electronic viewfinder vs lcd screen free sample

While some photographers like the natural view offered by an optical viewfinder, an electronic viewfinder brings the advantage of being able to see the effect of the exposure, white balance and Picture Style settings being applied. If you apply the Monochrome Picture Style, for example, the image you see in the EVF will be mono, while with an OVF it will remain colour. This means you can use the image in an EVF to assess whether your settings suit the scene and to be confident you will get the result you want before pressing the shutter button. That"s especially helpful if, for example, the subject is backlit and you might need to use some exposure compensation.

Another advantage of an EVF is that it can compensate for low light levels, which means you always have a clear view of the subject. Conversely, with an optical viewfinder you"re seeing the scene with the ambient light level, which means that in dark conditions it can be difficult to compose a shot or to focus.

In addition, when you"re using an EVF you"re actually looking at a small screen, and even though this has a very high refresh rate, an OVF can be more comfortable over a long period of usage. This means that if you"re shooting wildlife or sports where you have to keep your eye to the viewfinder for a very long time waiting for the action to happen, an OVF could be preferable.

While some photographers like the natural view offered by an optical viewfinder, an electronic viewfinder brings the advantage of being able to see the effect of the exposure, white balance and Picture Style settings being applied. If you apply the Monochrome Picture Style, for example, the image you see in the EVF will be mono, while with an OVF it will remain colour. This means you can use the image in an EVF to assess whether your settings suit the scene and to be confident you will get the result you want before pressing the shutter button. That"s especially helpful if, for example, the subject is backlit and you might need to use some exposure compensation.

Another advantage of an EVF is that it can compensate for low light levels, which means you always have a clear view of the subject. Conversely, with an optical viewfinder you"re seeing the scene with the ambient light level, which means that in dark conditions it can be difficult to compose a shot or to focus.

In addition, when you"re using an EVF you"re actually looking at a small screen, and even though this has a very high refresh rate, an OVF can be more comfortable over a long period of usage. This means that if you"re shooting wildlife or sports where you have to keep your eye to the viewfinder for a very long time waiting for the action to happen, an OVF could be preferable.

The benefits of the viewfinder and LCD screen are often compared with one another. Depending on whom you ask, you might hear remarkably different opinions on the usability of the two.

As discussed above, photography is all about precision. Viewfinders have been around long before LCD screens, and therefore many photographers find viewfinders more comfortable to work with.

Viewfinders offer much more precision when you are shooting, especially on a bright day. It allows you to focus on the small details. Viewfinders reduce image distortion and capture an accurate image. That’s why most DSLRs and high-end mirrorless cameras today still have viewfinders.

Running out of battery is a nightmare for photographers, especially if you don’t have any spares. That’s why viewfinders are considered optimal in these situations. Viewfinders use comparatively much less battery than LCD screens.

If you are shooting in an area where electricity is scarce, or don’t have access to a charger or backup batteries, the viewfinder will be a better choice for you.

Viewfinders are very convenient to use and provide smooth handling. When looking through the viewfinder, it’s easy to keep the camera steady. This makes the viewfinder an optimal choice when you need to zoom in or have a slightly heavier camera.

For many people, this extra effort of adjusting your eyeglasses is troublesome. However, some viewfinder cameras have a built-in diopter that can help make it easier to use with glasses.

Viewfinders can be much smaller compared to LCD screens. As a result, you may not be able to see everything you’re capturing in the viewfinder accurately. This drawback is very important for photographers who want to preview every single detail when taking a picture.

To see details on viewfinders, especially the electronic ones, you have to zoom in on the frame. However, this can lower the resolution of the preview. Luckily, if most of your shots consist of zoom shots, this may not bother you much.

What sets LCD screens apart from viewfinders is their ability to provide 100% image coverage to the photographer. In comparison, cameras with a viewfinder offer around 90-95% of the image, sometimes less.

What you see through the viewfinder doesn’t always end up in the final result. Small details can be crucial. That’s why this 5-10% difference in image coverage can be a significant reason why you might choose an LCD screen over the viewfinder.

When you are in a lower field-of-view, framing can be much more difficult. Many people can’t take a picture while lying on the ground using a viewfinder. This is where LCD screens come in. Flexible LCDs make it easier for you to capture images when you can’t reach awkward angles.

LCD screens produce great results for night photography. LCD screens are often used for night photography due to their bright image playback quality. They help you focus on the small details when you are shooting at night.

