viewfinders

Gonna get my first digicam and have a viewfinder
question. Apparently the optical viewfinders on
P&S digital cameras are .......... not so great.

Meantime.......... Lots of folks say they wouldn't even
consider a camera without an optical viewfinder.

Meantime........ I've seen more than a few posts now
where people don't even use the viewfinder anymore.
They just use the display.

I'm wondering if there are folks out there who
thought they just had to have an optical viewfinder,
yet have ended up not even using it.

thanks

I'm wondering if there are folks out there who
thought they just had to have an optical viewfinder,
yet have ended up not even using it.

You're probably more likely to find people who think the opposite.
Putting your eye to a viewfinder blocks out all distractions. You get to
concentrate completely on your framing, and will invariably take better
shots. It's easier to do a quick point and shoot with a LCD display, but
to do the job properly you should be using a viewfinder.

--
a href="http://www.derekfountain.org/"Derek Fountain/a on the web at
http://www.derekfountain.org/

In article .com,
writes
Gonna get my first digicam and have a viewfinder
question. Apparently the optical viewfinders on
P&S digital cameras are .......... not so great.

They suffer from parallax error, which can be a problem closer than a
few metres; however

Meantime.......... Lots of folks say they wouldn't even
consider a camera without an optical viewfinder.

You can not see the image on a LCD in strong sunlight.

Meantime........ I've seen more than a few posts now
where people don't even use the viewfinder anymore.
They just use the display.

I'm wondering if there are folks out there who
thought they just had to have an optical viewfinder,
yet have ended up not even using it.

I use the optical viewfinder for all but close work with a P&S.

--
Ian G8ILZ

Unless you want to know absolutly every thing on the edges the
viewfinders on the three or four point and shoots I've used have been
fine. If you need to get that last person wedged into a group shot use
the LCD. For most of your photographs the viewfinder would be faster
and more stable, three points are always better than two. The arched
back, hands streached out just isn't a stable pose.

Tom

"tomm42" wrote in message
oups.com...
Unless you want to know absolutly every thing on the edges the
viewfinders on the three or four point and shoots I've used have been
fine. If you need to get that last person wedged into a group shot use
the LCD. For most of your photographs the viewfinder would be faster
and more stable, three points are always better than two. The arched
back, hands streached out just isn't a stable pose.

Tom

If not using macro mode, I use the viewfinder, fill up to edge if necessary
knowing I'm only seeing maybe 90% of the lcd display. For close ups I allow
a little more space above a head.
This all becomes very automatic, I leave the display off when shooting but
give a quick check after taking the shot. On canon, keeping the shutter
pressed will retain the lcd image.
Dave Cohen

wrote in message
oups.com...
Gonna get my first digicam and have a viewfinder
question. Apparently the optical viewfinders on
P&S digital cameras are .......... not so great.

Meantime.......... Lots of folks say they wouldn't even
consider a camera without an optical viewfinder.

Meantime........ I've seen more than a few posts now
where people don't even use the viewfinder anymore.
They just use the display.

I'm wondering if there are folks out there who
thought they just had to have an optical viewfinder,
yet have ended up not even using it.

thanks

A lot of those you see posting that they won't consider a camera without an
optical viewfinder are talking about SLR type cameras. When you compare the
optical viewfinder in, say, a Nikon D200 or Canon 5D to electronic
viewfinder of a Sony R1, you'll see why. Compared to the "optical"
viewfinder on my Casio ZX50, however, the Sony's is much better.
And, with a DSLR, you have no choice but to use the optical viewfinder,
there is no live preview on the LCD. Something I, for one, do not miss.

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

With my A1 of course thats all you had, with my digital P&S I rarely use
the viewfinder, maybe 10 times out of 1000+. I need the lcd for proper
manual exposure and find it better overall except bright sun. I have a
2.5" screen and would find anything smaller harder to use. 3" would be
best.

wrote:
Gonna get my first digicam and have a viewfinder
question. Apparently the optical viewfinders on
P&S digital cameras are .......... not so great.

Meantime.......... Lots of folks say they wouldn't even
consider a camera without an optical viewfinder.

Meantime........ I've seen more than a few posts now
where people don't even use the viewfinder anymore.
They just use the display.

I'm wondering if there are folks out there who
thought they just had to have an optical viewfinder,
yet have ended up not even using it.

thanks

I find that when I use the LCD screen to view the shot, with my arms
out, then most of the time the pix are not sharp due to hand movement. I
therefore peek at the LCD for framing, then hold the camera firmly to my
face and look through the optical viewfinder.
Morton

wrote in message
I'm wondering if there are folks out there who
thought they just had to have an optical viewfinder,
yet have ended up not even using it.

thanks

I like the optical. Easier to hold the camera steady, less movement when
framing a shot, and probably a preference from 40+ years of using film
cameras.

For close-ups, the display can be easier.

"m Ransley" wrote in message
...
With my A1 of course thats all you had, with my digital P&S I rarely use
the viewfinder, maybe 10 times out of 1000+. I need the lcd for proper
manual exposure and find it better overall except bright sun. I have a
2.5" screen and would find anything smaller harder to use. 3" would be
best.

No doubt. I just got a little Casio EX-Z50, I think I've used the
"viewfinder" maybe twice since I got it. Pretty useless. It has a 2" LCD,
which is ok, I'm used to looking at the 1.8" one on my 20D, the 2.5" LCD on
my 5D is a revelation!

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com