Things have improved significantly in the EVF since the days of the A7II and the 6500......
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Mirrorless users, do you primarily use your viewfinder?
- Thread starter ericgtr12
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I use both. For handheld shots, using the viewfinder can give me another point of support for the camera, but if I’m walking with the shot, I’ll bend my knees and use the flip out screen. Gh1 and Gh4.
99% of the time, I have the touchscreen folded back on my Canon RP to protect the screen and do everything through the viewfinder. The only times I use the touchscreen is when shooting people and I want to change the focus point. I have gotten use to the controls and can make changes while using the viewfinder without taking my eye away from the eye cup.
Would be interested to see how this camera compares to the 6D MKII DSRL in terms of features, etc. seems comparable.
I use the VF much more than the Liveview. It’s one of the things that puts me off mirrorless. I prefer seeing the image through a real VF rather than an EVF. Not been keen on any of them I’ve looked at. Think I’ll be a DSLR hold out for a while yet!
Since my X100T does have an optical viewfinder, it is old-school. Most of the time I have the EVF active so I get a more accurate view of the scene exposure.
Is there an option to switch off (or toggle) the EVF? That would be a deal breaker for me, you have to be able to see the scene for what it is in natural light.
I don’t believe so. No mirror, so your always looking at a screen.
You have some great photos there. Really nice! 👍I'm a nature photographer too, you can look at www.fravin.net or instagram.com/fravin
I totally missed that. I guess that settles it then.
Can't speak for the 6500, but the A7ii is somewhat dated. So is the A7iii. Have a look at the A7Riv if you want to stick to Sony.
Thank you. Similar feeling here.
Usually yes, but why is that a deal breaker? If you don't want to switch it off or toggle, don't.
I guess this makes sense when you think about it.
Mainly because I want to see the scene in its natural state and make my own artistic determinations based on what my eye sees. It would be nice to at least have the option to toggle it but I can see why that may not be possible.
on my z series i can turn off the evf in that it reads only the ambient light. you have to do this if you are working with strobes because otherwise the evf is basically dark since the light is just flashed for a millisecond.
but it’s not an optical viewfinder.
but it’s not an optical viewfinder.
I think I misunderstood, my bad. If you want an unaltered optical view, then that's not possible as it's always a display you're looking it. Depending on camera you might be able to turn effects off, so you get a 1:1 view of the scene, but it's still on a display.
In Fujifilm’s camenas you can set the EVF to work as a DSLR viewfinder, using what Fuji calls “natural view”.
This option ignores the Exposure and WB previews showing an image with no adjustments. That’s the way I use EVF in my cameras!
The thing I appreciate about an EVF vs an optical VF is that when I am looking at the scene, about to compose and frame an image, I also can quickly check out the exposure values and see what happens if I make adjustments -- so, the scene looks fine as I'm initially studying it through the EVF, but what happens if I adjust the exposure values up or down? Change my f/stop? Tinker with the IOS settings?
Sometimes for creative effect I like to really take advantage of spot metering and it is nice to see in the EVF when the scene will look the way I was envisioning..... At other times the EVF can be very useful, too, when I've got the camera focused on a scene and yet something doesn't look right about the lighting, the exposure.....I can immediately see this and make the appropriate adjustments before ever clicking the shutter button. No need to see the error after the fact by "chimping." I see it immediately and can fix it and then get back to my subject, my image. I often have my ISO set at Auto ISO, but occasionally something will happen and it slips off that setting and all of a sudden things don't look right at all, and because I can see that through the EVF I know to take a look at my settings, especially the ISO, to see if something has shifted from where I had intended for it to be.
The first few times some years ago when I first encountered an EVF I thought it was downright weird and it took time to understand the potential value of it to me as a photographer..... Now I know I would have difficulty in going back to a strictly Optical VF.
Sometimes for creative effect I like to really take advantage of spot metering and it is nice to see in the EVF when the scene will look the way I was envisioning..... At other times the EVF can be very useful, too, when I've got the camera focused on a scene and yet something doesn't look right about the lighting, the exposure.....I can immediately see this and make the appropriate adjustments before ever clicking the shutter button. No need to see the error after the fact by "chimping." I see it immediately and can fix it and then get back to my subject, my image. I often have my ISO set at Auto ISO, but occasionally something will happen and it slips off that setting and all of a sudden things don't look right at all, and because I can see that through the EVF I know to take a look at my settings, especially the ISO, to see if something has shifted from where I had intended for it to be.
The first few times some years ago when I first encountered an EVF I thought it was downright weird and it took time to understand the potential value of it to me as a photographer..... Now I know I would have difficulty in going back to a strictly Optical VF.
EVF is critical, and it's what keeps me using the G9. It also offers both a "live" view and an exposure preview setting. I believe many mirrorless cameras have a function you can program to a button to go between the 2. I just use the exposure preview, but ultimately, I expose based on the histogram. Panasonic's histogram is yellow until you reach the ideal exposure, then it turns white. I don't always use it that way, but it's very helpful most of the time, especially when you're trying not to nuke the highlights.