An evident shortcoming of the LCD screen is its lack of utility on a bright day. Because of the glare, many people cannot use their LCD screen at all on a sunny day. It’s hard to see anything on the LCD except the reflections.

Another drawback to using an LCD screen is its difficulty in handling it. Holding the camera while looking through the LCD screen is difficult and takes a lot of effort, especially when you are zooming and trying to be precise.

Another disadvantage of LCD screens is the fact that they can easily overexpose your image. This should not be a problem for seasoned photographers who can improve the quality of the image with better handling and precision.

Those were some of the benefits and drawbacks of using a viewfinder and LCD screen to consider. So, which one is best? The answer depends on your personal preferences and budget.

If you’re a traditional photographer, you’ll probably be more comfortable with the viewfinder. If you are a photographer who likes to focus on small details and image quality, you should opt for the LCD screen.

I have always used an EVF when shooting and I always will. I still find it the best way to judge exposure, focus, and composition. My eyes are not as good as they once were and I can not use a small-sized LCD screen that comes on a lot of cameras.

The problem with almost all of these cameras that don’t have an in-built EVF is that their LCD screens are not nearly bright enough to be seen correctly outdoors. They are also so small in size that you can’t see anything in any real detail.

I have tried so many cameras that didn’t have an EVF of any kind and found them all to be completely unusable outdoors in a lot of situations. Everything from focus, to exposure, to composition, to color, has to be judged by what you are monitoring with. I personally can’t understand how so many people seem to be ok with getting all of this correct by looking at a tiny LCD monitor that you can’t see correctly outdoors when it is sunny. Are people actually ok with working this way or is that just what they are used to dining and they have become accustomed to working that way? I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts in the comment section.

I have always used EVFs with cameras, and that has presented its challenges over the years when using certain cameras. The first digital cinema camera I ever owned was the Sony F3 and I bought the Kinotehnic LCDVFe in 2012 to use with that camera. I also used it with the Sony FS700 as well. I loved using this EVF because it came with a clever mounting solution and you could power it with AA batteries. This meant you only had to hook up one cable to use it.

Two EVFs made by camera manufacturers that can be used on other cameras are the Z CAM 2.89″ EVF101 Electronic Viewfinder and the Blackmagic Design URSA Viewfinder. Now, you need to be aware that technically both viewfinders can be used on other cameras, but neither solution is ideal. The Z CAM option is not a bad one, but you do need to be able to power it via a 2-pin LEMO power input. Again this makes using it problematic with some cameras.

The Blackmagic URSA Viewfinder does have an SDI input so you can technically send a feed and use it, however, it requires a 4-pin 12V power input, and good luck mounting it on any other camera other than an URSA.

There is a reason that most of the good EFVs are proprietary. This is mainly due to the fact that they only utilize one cable that sends power, the video signal, and all the necessary camera information without tying up any of the camera’s outputs. They are also purposely designed for a particular camera so you don’t have to frankenrig up anything to use one.

When I owned a Sony F55 I used the DVF-EL100 .7″ OLED Viewfinder. this was a great viewfinder, but it was expensive. I saying that for me personally, it was worth every cent.

The new ARRI ALEXA Electronic Viewfinder EVF-2 is the best EVF I have ever used, but it is expensive and it only currently works with the ALEXA Mini LF. If I could buy it for my Amira I would do so in a heartbeat. To me personally, a good EVF is worth its weight in gold.

If you just work indoors under controlled conditions then I can see why people may not want or need to use an EVF, but from my experience, if you are outdoors you really do need an EVF with most cameras. I often come across a lot of vision that was shot handheld where someone was just using a camera’s in-built small LCD screen where a lot of the material is out of focus. If you are using fast lenses and shooting at higher resolutions then good luck trying to nail focus from a small LCD screen outdoors.

Looking into a crystal ball it is hard to see anything changing when it comes to EVFs. We will still see proprietary EVFs for more expensive cameras, but it is unlikely that smaller-sized digital cinema cameras will come with anything more than an LCD screen. When it comes to mirrorless hybrids, there really isn’t that much more you can do other than to include a built-in EVF. Their small size makes it problematic to add anything else and if you were to use an EVF with a camera like that you almost have to go down that Frankenrig path. While there is nothing wrong with doing that, in my personal opinion, it defeats the purpose of buying a small camera in the first place.

The viewfinder is your window to the world as a photographer – despite advancements in camera technology, the humble viewfinder remains relatively unchanged.

An electronic viewfinder is a small display that shows the scene you have in front of the camera. With an electronic viewfinder (EVF), you can see exactly what your sensor sees.

