Canon 5D /20D Viewfinder Magnification Comparision

I just bought a 5D and I also just picked up my latest copy of Pop Photo and in their quick review they state that although the 5D's viewfinder has 96% accuracy, is bright etc, the "bad news" according to them is that the viewfinder has a "relatively low magnification of only 0.71x, unlike the excellent 0.94x on the EOS 20D..."

My question is... (a) what is "viewfinder magnification" and (b) how really important a thing is it on a camera like the 5D? That is to say, I've upgraded from a 20D to the 5D.. am I really missing anything important?

What they more than likely mean is what you see in the viewfinder is a 71% view (5D) and 94% view (20D) of what the sensor actually captures.

You know, if you think about that, the 71% figure is silly and totally inaccurate.

---Bob Gross---

I would think that the 5D has a smaller magnification factor because it has a larger sensor. If it had a larger magnification than the 20D you'd have to use both eyes to cover it. The actual viewfinder is larger on the 5D than the 20D at 71%.

The coverage of what the sensor capture quoting Canon's webpage is "Approx. 96% horizontally and vertically (coverage against JPEG Large)" and the 20D is "Approx. 95% vertically and horizontally (Coverage against JPEG Large)" one percent less. The 1D's are 100%.

I tried!

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'text/html'

Let's get one thing perfectly straight.

When you look through the viewfinder of any Canon EOS camera, you will see something between 94% and 100% of what is being captured on the sensor or film frame. The exact percentage varies from one body to another, but it is certainly not 71% under any conditions, with any lens.

---Bob Gross---

Viewfinder Magnification tells you if things look as big looking through the viewfinder as they do when you just look at it.

Put a 50mm lens on the 5d. (Why? Just because that is the standard.)

Put your right eye up to the viewfinder.

Keep your left eye open.

Notice that the things seen with the right eye are 71% the size as the same things seen with the left eye.

That, puppy, is a 71% (or .71, if you perfer) viewfinder magnificaiton.

Rad

Good summary Radtech1

The following is a nice article that discusses viewfinder magnification.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/​sm-03-03-16.shtml

X refers to magnification, % refers to coverage ... i.e., 0.71X, 97%

Guys I stand corrected, thanks for the input.

Thanks everyone for your input. I really appreciate the help. I tried the 50mm test and yes, I can now totally understand the concept. Its nice to report that I don't feel that I'm missing anything at all. It's a great camera and I'm now loving my 16-35 f/2.8 lens as a true wide angle!

Cheers,

Steve

What that means is that because the 5D is a FF sensor, in order to have more of your subject viewed vs. the 20D, they have to magnify what you see less (maybe the space you see through the viewfinder in the 20D and 5D are the same). Since the 20D is a 1.6x crop, there is room to magnify what what be recorded so it can take up more room in the viewfinder giving you much better visibility for say manual focusing.

So in the 20D you are seeing nearly what your eye sees 0.94x, and in the 5D things look smaller than 1:1 to fit it all in the viewfinder 0.71x which is near the 1-series and Drebel.

Let me ask this question, then:
Which is more important, the view accuracy of the viewfinder or the magnification factor?

---Bob Gross---

[QUOTE=robertwgross]Le​t me ask this question, then:
Which is more important, the view accuracy of the viewfinder or the magnification factor?

The 100% LCD screen as on the 20Da, because then neither of the above matter.

And have you seen it? More to the point, have you seen the limitations it brings?

I always thought a P & S type LCD, like on my G3, would be nice on a DSLR.