The only thing better about the 6D is the battery life and the GPS. I bought a refurbished RP from Canon, and then quickly sold my 6D for about what I paid for the RP. It’s the same camera, but with better autofocus and way smaller/lighter. Plus at least last year the 6D Mark II still had enough value to make the trade without really spending any money. Though the R6 EVF is better, I never felt the RP wasn’t good enough, and it’s definitely better than an OVF. A few years ago I never thought I’d say that! The older ones made me nauseous, and the newer ones don’t anymore. Plus they bring 100% coverage, better autofocus, live exposure preview, and you can look at the photos you’ve taken through the viewfinder on a bright day to check focus. If you’re doing manual focus you can even do a 10x zoom through the VF!
I use my EVF whenever I can but very often will use the LCD for finer details and composing when shooting my landscapes. I do instinctively go for my EVF though when putting my camera up to my eye.
Maybe thats the point, optical viewfinders don't age...You have some great photos there. Really nice! 👍
I totally missed that. I guess that settles it then.
Can't speak for the 6500, but the A7ii is somewhat dated. So is the A7iii. Have a look at the A7Riv if you want to stick to Sony.
Thank you. Similar feeling here.
Usually yes, but why is that a deal breaker? If you don't want to switch it off or toggle, don't.
The EVF on some of the newer bodies is breathtakingly good. You can set it up to either make the image brighter or to reflect exposure settings (i.e. reflect what the recorded image will look like based on your current camera settings). You can also zoom in to ~100% (depending on camera model) which can be quite useful for manual focus. Not something you can do with an OVF.
Historically there could be issues with lag, shutter blackout, etc. with EVFs. But these issues have been overcome with newer and more advanced tech. Focus also tends to be better with an EVF compared to a DSLR using the OVF since focus is acquired from the sensor data—so you don’t have to calibrate lenses to your body (which can be a very frustrating process since lens calibration only works for specific apertures and subject distances (and focal lengths in the case of a zoom)). An EVF takes many of these focus issues off the table since what you see through the EVF is what you get.
The EVF on the Sony A1, Leica SL2, Nikon Z6/7 is fantastic, speaking from personal experience. Better than an OVF. The EVF on the A1 and SL2 in particular are quite literally breathtaking. I can’t speak to other brands/bodies as I don’t own them, but I imagine the EVF on newer bodies from other brands to be similarly good. Over time, I expect most/all EVFs on any camera body to get to this level.
Currently it is hard to shoot with my D850 after experience shooting a body with a good EVF. The OVF is just inferior from a practical standpoint and its LV is also lacking compared to my mirrorless bodies. For me, my mirrorless bodies are just better in every way. For me, there are no downsides to mirrorless vs a DSLR from a shooting perspective.
The only potential “gotcha” for me with mirrorless has been the possibility for PDAF artifacts in the final image with some mirrorless bodies (i.e. artifact lines in the final image from the rows of “dead” pixels devoted to AF on a PDAF mirrorless sensor). Was sometimes a problem with my Sony A7R3 or Nikon Z7 depending on how I processed the image in post—annoying lines that can be challenging to remove. Not a problem with my Leica SL2 (as it doesn’t rely on PDAF for focus—there aren’t any linear optical “holes” in the sensor). Hasn’t been a problem with my A1 (though not quite sure why not as it relies on PDAF technology—but it hasn’t, even when really abusing the files in post).
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Panasonic uses DFD focusing on all its cameras, so that's another option if you aren't a big action shooter. I've read that DFD should theoretically keep getting better with faster camera processors. I assume they use OLED viewfinders in their FF line, but the G9 has one too, and it's large and wonderful. Really aids in focusing. I use zooming for fine focus all the time--to me that's way more important than an animal detect mode.
Optical viewfinders have certainly come a long way too! I think their point was that old EVFs are nowhere near as good as modern ones, and it wasn’t until a few years ago that they really passed even a high end OVF. It’s not that old EVFs are worse now than they were then, it’s that they’re worse than new ones are now. And optical viewfinders have gone through the same thing, a pentamirror OVF will be way worse than a pentaprism OVF. And the coverage/magnification have improved as well. If you compare the 1DX Mark III‘s viewfinder to the original 1D you’d say the 1D’s viewfinder is somewhat dated.
If you’re saying you wouldn’t ever want an EVF based on a camera from before they got good, it would be the same as saying you’re planning on being a film holdout when the only digital camera you’ve used is a 10D. At some point digital cameras passed film cameras for quality, and the same is true for EVFs vs OVFs by now.
Well, EVFs don't age either. They are what they are. But both have improved over time. I'd happily take a modern EVF (Nikon Z, Sony A7R iv, Fuji X-T4, etc.) over any OVF any day. If I don't want the "extras/gimmicks" I can turn it off. In fact, just having switched to mirrorless now coming from Canon DSLR, the EVFs were always something I've been jealous about the past couple of years.