Viewfinders on DSLR's

In article , dosferatu says...

Just getting into looking at DSLR's.
Looking thru, anyway.

So DSLR's, I assume, don't have focusing screens? Is that why looking thru
the viewfinder everything is in focus?
Do any DSLR's have Depth of field preview thru the viewfinder or do you have
to go to the lcd display?

What is Depth of field preview ?

--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 8080, E3X0, E4X0, E5X0 and E3 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
http://myolympus.org/ photo sharing site

"Alfred Molon" wrote in message
...

What is Depth of field preview ?



Press the DOF preview button and the aperture goes from wide open, as used
for focusing and framing the shot, to your selected aperture. The VF will
now 'preview' what's really in focus/not in focus at that aperture and focal
length. The main problem is that it will get dark in the VF at small
apertures.

In article , Steve B says...

What is Depth of field preview ?

Press the DOF preview button and the aperture goes from wide open, as used
for focusing and framing the shot, to your selected aperture. The VF will
now 'preview' what's really in focus/not in focus at that aperture and focal
length. The main problem is that it will get dark in the VF at small
apertures.

Oops... and there are DSLRs which cannot do this? I thought it's a basic
feature of DSLRs that they will show you in the viewfinder what is in
focus and what is not in focus. How else otherwise could you creatively
compose the shot by choosing the right amount of background blur?

I'm starting to think that the only DSLRs with a usable optical
viewfinder are the expensive ones. The ones I might buy (Sony 350 or
Pentax K20D) have pretty pathetic viewfinders.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 8080, E3X0, E4X0, E5X0 and E3 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
http://myolympus.org/ photo sharing site

Alfred Molon wrote:
[]
What is Depth of field preview ?
[]
Oops... and there are DSLRs which cannot do this? I thought it's a
basic feature of DSLRs that they will show you in the viewfinder what
is in focus and what is not in focus. How else otherwise could you
creatively compose the shot by choosing the right amount of
background blur?

I'm starting to think that the only DSLRs with a usable optical
viewfinder are the expensive ones. The ones I might buy (Sony 350 or
Pentax K20D) have pretty pathetic viewfinders.

When you can just look at the shot moments after taking on the LCD at the
back, real-time DoF preview become slightly less useful so, yes, horror of
horrors, it is omitted from some cameras.

I compared the viewfinders of the DSLR brands I was considering when I
bought my first one, and concluded that Nikon was slightly better than
Canon in showing a bright image. They are both /way/ better than any
compact camera I have used in terms of image quality, although they lack
the "gain-up" feature of some compact cameras which can help for extreme
night-time shots.

Yes, if you pay more you may get a better viewfinder, but even that of the
Nikon D40 is eminently usable. Try looking through the viewfinders for
yourself.

Cheers,
David

In article , David J
Taylor says...

Yes, if you pay more you may get a better viewfinder, but even that of the
Nikon D40 is eminently usable. Try looking through the viewfinders for
yourself.

I remember briefly using a couple of years ago a Nikon D70. And wow,
what a viewfinder.
Recently I checked instead the Sony 350 and the Pentax K20D and was very
unimpressed. It's good that these two cameras come with live preview, so
you can use that for framing.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 8080, E3X0, E4X0, E5X0 and E3 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
http://myolympus.org/ photo sharing site

On 2008-05-21 10:23:52 -0700, Alfred Molon said:

In article , dosferatu says...

Just getting into looking at DSLR's.
Looking thru, anyway.

So DSLR's, I assume, don't have focusing screens? Is that why looking thru
the viewfinder everything is in focus?
Do any DSLR's have Depth of field preview thru the viewfinder or do you have
to go to the lcd display?

What is Depth of field preview ?

When you look through the viewfinder or on the LCD of a DSLR, the lens
is wide open at its largest aperture. This allows the clearest and
brightest view with the least depth of field for composing and focusing
the picture. However, it does not show the actual depth of field that
you are going to get, which can be critical.

Most DSLRs have a button mounted by the lens which, if you press it,
stops the lens down to the selected aperture. The viewfinder becomes
darker because less light is entering the camera, but you can see what
parts of the image will appear shop in the final shot.

The depth of field preview button on my Nikon D300 does not work when
Live View is turned on.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

On 2008-05-22 05:54:52 -0700, tomm42 said:

On May 22, 5:22 am, Alfred Molon wrote:
In article , David J
Taylor says...

Yes, if you pay more you may get a better viewfinder, but even that of the
Nikon D40 is eminently usable. Try looking through the viewfinders for
yourself.

