DSLR, Are Behind the Times

[TCav]

So "90-95%" is not "exactly the situation with DSLRs now."

And the manual for my SRT-202 says "Finder: Eye-level pentaprism type showing 94% of 24 x 36mm film-frame area". To be sure, one of the many reasons I bought the SRT-202, and the SRT-101 before it, was the outstanding viewfinder, but I don't think that 94% was that extraordinary. Currently, theNikon F6 and Canon 1v have 100% viewfinders, the Nikon FM10 and Canon ELAN 7ne have 92% viewfinders, and the Canon Rebels have 90% viewfinders.

So dSLRs are not in exactly thesame situation.

That's the point I was trying to make.

[Calicajun]

Wow,, lots of good information given in all the replies, thanks to all. Just to clear up my original statement, I was (and should have been more clear) talking about the eye level EVF finder vs the opticalVF on the DSLR's.

The points made on an optical VF being more accurate for focusing is a major plus over a EVF,a point I shouldn't have missed, oops.

Again thanks to all for the responses, as your answers have been a big help.

[rjseeney]

Another issue to consider is EVF's black out during continous shooting, making it difficult to track moving subjects. Regardless of the quality of the evf, refresh rates are just not quick enough to keep up with shooting several frames per second.

[ac.smith]

rjseeney wrote:

Another issue to consider is EVF's black out during continous shooting, making it difficult to track moving subjects. Regardless of the quality of the evf, refresh rates are just not quick enough to keep up with shooting several frames per second.

Since I don't have the where-with-all to check this myself I'd like to hear some comments from DSLR users. Since the viewfinder on a DSLR is blanked during the actual exposure how useful is the viewfinder image for panning in-between exposures when shooting burst at, say 3 fps?

[TCav]

ac.smith wrote:

Since I don't have the where-with-all to check this myself I'd like to hear some comments from DSLR users. Since the viewfinder on a DSLR is blanked during the actual exposure how useful is the viewfinder image for panning in-between exposures when shooting burst at, say 3 fps?

Not a problem. My wife competes in equestrian sports, and I can keep composing shot after shot with the shutter button held down. (I keep wanting to call it the 'shutter release'. How old does that make me?) The mirror flips up and back again in plenty of time. That's one of the reasons I switched to a dSLR. With my Nikon CoolPix 880, if I were using the EVF to compose, by the time the display came back on, the subject had left the frame. And if I were using the optical viewfinder, it didn't show what I was zoomed to, and I had no idea what the auxiliary lenses were seeing.

[eric s]

SLRs and DSLRs have different amounts of blackout time.
this is one of those things you get when you pay money for the higher-end DSLRs that ofte doesn't make it into the review.

I find that with my 1D MkII N that the blackout time is quick enough that I don't really notice it when I'm concentrating on my subject.

I don't remember it being a problem with the 20D I had before that... but I didn't know any better. I never had a Pro body before my last upgrade.

I've read somewhere that viewfinder brightness and % coverage go against each other. and that the brighter view finders are often less than 100% coverage. I need to dig up that article.... google is a wonderful thing.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tu...wfinders.shtml

More than you'll care to learn about viewfinders.

Another downside to using an EVF is that you either need two sensors or you need to keep the primary sensor on all the time to feed data to the EVF. Until recently (the latest Canon DSLRs... don't know about Nikon) this was a bad thing to do to the sensor due to heat built up. Heating your sensor reduces image quality. Using an optical viewfinder gets around this.

Now, I certainly would *love* to have a live-view histogram in the view finder all the time. Can't do that (yet) via an optical view finder (no heads-up-display-like histogram.) But that would be great. You get this right now with EVFs.

Eric

[amazingthailand]

As for the viewfinder coverage on film cameras, the Nikon F series (not F100) had virtually 100% coverage, the F100 was close though, near 99%, I think.

I also think the pro Canon was 100% coverage, possibly other manufacturer's pro cameras too.

If you want live LCD view on a dSLR, the options are growing, but please, no EVF in place of the OVF.

A problem with going EVF would be that with no mirror, it would become a lot more complicated to use the dedicated AF and exposure sensors that the dSLR's use.

Personally, I am not ready to give up an OVF for an EVF. I think Nikon and the others are striking the right balance with allowing live view, at the expense of the OVF, for those that want it, but leaving the OVF alone otherwise.

[VTphotog]

amazingthailand wrote:

If you want live LCD view on a dSLR, the options are growing, but please, no EVF in place of the OVF.

A problem with going EVF would be that with no mirror, it would become a lot more complicated to use the dedicated AF and exposure sensors that the dSLR's use.

Personally, I am not ready to give up an OVF for an EVF. I think Nikon and the others are striking the right balance with allowing live view, at the expense of the OVF, for those that want it, but leaving the OVF alone otherwise.

Live view via LCD is just an interim measure. When the technology for high-resolution EVF is up to it, that is what we will see in the cameras. Getting rid of the mirror and prism for the OVF will be touted as a great advance, reducing weight, and allowing for the camera body to be sealed (all that room where the mirror was won't go to waste), finally eliminating sensor cleaning.

It WILL happen, however much some of us think/hope otherwise, just as autofocus, autoexposure, etc. happened. Personally, I like the idea.

brian

[tjsnaps]

This is one of the things that urk me on this site...the SLR snobs (I am anDSLR user)

It's really not a matter of wich veiwing system it better. that dependes on the type of pictures you are taking and your own methods. Both systems have their advantages.

You'll note that a number of high end DSLR's reliesed latey have live view cabability with the LCD. This is the modern equivalent to the interchangable view finders of film camerss

Personally (& I've stated this before), I think the 1st real-time holographic histogram will be a historic achievment. The company that pulls that off will make others look behind the ball for many years!