Viewfinder or Screen, Pros and Cons.....

[Tom Swaman]

I am looking to purchase a compact camera if I can find one that will truly take good photographs. My first question is: What are the pros and cons or the advantages or disadvantages to having an optical viewfinder versus a viewscreen on a compact camera?

Thank you,
Tom

[jfrancho]

I like having an optical VF, even though the framing on mine (Canon s500) is a liitle off. It helps when you can't see the view screen very well, like in bright sun. Perhaps the newer models are better in this regard.

[Tom Swaman]

John,

This is a commercial compromise I am afraid. It seems we are generally getting out choice of a crappy viewfinder and a crappy screen, a mediocre viewfinder and a mediocre screen or a mediocre plus screen with more battery drain and no viewfinder. It is almost like what we now have in our two party election system.

Tom

[jfrancho]

...the lesser of the two evils...

[Bunyip]

Optical viewfinder: excellent for outdoor shots in bright light.

Electronic viewfinder: great in subdued light, tends to become streaky and hard to see in bright light.

LCD: good in subdued light, but impossible to see in bright/sunlit conditions.

Ideally, I would look for a combination of OV and LCD.

My compact camera (Sony Cybershot DSC W-100) has this combination, and I am more than satisfied with it. My Samsung Pro-815 has LCD and EVF, and the EVF just doesn't cut it.

[Goofup]

It depends. I have a Panny FZ50 and it has a EV with really good definition, and a "flip around" lcd. Before I had a Canon Digital Rebel and I "thought" the OV was great, but now I actually prefer an EV. The reason is you can see what the picture is going to look like in a EV better than a OV. For instance, I posted a while back of a back-lit church. I could never see how the end result would look like with an OV, but with the EV you could see how much of the church would show up when metering the different parts of the picture (totally in shadow if metering the sky, lit w/blown sky if metering the church). In other words, you can only see the scene with OV, but you can see the exposure and end result much better with an EV. Mine also has (among other things) the ability to superimpose a "rule of thirds" guide and a live histogram (handy).

Course, there's good and bad EVs. I've had cameras with low resolution, streaky EVs and they suck big time. When it comes to EV vs OV it's a "try before you buy" thing for sure.

[uk2usa]

Personally I would go for a combo viewfinder and screen. The screen is really great for 'grab' shots, but in bright sunlight I find that they are useless.
I keep a P&S in the car with me... It only has a screen and 95% of the time I have no trouble, but the other 5% of the time I wish it had a viewfinder.
Good luck with your decision.

[Tom Swaman]

Now I have tried them both for still and motion picture photography. For tight cropping, I feel there is no choice, it's an optical viewdinder all the way. For motion pictures or remote control, the screen has its place. I also see where the screen has all sorts of use for rough framing in very low light. For me, I will take a 1:1 optical finder 99 out of 100 times.

Tom

[whaas2]

I have an old Cannon Power Shot G2 with both an optical view finder and a movable screen. For many of the photos that I take I cannot put my head in back of the camera to use the optical view finder. For example I often take photos of kittens in action. For most good shots the camera needs to be placed down close to the floor at the kitten's eye level. If I spend the time to lay down so as to put my eye behind the camera the kittens will be gone or in some cases they will come over and try to play with the camera. I often take photos with a close up lense attachment and the optical view finder does not work with that.

[sean_buerger]

Working from the screen works well on digital compacts for me. It allows to take shots, which you wouldn't do with an optical view finder (and a heavier camera). Pictures taken at low or high viewpoints come to mind.

The electronic viewfinders that I've seen are usually less pleasant to work with, compared to optical ones. Even a cheap optical viewfinder can be very useful at times, when bright enough.

I (still) have the Leica Digilux 2 which has an excellent screen but a nasty EVF. In weak available light this is somewhat difficult, as both systems are rather dark then. However manual focusing works very well in most light conditions. The camera will just activate the digital zoom (configurable), once you move the focusing ring (focus by wire). This allows for extremely accurate focusing rivaled by live view only. However this focusing concept doesn't slow down the camera as live view does on most dSLRs.

Cheers, Sean.