I remember briefly using a couple of years ago a Nikon D70. And wow,
what a viewfinder.
Recently I checked instead the Sony 350 and the Pentax K20D and was very
unimpressed. It's good that these two cameras come with live preview, so
you can use that for framing.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 8080, E3X0, E4X0, E5X0 and E3 forum
athttp://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/http://myolympus.org/photo
sharing site


Sorry to double post.
I have a d70 at work, and a d200 (own a d200 too). The D200 viewfinder
is so much better than the D70s it isn't funny. The other photographer
here has a K10D and says the same about its viewfinder, much better
than the d70. Could be you were looking through an f2.8 lens on the
D70 and an f5.6 on the Sony and Pentax, or was your lighting
different. What is true is that the viewfinder on the d200 and d80
(same mirror box) are 95% viewfinders and the focusing screen isn't
very textured making manual focusing a bit of a challenge, especially
with wide angles. I use mostly macro/micro lenses on the cameras,
focusing at 1:1 with the D200 is so much easier than with the d70.

Tom

Yeah, I have a D70, a D200, and a D300. The D70 has ceased functioning
(probably a bad contact on a memory card pin), but the viewfinder of
the D70 is both very dark and very small compared to that of the D200
or D300.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

wrote:
On Thu, 22 May 2008 07:16:04 GMT, in rec.photo.digital "David J
Taylor"
wrote:

I compared the viewfinders of the DSLR brands I was considering when
I bought my first one, and concluded that Nikon was slightly better
than Canon in showing a bright image. They are both /way/ better
than any compact camera I have used in terms of image quality,
although they lack the "gain-up" feature of some compact cameras
which can help for extreme night-time shots.

Yes, if you pay more you may get a better viewfinder, but even that
of the Nikon D40 is eminently usable. Try looking through the
viewfinders for yourself.

? The D40 has autoiso. See p.76 of the fine manual, Custom Setting 10.

Yes, it does, and I use it all the time.

The gain-up feature of the electronic viewfinder makes the viewfinder
image brighter than the original scene under dark conditions, and this can
aid basic composition.

Cheers,
David

In article 6e497a7e-2402-4933-b258-f3036cab42e8
@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com, tomm42 says...

I have a d70 at work, and a d200 (own a d200 too). The D200 viewfinder
is so much better than the D70s it isn't funny. The other photographer
here has a K10D and says the same about its viewfinder, much better
than the d70. Could be you were looking through an f2.8 lens on the
D70 and an f5.6 on the Sony and Pentax, or was your lighting
different. What is true is that the viewfinder on the d200 and d80
(same mirror box) are 95% viewfinders and the focusing screen isn't
very textured making manual focusing a bit of a challenge, especially
with wide angles. I use mostly macro/micro lenses on the cameras,
focusing at 1:1 with the D200 is so much easier than with the d70.

I used the D70 outdoors in bright daylight and had a brief look at the
A350 and the K20D in the shop (neon lights). The cameras in the shop had
the kit lenses (starting at F3.5). No idea what lens the D70 had. Still,
the viewfinder of the D70 was quite impressive, while the ones of the
A350 and the K20D were quite unimpressive.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 8080, E3X0, E4X0, E5X0 and E3 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
http://myolympus.org/ photo sharing site

"Alfred Molon" wrote in message
...
In article 6e497a7e-2402-4933-b258-f3036cab42e8
@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com, tomm42 says...

I have a d70 at work, and a d200 (own a d200 too). The D200 viewfinder
is so much better than the D70s it isn't funny. The other photographer
here has a K10D and says the same about its viewfinder, much better
than the d70. Could be you were looking through an f2.8 lens on the
D70 and an f5.6 on the Sony and Pentax, or was your lighting
different. What is true is that the viewfinder on the d200 and d80
(same mirror box) are 95% viewfinders and the focusing screen isn't
very textured making manual focusing a bit of a challenge, especially
with wide angles. I use mostly macro/micro lenses on the cameras,
focusing at 1:1 with the D200 is so much easier than with the d70.

I used the D70 outdoors in bright daylight and had a brief look at the
A350 and the K20D in the shop (neon lights). The cameras in the shop had
the kit lenses (starting at F3.5). No idea what lens the D70 had. Still,
the viewfinder of the D70 was quite impressive, while the ones of the
A350 and the K20D were quite unimpressive.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 8080, E3X0, E4X0, E5X0 and E3 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
http://myolympus.org/ photo sharing site

Pentax sell a x1.2 viewfinder magnifier. With that on, my K100D VF is a
fair bit larger than a full frame Canon 5D VF. They are all rubbish though
compared with an old Pentax KM film SLR I still have which is like going to
the cinema compared with a TV.