Range Loser
Established
This article on Luminous Landscape reflects my own views.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/why_i_hate_evfs.shtml
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/why_i_hate_evfs.shtml
Why I hate EVF's
- Thread starter Range Loser
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 10
- Views 2K
Ken Ford
Refuses to suffer fools
I still think the plusses outweigh the minuses, and I was expecting to hate EVFs.
jsrockit
Moderator
I've gotten used to them, but this is why I like the Fuji X100 and X-Pro1... switch over to OVF and you have the best of both worlds. I do use EVF more than anything these days though.
Flood
Established
But as soon as it gets dark or you go inside, all the negatives described in the article apply to an OVF. Shoot an X100 or X-Pro1 for a full day and you'll experience all aspects of OVFs and EVFs.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Hmmpf. Ultra high contrast situations are the hardest thing for an digital display to present. Similarly, extreme low light situations are the hardest things for an optical viewfinder, reflex or tunnel optical, to present. It's a competition to see which does the job for you most of the time, and which you can work around to best effect when it fails. You have learn to see around the limitations of the viewfinder, or choose the right viewfinder for the situation you are trying to photograph.
This is one reason why, so far, I prefer the clip-on mirrorless system cameras over the ones with built in EVF only. With a clip-on viewfinder, I can pick the viewfinder that suits the situation and my needs best, EVF or OVF, where with any SLR or built in finder camera, I can only work around the finder limitations.
(The Fuji X100's viewfinder is a brilliant idea, but the EVF is sadly lacking and the OVF isn't as good as the Voigtländer clip-on OVFs to my eye. I hope they address those problems.)
G
hepcat
Former PH, USN
I have really come to dislike EVFs for a variety of reasons. I had an X-Pro1, and used the OVF as often as I could, but soon found out that there was no way to reliably know what the camera was auto-focusing on. In order to do that, you had to switch to the EVF and when I couldn't get it to focus on what I wanted, I had to switch to manual focus which then required more manipulations of the camera's controls to get the 3x magnification required to manually focus the camera. I found that I needed to do that regularly and routinely; perhaps others don't run into that as often as I did, but it happened often enough to me that it was frustrating.
I have very acute low-light vision. An optical view finder works well for me in very dim conditions. Using the EVF, on the other hand, blinds my night vision. I can't reliably assess actual light levels and contrast levels and translate that information into exposure from the artificially-brightened levels that an EVF gives. I don't care for the contrast that they render as (the article says) they're just not close to what I see in an optical finder. And the refresh rate of the EVFs in the cameras I've used tend to give me a headache if I use them for more than a few minutes.
The trend that Olympus is taking with going all mirrorless with EVFs is why I sold all of my E-DSLR gear and returned to Leica. The E5's finder was beautiful, and there may yet be an E-7 with an optical VF, but considering the success Olympus has had with mirrorless in the Pen series and the OM-D, I decided it was time to try another system. EVF cameras are much less expensive to manufacture, I'm sure... but I won't be using one of choice, and fortunately I don't have to.
I have very acute low-light vision. An optical view finder works well for me in very dim conditions. Using the EVF, on the other hand, blinds my night vision. I can't reliably assess actual light levels and contrast levels and translate that information into exposure from the artificially-brightened levels that an EVF gives. I don't care for the contrast that they render as (the article says) they're just not close to what I see in an optical finder. And the refresh rate of the EVFs in the cameras I've used tend to give me a headache if I use them for more than a few minutes.
The trend that Olympus is taking with going all mirrorless with EVFs is why I sold all of my E-DSLR gear and returned to Leica. The E5's finder was beautiful, and there may yet be an E-7 with an optical VF, but considering the success Olympus has had with mirrorless in the Pen series and the OM-D, I decided it was time to try another system. EVF cameras are much less expensive to manufacture, I'm sure... but I won't be using one of choice, and fortunately I don't have to.
back alley
IMAGES
x-pro1 or the x100 takes care of that...
much ado about nothing!
i may be neurotic when it comes to bags but some of you guys fret over minutia...
much ado about nothing!
i may be neurotic when it comes to bags but some of you guys fret over minutia...
hepcat
Former PH, USN
The X-Pro1 wasn't the answer for me, Joe, and it wasn't a matter of minutia.
back alley
IMAGES
i don't mean to be argumentative...
i just think the finder in the x-pro is the perfect compromise...maybe not be the perfect finder, yet...but in time.
i just think the finder in the x-pro is the perfect compromise...maybe not be the perfect finder, yet...but in time.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
In very dark circumstances, I usually find myself turning down the EVF to minimum brightness to prevent that. Seems to work ok for me.
There are some circumstances where one or the other VF will do a better job, or sure. And I do love the clear and uncluttered view of a simple optical finder, whatever it's framing or other limitations. 🙂
I'm pretty tolerant of limitations, as long as the quality is good. Gosh knows I do enough framing by just pointing the camera without a finder at all, and scale focus half the time anyway!
G
pvdhaar
Peter
For balance, here's a couple of things in which an EVF beats an optical one hand down..
1) Framing.. no trouble with alignment differences between the finder and the sensor/film
2) Parallax.. no problems.. not far, not near, not for framing, not for focus
3) Distortion.. no funhouse mirror effects as with WA optical finders
4) Zoom.. wysiwyg throughout the focal range
5) Focus accuracy.. no minute micro adjustments required as with RFs or SLRs
6) Ghosting.. no image white-out when the sun hits the finder
7) Eye alignment.. no iffy framelines that need your eyes exactly centered to see
8) Eye burn.. can shoot telelens sunsets without damaging the eye
9) DOF preview.. but without the image going black like an SLR
Doesn't make much sense to downright 'hate' EVFs, does it?
1) Framing.. no trouble with alignment differences between the finder and the sensor/film
2) Parallax.. no problems.. not far, not near, not for framing, not for focus
3) Distortion.. no funhouse mirror effects as with WA optical finders
4) Zoom.. wysiwyg throughout the focal range
5) Focus accuracy.. no minute micro adjustments required as with RFs or SLRs
6) Ghosting.. no image white-out when the sun hits the finder
7) Eye alignment.. no iffy framelines that need your eyes exactly centered to see
8) Eye burn.. can shoot telelens sunsets without damaging the eye
9) DOF preview.. but without the image going black like an SLR
Doesn't make much sense to downright 'hate' EVFs, does it?
Similar threads
