Can you live without a viewfinder?

robfosters

robfosters

robfosters

Caporegime
Joined
1 Dec 2010
Posts
53,756
Location
Welling, London
I am looking to buy myself a new camera, and am having trouble choosing between a CSC and an SLR.

While I like the size of the CSC cameras, after owning a 450D, I can't help thinking that I would miss a viewfinder too much. Holding a camera and staring at the back of it doesn't feel particularly natural or creative to me.

Is the viewfinder something that is easily forgotten about after a while or do most of you find that you have to have it?
 
I've got an nex5n and I used it a lot in Paris last week, I found about 25% of the time I wished I had a viewfinder due to not being able to see the screen fully because of the bright sunlight, but I also found it advantageous to be able to zoom in and focus peek or flip the screen out when taking a shot from low down or even tilting the screen slightly to hold the camera up in the air to get a shot over the crowds of tourists that were everywhere
 
I could manage without one I suppose but I just prefer seeing what's there and it is a bit clumsy staring at a screen to compose.
 
Not really if I am actually caring about the photos, for a P&S to grab photos to put on FB then I don't care too much.

Could never live with a camera that doesn't have a proper optical viewfinder alone though.
 
McGraw said:
I could manage without one I suppose but I just prefer seeing what's there and it is a bit clumsy staring at a screen to compose.
Click to expand...

In ideal conditions I find it ok to compose on the screen but it doesn't feel comfortable for some reason , I guess having the surroundings blanked out when using a viewfinder makes it easier to concentrate and visualise
 
D.P. said:
Could never live with a camera that doesn't have a proper optical viewfinder alone though.
Click to expand...

See I thought that and if I'm honest I was cursing my A77's EVF when I first bought just because it was different.

After 3 months of owning it though I love it now. Live spirit level, histogram, about 10 different customizable views along the ability to view menu's through it is great for me.

I was using a friends D7000 a couple of weekends ago and couldn't believe that I actually thought that its OVF felt 'old' to me in use.

Equally though he tried my A77 and wanted to burn the EVF at the steak for witchcraft :D
 
No; having the joy of working in a camera shop I've had chance to play around with just about every Sony, Nikon and Canon camera that's current (minus the D4 unfortunately)!

There is no way I could use the live view for 90% of my photography as I find it incredibly awkward, not to mention the fact that with a camera stuck to your face you can take photos at slower shutter speeds. Just sayin'!

I have to admit though, the electronic view finders on the higher end Sony's are pretty good quality, and the Fuji X100's is so good I prefer it over the optical one.
 
ManCuBuS said:
See I thought that and if I'm honest I was cursing my A77's EVF when I first bought just because it was different.

After 3 months of owning it though I love it now. Live spirit level, histogram, about 10 different customizable views along the ability to view menu's through it is great for me.

I was using a friends D7000 a couple of weekends ago and couldn't believe that I actually thought that its OVF felt 'old' to me in use.

Equally though he tried my A77 and wanted to burn the EVF at the steak for witchcraft :D
Click to expand...


I have played with the high end Sony's and it is true the optical viewfinder can have some merits and the technology is improving, still had loads of issues, especially in darker environments. And in the end that EVF within an SLT design is costing 30-40% of the light hitting the camera sensor, which is pretty huge for low light photography, thats like the difference between f1.8 and an f/1.4 lens.


In the distant future electronic viewfinders or some kind of hybrid system may become the norm and I could live with that.
 
Even on P&S cameras I have to use a viewfinder. It just seems wrong not to, and I can only just deal without one on a camera phone :D
 
Purgatory said:
Nope. Love the viewfinder and the most accurate way to get correctly focused pictures in manual focus mode.
Click to expand...

One of the few advantages of live view is that it's more accurate for manual focussing due to the sheer size of the image and ability to zoom in on it...
 
Auraomega said:
No; having the joy of working in a camera shop I've had chance to play around with just about every Sony, Nikon and Canon camera that's current (minus the D4 unfortunately)!

There is no way I could use the live view for 90% of my photography as I find it incredibly awkward, not to mention the fact that with a camera stuck to your face you can take photos at slower shutter speeds. Just sayin'!

I have to admit though, the electronic view finders on the higher end Sony's are pretty good quality, and the Fuji X100's is so good I prefer it over the optical one.
Click to expand...

Which camera shop Aura?
 
I've tried and I can't do without a viewfinder for all the reasons given above plus I need reading glasses to see the screen if I'm holding the camera at arms length.
 
Snapshot said:
I've tried and I can't do without a viewfinder for all the reasons given above plus I need reading glasses to see the screen if I'm holding the camera at arms length.
Click to expand...

Same here..i need reading glasses and i have to trust in the D7000 auto focus when taking Video because i cant focus on the rear screen.
 
Viewfinder EVERY time--Why! Because strong light on the screen makes it useless to see what is there, also Hand Shake, unless you young and don't have hand shake. Also Viewfinder for Nature shots and Excellent Portraiture. JMHO
HATE cameras without a Viewfinder..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom