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#1
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Of viewfinders and LCD backs
I am long sighted, I must wear glasses for close work but distant vision is
good. People often trend in this direction as the focus mechanism of the human eye gets less flexible with age. If I want to use the screen I have to put on glasses but then I cannot see the subject so the glasses hang off my nose and then I can't see the screen and it all turns to crap. So a viewfinder with its own adjustable focus is an excellent thing to me. Most (all?) DSLRs have this - well and good. It seems odd that there is so much hype about LCD screens (size, mobility etc) when a good proportion of the population (especially the older ones with the disposable income to buy high end cameras) can't use them. Perhaps this is a penalty for the emphasis on youth culture. Is there any other practical solution to this problem other than abandoning the screen for the viewfinder? Do half-glasses actually work without annoying? Are there any DSLR models that don't waste money on this feature that it seems I cannot use? David |
#2
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Of viewfinders and LCD backs
On 29/01/2013 12:16 p.m., David Hare-Scott wrote:
I am long sighted, I must wear glasses for close work but distant vision is good. People often trend in this direction as the focus mechanism of the human eye gets less flexible with age. If I want to use the screen I have to put on glasses but then I cannot see the subject so the glasses hang off my nose and then I can't see the screen and it all turns to crap. So a viewfinder with its own adjustable focus is an excellent thing to me. Most (all?) DSLRs have this - well and good. It seems odd that there is so much hype about LCD screens (size, mobility etc) when a good proportion of the population (especially the older ones with the disposable income to buy high end cameras) can't use them. Perhaps this is a penalty for the emphasis on youth culture. Is there any other practical solution to this problem other than abandoning the screen for the viewfinder? Do half-glasses actually work without annoying? Are there any DSLR models that don't waste money on this feature that it seems I cannot use? David I don't think there's any significant amount of "money wasted" to implement liveview and video on DSLRs. All the hardware is there anyway - it's just a bit of computer code and perhaps an extra button or two on the body to implement it. As for presbyopia (I'm 55), I don't have a need to adjust diopter to use the optical viewfinder in DSLRs, I set it to 0 and it's fine. Sometimes I do now find that it's hard to view the LCD clearly (without reading glasses), but my presbyopia is pretty good for my age. I suggest you talk to an optometrist, explain your difficulty, and hopefully they'll come up with a convenient solution. As they say - "it's a ******* getting older - but it beats the alternative". |
#3
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Of viewfinders and LCD backs
On 2013-01-28 18:36:42 -0800, Me said:
On 29/01/2013 12:16 p.m., David Hare-Scott wrote: I am long sighted, I must wear glasses for close work but distant vision is good. People often trend in this direction as the focus mechanism of the human eye gets less flexible with age. If I want to use the screen I have to put on glasses but then I cannot see the subject so the glasses hang off my nose and then I can't see the screen and it all turns to crap. So a viewfinder with its own adjustable focus is an excellent thing to me. Most (all?) DSLRs have this - well and good. It seems odd that there is so much hype about LCD screens (size, mobility etc) when a good proportion of the population (especially the older ones with the disposable income to buy high end cameras) can't use them. Perhaps this is a penalty for the emphasis on youth culture. Is there any other practical solution to this problem other than abandoning the screen for the viewfinder? Do half-glasses actually work without annoying? Are there any DSLR models that don't waste money on this feature that it seems I cannot use? David I don't think there's any significant amount of "money wasted" to implement liveview and video on DSLRs. All the hardware is there anyway - it's just a bit of computer code and perhaps an extra button or two on the body to implement it. As for presbyopia (I'm 55), I don't have a need to adjust diopter to use the optical viewfinder in DSLRs, I set it to 0 and it's fine. Sometimes I do now find that it's hard to view the LCD clearly (without reading glasses), but my presbyopia is pretty good for my age. I suggest you talk to an optometrist, explain your difficulty, and hopefully they'll come up with a convenient solution. As they say - "it's a ******* getting older - but it beats the alternative". Presbyopia is one issue, and can be frustrating for those who have had good vision until their arms started becoming alarmingly short when it comes to reading a newspaper. My problem has been extreme astigmatism added to my advancing years (I am a sneeze away from 64). For some 25 years I have used progressive lenses along with my astigmatism correction. I have become quite comfortable using the OVF with a slight tweak to the diopter adjustment. The switch from the OVF to the LCD to check histogram, highlights and other stuff is not an issue, as the shift in head position has become second nature to me. No need to have readers hanging off my nose. My optometrist has told me that I have a cataract developing in my right eye and that I will probably have to deal with it in about two years. He tells me that after that surgery with the astigmatic lens replacement I will be seeing better out of that eye that ever. Whoopee!!! -- Regards, Savageduck |
#4
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Of viewfinders and LCD backs
David Hare-Scott wrote:
I am long sighted, I must wear glasses for close work but distant vision is good. People often trend in this direction as the focus mechanism of the human eye gets less flexible with age. If I want to use the screen I have to put on glasses but then I cannot see the subject so the glasses hang off my nose and then I can't see the screen and it all turns to crap. So a viewfinder with its own adjustable focus is an excellent thing to me. Most (all?) DSLRs have this - well and good. It seems odd that there is so much hype about LCD screens (size, mobility etc) when a good proportion of the population (especially the older ones with the disposable income to buy high end cameras) can't use them. Perhaps this is a penalty for the emphasis on youth culture. Is there any other practical solution to this problem other than abandoning the screen for the viewfinder? Do half-glasses actually work without annoying? My guess would be yes. In effect being very short sighted I use my small lenses glasses as helf glasses the other way round when photographing. I push them down my nose so I can see the live view screen by looking over the top of them, and then tip my head back to look through them to check the model etc.. Are there any DSLR models that don't waste money on this feature that it seems I cannot use? A further development of the DSLR might also answer your problem with the LCD. An EVF will show you everything the LCD shows you, including working your way through camera menu settings, reviewing shots, checking histograms, and would be viewable by you without your spectacles. Of course a good EVF costs money, but then on the other hand you save money by not having to implement an optical viewfinder. There is another advantages to replacing the optical viewfinder with an EVF -- the extra camera stability of having no flapping mirror in the camera. -- Chris Malcolm |
#5
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Of viewfinders and LCD backs
On 2013-01-28 23:16:48 +0000, David Hare-Scott said:
I am long sighted, I must wear glasses for close work but distant vision is good. People often trend in this direction as the focus mechanism of the human eye gets less flexible with age. If I want to use the screen I have to put on glasses but then I cannot see the subject so the glasses hang off my nose and then I can't see the screen and it all turns to crap. So a viewfinder with its own adjustable focus is an excellent thing to me. Most (all?) DSLRs have this - well and good. It seems odd that there is so much hype about LCD screens (size, mobility etc) when a good proportion of the population (especially the older ones with the disposable income to buy high end cameras) can't use them. Perhaps this is a penalty for the emphasis on youth culture. Is there any other practical solution to this problem other than abandoning the screen for the viewfinder? Do half-glasses actually work without annoying? Are there any DSLR models that don't waste money on this feature that it seems I cannot use? David I have for years worn progressive bifocals. They take a little getting used to, but there is no annoying sharp line demarcating near and far vision and it's just a matter of which part of the lens you look through for near or far that does the trick. Sounds confusing but really after a week or so it's second nature. -- Michael |
#6
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Of viewfinders and LCD backs
David Hare-Scott wrote:
So a viewfinder with its own adjustable focus is an excellent thing to me. Most (all?) DSLRs have this - well and good. Most probably all. It's no DSLR without an optical view finder and I can't see anyone cheaping out on adjustability there. It seems odd that there is so much hype about LCD screens (size, mobility etc) when a good proportion of the population (especially the older ones with the disposable income to buy high end cameras) can't use them. Perhaps this is a penalty for the emphasis on youth culture. LCDs are relatively new (compared to the SLR) and having it done right means finding effective ways --- and time for these to perchlorate from design studies and small scale evaluation into popular models. No wonder there's buzz, and no wonder camera makers prefer to spend a bit more to sell a lot more cameras. Is there any other practical solution to this problem other than abandoning the screen for the viewfinder? There are a few solutions, it depends on how much you want to spend and if you are comfortable with what could be done. e.g. there are wearable projectors that shine the image right into your eyes (and you bet they can be set to infinity) and some cameras have HDMI live view outputs. It would be relatively simple (for someone skilled in the arts) to connect these two. However, these things do cost money (the projectors being still rare, not mass market, with matching prices), there's a question of resolution, you'd have another tool that needs to be fed power from some battery and the cables (unless you go for a wireless transmission and all *that* entails) can be in the way. It'll have bugs, too. OTOH, using the optical view finder for photography still is a good method for many shooting situations --- and keeps the camera way more stable than two outstretched arms. Are there any DSLR models that don't waste money on this feature that it seems I cannot use? An old 20D perhaps: no liveview, no video. Does have a rear screen, though, to review photos. Alas don't take the 20Da, as that is one of the first cameras with (very limited) live view: just enough to focus the stars at night (the a stands for astronomy). -Wolfgang |
#7
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Of viewfinders and LCD backs
On 1/02/2013 5:08 a.m., Wolfgang Weisselberg wrote:
--- and time for these to perchlorate from design studies Interesting result from the spell-checker you've got there. |
#8
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Of viewfinders and LCD backs
On 2013-02-03 12:29:26 -0800, Me said:
On 1/02/2013 5:08 a.m., Wolfgang Weisselberg wrote: --- and time for these to perchlorate from design studies Interesting result from the spell-checker you've got there. It might also result in a strange & interesting brew. -- Regards, Savageduck |
#9
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Of viewfinders and LCD backs
Me wrote:
On 1/02/2013 5:08 a.m., Wolfgang Weisselberg wrote: --- and time for these to perchlorate from design studies Interesting result from the spell-checker you've got there. Indeed, I was wondering if anybody else would notice. An eon ago I had to write a report about organisational change for a large organisation and the report had to be audited. The auditor was a clever man and knew quite a bit about the topic and what questions to ask etc but English was not his first language. He gave me a preview of his audit which was quite surreal. You could almost understand what he was saying but not quite. He had accepted all the spell checker recommendations. He helped me get my plans implemented and I helped him with English. D |
#10
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Of viewfinders and LCD backs
On 4/02/2013 10:10 a.m., Savageduck wrote:
On 2013-02-03 12:29:26 -0800, Me said: On 1/02/2013 5:08 a.m., Wolfgang Weisselberg wrote: --- and time for these to perchlorate from design studies Interesting result from the spell-checker you've got there. It might also result in a strange & interesting brew. Perhaps it was just an unusual espression. |
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