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   Camera Viewfinders!

  



 Last Updated  - 1st March 2014



 

1st March 2014

Camera Viewfinders!

I read on the internet that we don't require the optical viewfinder anymore thanks to the appearance of the latest generation of electronic 'live view' viewfinders appearing in 'mirrorless' cameras.


The DSLR Camera Optical Viewfinder


I have stated it many times and I will state it again, there is nothing to beat the view you get when looking through a professional DSLR optical viewfinder and down through
the glass of a large optics lens, even in very low light. The clarity and the ability to see the minutest detail, even the different levels of light in every part of the scene is a hard act to follow.

Once a photographer uses a DSLR camera for a period of time it becomes second nature to set it up for a shoot. Reliance on the aperture priority mode and the camera's exposure meter assists the manual settings of the camera. The photographer sets up the ISO rating and aperture in relation to the required depth of field and shutter settings pertaining to his vision of any given lighting in a scene and the desired effect he wishes to create in the captured image.

Whether you use an optical viewfinder or an electronic viewfinder the photographer is forced to place a heavy reliance on the accuracy of the camera's exposure metering systems. The camera in aperture priority mode and using evaluative (matrix) metering reads reflective light from a scene and calculates the shutter speed in relation to the ISO rating and the aperture set by the photographer. It also produces a histogram of the reading for the display screen, either in the viewfinder and/or the LCD screen. For a large proportion of even balanced light scenes this will prove relatively accurate but in scenes where the light is uneven and where there is incident light, the meter will struggle to accurately determine the parameters. The camera exposure meter can cause the settings to overexpose the highlights and the photographer when attempting to adjust the exposure compensation can underexpose the image. The camera's exposure spot meter in conjunction with the camera's dynamic range capability can assist to provide more evenly balanced parameters but the spot meter still cannot compensate for incident light. Many professional photographers will use an external 'hand held' light meter and manually setup the camera as the light meter
can read incident lighting as well as spot reading and knows the dynamic range calibrations of the camera to quickly work out the parameters for you.

The professional DSLR's metering system and optical viewfinder come into their own for fast sports and wildlife photography where the camera may be panned by the photographer and the viewfinder maintains 'eye like' vision on the subject whilst the camera's rapid frame capture and the minimum of shutter lag assists to maintain an uninterrupted view.


Alongside the optical viewfinder is the 'live view' LCD screen which is especially useful for tripod work, fully manual setup of the camera and the manual 'fine focusing' of a given subject which makes
landscape and macro photography most enjoyable.

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The 'Leica M Style Frame' Optical Viewfinder


You will find the Leica M style optical viewfinder now in the
Fujifilm X100s compact camera and the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 compact system camera. These optical viewfinders are ideal for street photography with a 'hand held' camera because they display a frame of the 'digital sensor's view' within a larger scene so the photographer can see what is coming into that frame.

The viewfinder is at the left side of the camera so the photographer places his right eye to it and with his left eye open he can take in more of the action of subjects moving within the street scene outside and coming into the frame within the camera.

Just like with a DSLR camera the photographer uses his brain and the camera exposure meter to set up the camera and will use a variety of focusing methods such as manual, autofocus and hyperfocal to nail the shot.

Some street photographers don't even use the camera metering, they just know what the lighting conditions are and manually setup the camera. Others use an external light meter from their pocket to  snatch a light reading to confirm, before proceeding with manual setup.


The street photographer is very much the purist because he will invariably be taking multiple 'decisive moment' shots with very little time to check the results on the LCD screen. It may sound hit or miss for keepers but to the 'professional' street photographer it is all second nature and knowing how to setup the camera is all important.

Later after a shooting session it is nice to relax
in a local bar, quietly having a meal and a pint whilst checking your images on the camera LCD screen. There is a time and a place for a good woman but you don't want her cluttering up the experience unless of course you are lucky and she likes street photography as well.

More on the Fujifilm X100s Camera and Street Photography.

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The Electronic Viewfinder


Of course it's fantastic, especially the electronic viewfinder in my Fujifilm X100s compact camera which reflects not only the focus and depth of field it also reflects any exposure changes.

When I am not using the optical one in the X100s for street work,
I can switch to the electronic one for general photography. I often use it to pre-set the manual controls of my camera prior to switching to the optical viewfinder for street photography and this is particularly useful for night shooting under street lighting, although in fairness I could just use the optical one, run off a few test shots and check my final settings in the LCD screen.

The
Fujifilm X100s camera's electronic viewfinder can be used quite easily in all normal conditions. I have used it at night under street lights where the autofocus of the camera worked flawlessly and the view through the electronic viewfinder proved superb without loss of clarity or lighting in the viewed scene. However in extreme darkness with the absolute minimum of light the scene through the viewfinder tears, the dynamic range is minimal and there is slightly lower vision and dynamic range than you would see through an optical viewfinder.

Whether you use an optical viewfinder or an electronic viewfinder the photographer is forced to place a heavy reliance on the accuracy of the camera's exposure metering systems. The camera in aperture priority mode and using evaluative (matrix) metering reads reflective light from a scene and calculates the shutter speed in relation to the ISO rating and the aperture set by the photographer. It also produces a histogram of the reading for the display screen, either in the viewfinder and/or the LCD screen. For a large proportion of even balanced light scenes this will prove relatively accurate but in scenes where the light is uneven and where there is incident light, the meter will struggle to accurately determine the parameters. The camera exposure meter can cause the settings to overexpose the highlights and the photographer when attempting to adjust the exposure compensation can underexpose the image. The camera's exposure spot meter in conjunction with the camera's dynamic range capability can assist to provide more evenly balanced parameters but the spot meter still cannot compensate for incident light. Many professional photographers will use an external 'hand held' light meter and manually setup the camera as the light meter can read incident lighting as well as spot reading and knows the dynamic range calibrations of the camera to quickly work out the parameters for you.

Using the Fujifilm X100s camera, this night shot had to be manually adjusted for exposure by -1 stop

Fujifilm X100s - Low Light - Electronic Viewfinder + Exposure Lock When setting up the exposure of a scene, even using the exposure compensation dial, the scene through the EVF will reflect the changes. Then using the AE-L button (toggle on/off) you can lock the exposure (the AE-L button indicator 'E over L' appears in the viewfinder between the locked aperture and locked shutter settings) BUT then the electronic viewfinder reverts to a normal scene view which is very bright. With the AE-L locked you cannot change the settings, even using the exposure +/- adjustment wheel and ONLY when you half/press hold the shutter button to lock the autofocus the exposure of the scene changes in the viewfinder to match the AE-L exposure locked settings and you press the shutter button home for the shot. I think this is great, the one downside with my Panasonic or my Sony camera EVFs is when you adjust the exposure for very uneven light (e.g. bright sky and very dark foreground) the viewfinder invariably cannot clearly display all the scene - not so with the X100s, it behaves very optically in AE-L exposure lock mode until you actually half/press hold the shutter button to autofocus on the primary subject and then re-align and fully press down to take the shot. This is my favourite method of shooting and especially useful for isolating subjects from the background using a f2 aperture with a thin depth of field.





 

 

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Richard Lawrence
Scotland
United Kingdom

 

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