This means that you have a live version of the image you’re about to shoot. If you change the settings, the exposure changes on the viewfinder before you take the picture.

With some cameras, you can connect an external camera screen (see our guide) which mimics the EVF’s display, allowing you to see fine details and colours even clearer.

With optical viewfinders, the image may be different from the view because you’re not seeing the effect of the settings. In other words, if you change camera settings like aperture or shutter speed, it won’t be reflected in the viewfinder.

They display the settings information and focus points though, so you don’t have to take your eye off the viewfinder while focusing and taking your shot.

When the light comes in through the lens, it hits a mirror that sits in front of the sensor. Thanks to the angle of the mirror, the light bounces up towards a pentaprism. Here it’s directed towards the eyepiece to show the scene in front of the lens. Electronic viewfinder

When the light comes in, the sensor registers and processes the scene, which then sends it to the electronic viewfinder’s small display. Because it’s an electronic representation, you can see the exposure settings live.

It depends on the type of photography that you do, but the general answer would be yes. We’re getting used to taking a picture using only an LCD screen because of our smartphone cameras. However, in most situations, a viewfinder will help you improve your framing and composition.

Most DSLR cameras have an optical viewfinder. That means that you see the same thing as your lens, which means that it’s not affected by the exposure settings.

Photographers look through the viewfinder to get a better view of what they are shooting. For example, when you’re shooting on a bright sunny day, you can’t see many details on the LCD screen.

Normally, photographers use their dominant eye. That’s to say that a right-handed photographer will look through the viewfinder with the right eye, and a left-handed photographer will use the left eye. Of course, you’re welcome to use whichever one you prefer.

Yes, you can buy an external viewfinder for your camera. There are electronic and optical viewfinders on the market, and they can be attached to your camera via the hot shoe.

The main difference between viewfinders and LCD screens is in the way you see the scene that’s in front of you. On the LCD screen, you can see a digital representation of it, like looking at the tv. With an optical viewfinder, you’re seeing things through a piece of glass – it can be compared to looking through a window or a pair of binoculars.

Also, with a viewfinder (both OVF and EVF) you don’t have to deal with glare, you have a steadier hold of the camera, and you get better peripheral vision when you shoot.

The viewfinder helps you to frame and compose in the best possible way. Many photographers can’t live without a viewfinder on their camera, whether it’s electronic or optical.

It depends on the camera brand and model. Most entry-level mirrorless cameras don’t have a viewfinder. However, if you can spend a little bit more, you’ll find mirrorless cameras with built-in electronic viewfinders.

Hopefully, this article cleared up some of your doubts about viewfinders and how they can be used to take the possible image with your camera – whether it be analogue or digital.

I know it’s a lot of information and it can be confusing, so if you have any other questions about viewfinders, feel free to post them in the comments section below.

LCD screens are great, and the quality improves with each new generation of DSLR cameras appearing on the market. But, many professional photographers prefer to use a camera"s viewfinder. We explain the benefits and disadvantages of each.

LCD screens have advantages, but so do optical viewfinders. When it"s time to frame a photo with your DSLR camera, you need to decide which side of the viewfinder vs. LCD debate you lean. Unlike the optical viewfinder, the LCD screen displays the entire frame that the sensors capture. Optical viewfinders, even on a professional level DSLR, only show 90-95% of the image. You lose a small percentage on the edges of the image.

Digital SLRs aren"t light, and it"s easier to produce a crisp, sharp image when you hold the camera up to your eye to use the viewfinder. That way, you can support and steady the camera and lens with your hands. But, viewfinders are generally smaller than LCD screens. Viewfinders are also less convenient to use, especially if you wear glasses.

At the end of the day, though, as intelligent as digital cameras are, the human eye can resolve more detail than an LCD screen. You get a sharper and more accurate view of your image by using the viewfinder.

The biggest drawback with LCD screens is probably shooting in sunlight. Depending on the quality of the screen, you may not be able to use it in bright sunshine because of the glare. All you see are reflections off the screen. Also, the crystals contained within LCD screens tend to flare in bright sunlight, making the situation worse.

Holding the camera at arm"s-length while looking at the LCD screen—and then keeping the camera steady while zooming in on a subject—takes effort. When you use the LCD screen this way, you often end up with a blurry image.

No matter how good an LCD screen is, it"s unlikely to give an accurate overview of the image you took. Most overexpose an image by as much as one full stop. It"s best to acquire the technical knowledge about photography, rather than rely on the LCD screen to determine image quality. With this technical knowledge, you"ll have the confidence your settings are correct, and your images are properly exposed. So, in most cases, it"s best to use the viewfinder. But, if you like the convenience of an LCD, or you wear glasses, use the LCD. It"s mostly a matter of personal preference.

