraxic at the best of times tho' 🙄
It's always viewfinder on my D100, and I always have the grid turned on too - bit like a rangefinder that!
And on my VC 12mm Heliar with Bessa L it's viewfinder or nothing. I'm having the problem described for spectacle wearers with this, but it's early days yet & I'm sure I'll suss it out soon. 😛

Andy

 

[djon]

I've not used my Canon Ixus 3.2 in a long time, but it does have credible optical viewfinder (tubular finder)...parallax isn't much of a problem when a camera's that small. I rarely use the monitor gizmo..

That Ixus happens to have a reasonably accurate optical finder...when I bought mine I was shooting a Leica IIIC primarily, so the Ixus seemed directly comparable (or better). In fact, this little digicam seems more comparable to Contax G:: sharp, good exposures, shutter lag, zooming tube finder etc.

3.2 MP is incredibly good up to 8X10, incidentally. Doesn't raise the question of "like film" or "unlike film" and it certainly looks better than minilab enlargements from 35mm if one prints one's own. A little unsharp masking is helpful.

 

[FPjohn]

why remove features?

why remove features?

Hello: Why remove features? Have they determined that users ignore the vf or prefer the lcd? or is it a cost reduction as the incentive?

Yours
Frank

 

[djon]

FPjohn, good question.

Maybe it has to do with the size of the market with television/computer addiction Vs the size of the market that enjoys looking at the real world through a keyhole 😉

 

[saxshooter]

I think optical viewfinders may have been dropped from the very small digital cameras with those large screens (Sony T series, for example) because of the size of the camera -- a zooming optical viewfinder needs more space than the thin camera allows?

 

[DougK]

The only problem I can see with the optical viewfinder on most digicams is most of them that I have seen don't include any framing aids, exposure information, or even a crosshair to indicate where the focus point is, which makes them far less useful. Just a couple of LEDs to indicate flash status and AF lock. If all I get is a teeny-tiny tube to squint through and no useful information, it's not worth having on the camera.

By contrast, if the camera has an LCD in many cases you can overlay a rule of thirds grid and sometimes even a live histogram along with the exposure information, which is a VERY useful feature for nailing the shot first try and I don't have to squint to see the image. Framing is usually extremely accurate. The downside is visibility in strong light can be poor to completely washed out.

 

[FPjohn]

Hello:

The large lcd models have the real estate to be usefull. Why does a 4M P&S not have a VF when its same price point 2.1M precusor had a usable vf and the same size lcd?

And why do people buy them if they do?

yours
Frank