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Viewfinders Anonymous
What's /p/'s opinion on the viewfinders that are out there? A good viewfinder can be a joy to use but all too many cameras out there now have very poor ones compared to older film cameras. A shame to see a step back in quality.

So anyone have any favorites or ones they hate in particular? The worst I've seen so far are the 4/3 cameras for viewfinders. The best? Obliviously older film cameras are good, but for digital the Nikon viewfinders on the semi-pro and pro cameras are awesome, brighter, better coverage and a joy to use.
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>> Anonymous
The Canon ones can be kinda crappy at times, like on the Rebel, but the new 40D is MUCH better than the older models.
>> Anonymous
As a Nikonfag I have to agree that the Four Thirds system viewfinders are awful in comparison to Nikon.
>> sage sage
SAGE - USE A VIEWSCREEN AND YOU GET A BIGGER PICTURE

FAIL
>> Jeremo !iKGMr61IHM
I just find it annoying that alot of times the brightness depends on the aperture on the lens with the D70s.

I recently discovered that a friend's 30D fires up the external flash when it's on depth of field preview... it would make night party shots that much easier to compose.
>> street-pirate
>>87586

No, the picture in a viewfinder is bigger than the one on the LCD unless you hold the camera so close to your face your eyes can't focus anymore, and then what's the point?

FAIL.
>> Anonymous
>>87588

Ah. The Rebels do the same thing. Must be part of all the Canon series. I've found it useful a few times now.
>> heavyweather !4AIf7oXcbA
The waistlevel viewfinder on my Mamiya 645 is niiiiice, and the split prism focusing screen is fukken win.
>> Anonymous
>>87613

Ooooh, you sonofa. You're making me green. ;)
>> Anonymous
>>87649

What's the cost of film and developing for that then? The running costs of something like that would be interesting to hear.
>> Anonymous
>>87643

That was one reason for me upgrading to the 40D. Bigger and better standard viewfinder and a set of interchangeable ones for different conditions or preferences.
>> Anonymous
>>87643

That was one reason for me to upgrade to the 40D. Bigger and better viewfinder with increased coverage and a choice of screens for it to suit your preference or needs. The screens don't cost too much either. It's more comfortable to use.
>> Anonymous
I have four main gripes with current consumer dslr viewfinders:

- No split prism/micropism to help with focusing
- Too much junk on screen (af spots, usually too big - canon has nice and small AF spots, Nikon's are huge ass)
- They don't usually show the DOF below f2.8 - that's because they are optimized for dark and crappy f5.6 consumer zooms with af.
- Too small when compared to my 30-year-old film cameras. When I look through one's viewfinder, the image fills my vision and composing and focusing is a joy. With current dslr's I see a rather small box which makes taking photographs harder.
>> Anonymous
>>87659

Sometimes with the modern ones it is like looking down a dark tunnel at an image at the end compared to the older ones where I felt almost immersed in it.
>> Anonymous
>>87655

i'm not heavyweather, but in my experience with 120 film (mamiya 645 repurrsent!), costs are about double that of 35mm. it can actually be cheaper, though, depending on how you shoot.

for instance, a 36 exp roll of 35mm velvia 50 costs around 7 bucks on adorama, 8 at the local shop. it's 5 bucks for a 12 exposure (16 if you don't shoot square) roll in 120 size.

processing costs a little more for 120, but not nearly as much as you'd think, especially if you shoot print film.

bottom line, it's a little more expensive, but definitely worth it.
>> Anonymous
>>87663

I'd thought the costs would have been much higher. That's quite a surprise to hear.
>> thefamilyman !!rTVzm2BgTOa
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My F5 has the biggest brightest viewfinder i've ever used on a (d)slr.
Its so big you have to move your eye and look around inside it.
And what more is the different viewfinder attachments available for it, like a waist level VF

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>> Anonymous
best use for a waistlevel viewfinder is to shoot over a crowd of people, hell yeah
>> Anonymous
The best viewfinder I've ever looked through was a Pentax 67II. After that, my Nikon F4. My D200 is very close to the D2x that I've used a few times, which ranks as the best DSLR viewfinder I've seen. It still sucks in comparison to the F4, but is much better than any other DSLR I've looked through.
>> Anonymous
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>>87668
A viewfinder so big that you have to move your eye to see the whole picture isn't necessarily a good thing, as it makes framing more difficult.

Also, picture related to the thread. (Made by sticking similar lenses on the cameras, then looking through two viewfinders at once)