Viewfinder Versus LCD?

[Marc Mantha]

Other that the LCD being difficult to see outside on a sunny day,...

...in general, which is better to use for shooting photos, the viewfinder, or the LCD?

(Not referring to Digital SLRs and battery life, only fixed lens digital cameras)

Best regards,
Marc

[house]

Unless it's a quick snapshot, I always use the LCD for everything.

[HKMonkey]

With my G2 (and I think with all G series) the viewfinder doesn't see through the lens, so you don't get an accurate preview for framing your photo, so I also always use the LCD. That way you know what you are going to get in your shot.

[dicky109]

I never use the viewfinder, even in bright sunlight., as I made a shade for my LCD. You can also buy one, so there is no reason not to use it. Composition, IMO is much easier to judge on the screen.

[dbump]

Lump me in with the LCD camp. I use the viewfinder so seldom, I rarely even think about it being there. The rotating LCD is very liberating--I often take shots with the camera braced against my torso, with the LCD parallel to the ground--sort of like shooting with an old Brownie. It's generally easy to shade the display with your hand or body. Not only is it more stable, but you stand out a lot less, even when you are a tourist. Perhaps I'm too self-conscious, but I find I take more time getting the shot right when I'm not holding the camera up to my face.
Another consideration--if you ever use filters/tele/wide-adapter lenses, the viewfinder is obscured by those.

[meow]

Well, I'm used to real cameras (AKA analog :D ) while just a beginner at digital and I miss a good viewfinder so much I could cry. I use them maybe 70-30, advantage to LCD.

Main advantage, as I see it, with a view finder is that you hold the camera so much more steady. You hold your arms against your body and hands + forehead become a three-point pretty steady support for the camera. Hands stretched out in front of you - that's shaky.

Another thing is that one can follow an object much better with a viewfinder. The camera becomes a third eye. There's a directness that just isn't there with the LCD.

Oh crap, now everyone will throw stones at me because I'm odd. :( :P

[GimpyPoop]

Yo,
I use the LCD because the stupid adapter cramps my viewfinder style! :(
But I would prefer to use the viewfinder at times since I take sharper shots since I have a steadier control that way.
Me, the Flea

[gcogger]

Viewfinder about 90% of the time. It's impossible to hold the camera steady otherwise.

[283CID]

Depends on the situation...as always. For general 'shooting', I use the LCD. For covering a group activity, I usually swivel the LCD so I can hold the camera up over my head and look up into the LCD...and take a thousand pictures! In a place like the Boeing Air Museum I find the Mark One Eye-ball Viewfinder is just great.

Find your own nitch for different needs...

[dbump]

I wonder how much viewfinder use correlates to time spent on film vs digital cameras? I've spent relatively little time on film cameras, compared to digital, so I never developed the (arguably good) habit of using the viewfinder. However, I've been able to adapt LCD use to very stable shots by snugging the camera up against any handy, solid object, and swiveling the LCD to suit.
I think I'd use the viewfinder more if it included the kind of data you get with an SLR--metering, etc. All of that is on the LCD, and perhaps that's why I rely on it so heavilly?

[283CID]

Know what you mean.... 35mm for 'many' years. On our G-1's (Bride and Me)... the little amber light is just in your peripheral vision. It blinks for some things. I shoot virtually everything in either P or Tv modes...... and 'my' viewfinder method works fine for me...

In fact, a lot of the time when I use P, I set the camera for 'continuous', look thru the viewfinder and rip off a dozen fast pictures !

[sbalakri]

After using a 35mm for many years, It took me a little while to get used to the LCD, but I now use it most of the time and find that I can frame pictures better with it.

One exception is when things are fast moving. Then I use the viewfinder.

-- balki

[Lagged2Death]

I've only had my G3 for about a week now, but I've shot a few hundred pictures and haven't used the optical viewfinder at all.

The battery life turns out to be so good that there's no reason to turn the LCD off, and it provides a lot of info (like the selected aperature, shutter speed, ISO, etc) that you can't see in the optical viewfinder. The optical viewfinder can't tell you anything about focusing. And the swiveling LCD is wonderful - I don't know if I could go back to a fixed LCD viewfinder now.

My previous digicam sucked batteries down very quickly, and had very little in the way of controls to worry about, so switching off the LCD and using the optical viewfinder made sense there.

All that said, I think an SLR-style optical viewfinder, with readouts for the exposure information included, would be better yet. I'll have to wait for DSLR's to get cheaper, though.

[sdommin]

Honestly, I can't even remember when (or if) I ever looked through the optical viewfinder of my G3, even in bright sunlight.

[dicky109]

Being in my mid-fifties, I have plenty of experience with viewfinders AND even manual focusing, so appreciate a bright, useful viewfinder. While the Gx cameras have a lot of great features, that is not one of them, as a previous poster pointed out, when the adapter is on, part of the view is blocked.
I quickly adapted to LCD use when I bought my G-1

[dfrost]

I use the LCD on the G3 almost exclusively, despite 30 years experience with film cameras, SLR and smaller. I know the proper way to hold a camera steady at eye level, but find that I can use a slower shutter speed reliably with the G3 at waist level.

I get better candid shots at social functions with the camera at waist level. People seem less likely to notice a camera pointed at them from that position.

[pradeep1]

When I first got my G3, I used to use the viewfinder. Thought that using the LCD looked geeky. I had been used to using film cameras all my life that it seemed natural. After using the LCD for a while, I dropped the view completely. I now use it in those difficult low light shots where I have to hold the camera very still. I push the camera up against my face and use the viewfinder to compose. I think the viewfinder in smaller digicams will start going by the wayside in the future.

[283CID]

'Tri-focals' will also effect your choice! LCD looks fine through the Mid-Range... Gotta shed the 'cheaters' to even USE the 'Finder....

[kreego]

Well, actually, the EVF most of the time, but let me explain...

A couple of days, someone started a thread on street shooting. I was intrigued. Given the, um, minor hesitation (I'm being charitable!) before the picture is actually in the can and the camera is ready for the next shot, I reviewed what some of you folks have said recently about manual focus. To my great surprise, my G5 does great as a super-discrete hip shooter Ã* la Winogard! This is new territory for me, so I'm still getting a feel for framing shots just by moving my wrist and not looking at the camera...

But to answer the question, I shoot everything else with the EVF - I've actually not taken a single viewfinder picture out of close to 3000 since April 10.

K

[Andy_T]

I always use the optical viewfinder when possible.

Of course, the swivel-LCD is great for shots you couldn't otherwise get and and a necessity when using a converter. When I got the camera, I used it a lot.

Still, I found out that I personally have a better feeling using the optical viewfinder, as I have a better view of what I am photographing. Granted, I will suffer from parallax difference and incorrect representation, but it feels more like 'taking a picture' to me.

I tried out the Pro1 in a camera shop and did not like the EVF too much.

What I miss is the indication of shutter speed and aperture in the viewfinder ... got used to that using a film SLR. What completely drives me mad is the 'diopter adjustment' for short- or far-sighted people. The lever for it is positioned so stupid that is will get changed way too often.

Best regards,
Andy

[sdommin]

But to answer the question, I shoot everything else with the EVF - I've actually not taken a single viewfinder picture out of close to 3000 since April 10.

Kreego, I think you mean "LCD" when you write "EVF". The G5 does not have an EVF (Electronic ViewFinder like the Pro-1, Sony 828 or Leica D2).

[kreego]

Kreego, I think you mean "LCD" when you write "EVF".

Argggh right you are! I was hankering for a Panasonic LC1 for months, and of course the debate was about the quality of the EVF. Note to me - don't contribute brilliant ideas way past your bedtime ;-)

Thanks for the rectification!

K

[twl845]

:!: Reading camera books and magazines, they always say to use the view finder and save the lcd for macro and special situations. They claim that using the lcd all the time cuts down the amount of potential shots by using up battery power. I have found that although you can use the lcd to frame a shot pretty well, you can't see details in the shot like if your subject has the right expression or not. You'll probably get a surprize when you preview the shot in the lcd and magnify it.

[kreego]

You'll probably get a surprize when you preview the shot in the lcd and magnify it.

I agree about getting a surprise - especially if your subject is moving, the lag is always there, unless you manually focus, don't use flash, and meter prior to pushing the shutter.

However - I took one look through the viewfinder with the lens adapter and decided I couldn't live with seeing less than half of the image. And that's without the teleconverter mounted... But yes, I also agree that trying to see what's going on on the LCD is a dicey proposition even under optimal conditions. I use a LCD shade in bright conditions, works great.

So - make up for lack of precision with volume, volume volume ;-)

K

[sidebp]

I find it really depends what your shooting, for example its practically impossible to get a decent panning shot (e.g. motorsport) unless I use the optical view finder - for starters its smoother to track the subject (less arm movement), in addition supporting the camera against your head (if you see what I mean!) offers more stability. Plus the EVF can be slow to track fast moving objects.

However, using the G3 with the tele-convertor does make using the optical viewfinder more hit and miss if you need to pan!

Regards.

[283CID]

Now that you mention 'motion'... I often find myself setting up a two or three image 'stitch'....secenery, or group of people. I *never* seem to have my cheap and dirty tripod in hand, so I have to hold the camera. I try to hold myself and the camera as solid as possible, and just shuffle my feet as I turn, rotate. The closer the camera is to the axis of rotation, the better the perspective....Thus, using the optical viewer gives me a better overall result, than if I had the LCD [and camera] out a couple of feet from the axis of rotation...

Works for me...