One of the primary camera viewing options, all digital cameras have an LCD screen to review your pictures – on compacts they’re also usually the only means of viewing the scene.

Screen resolution affects the sharpness and clarity, and how much detail you can see. The brightness, and the quality of the anti-reflective coatings, determine how easy the screen is to use in bright sun. Some LCD screens can tilt and swivel, useful for high or low angle shooting.

Electronic viewfinder (EVF) camera viewing options are found on Micro System Cameras and some fixed-lens cameras and are essentially a tiny screen inside the camera.

Cameras with EVFs can be smaller than those with mirror assemblies. On the downside, EVFs lack the degree of connection with your subject that DSLR viewfinders give you.

The image is bright, clear and almost like looking at the subject itself. The viewfinder enables you to compose and focus, and displays some shooting data, but doesn’t show the effect of exposure, and other settings on your image.

The Live View feature on those DSLRs that offer it has the same advantages over the viewfinder that an EVF does: full data display, and the ability to preview the effect that changing the exposure, white balance etc will have on your shot.

DSLRs, however, are not best used at arm’s length  – they’re heavier than compacts, for a start – so Live View is best used only for shooting at high and low angles where it isn’t possible to see through the viewfinder, or when using the camera on a tripod, when you’ve set up and focused and are waiting for the right moment to press the shutter.

EXIF Data: You can usually choose to have the shooting data visible on screen so you can see your settings, or turn it off so you get a clean view of your composition without distractions.

A viewfinder is a part of the camera that you look through in order to frame your photo. Most DSLR cameras have what are known as optical viewfinders. When you look through an optical viewfinder you’re actually looking through the lens of the camera (the light is bouncing off a mirror and flipped through a prism). It’s really neat actually!

But with an electronic viewfinder (EVF), you’re actually just looking at a tiny screen (usually LCD or OLED). This may not seem like a significant difference, but having a camera with an EVF can make it a lot easier for you to learn photography. Here are 7 things you need to know about electronic viewfinders:

With an electronic viewfinder you get a realtime preview of what your exposure will be – meaning the brightness of your photo will look like what you see through the EVF. The value of this can’t be understated. Having a realtime exposure preview will help you to dial in the exact exposure you want without constant chimping (like you might do with a DSLR with an optical viewfinder).

Just like with exposure you can get a preview of what your depth of field will be with an EVF. With most optical viewfinders you’re looking through the optical viewfinder with the lens aperture set wide open – which doesn’t give you an idea of what the actual depth of field will be in the image when you press the shutter release. DSLRs do have a “depth of field” preview button which will close down the aperture to whatever you have it set to – the problem is that if you’re shooting at smaller apertures the depth of field preview button will make things look unrealistically dark through the viewfinder (since the small aperture will greatly reduce the amount of light going through to the optical viewfinder. Also it’s just a pain to be pressing a button whenever you want to see a depth of field preview.

With an electronic viewfinder you can often turn on picture style settings and get a preview of what those settings will look like. So for example you could get a live preview of what everything looks like black and white (which can really help with composition as well as exposure selection. You can often still shoot in the raw format (giving you the option of color later).

You can look through optical viewfinders with the camera turned off. With an EVF however, the camera needs to be turned on (since the camera’s sensor needs to be collecting light information, and then displaying it on the tiny screen). The delay of holding up the camera to take a photo, it being turned off or asleep and then staring into a black EVF waiting for an image to appear can be annoying!

With an EVF the camera has to be constantly collecting sensor information and then displaying in on the small screen. This means that cameras with EVFs typically have significantly shorter battery life compared to cameras with optical viewfinders.

Not all EVFs are equal. The resolution of some EVFs are greater than others. There’s currently a range between 2.36MP to about 4MP. The higher the resolution the sharper the screen will look.

Resolution isn’t the only factor though. Just like TVs the displays in EVFs can be LCD or OLED. OLED displays tend to be brighter than LCDs and show better colour. Finally some cameras (like the Fuji X-Pro2, and Fuji X100F) offer hybrid viewfinders which allow you to switch between optical and electronic viewfinders.

When purchasing your next camera you should definitely consider looking at a model that has an electronic viewfinder. We currently use a Fuji X-T2, and Fuji X100F which both have EVFs, but you’ll find EVFs in a ton of different cameras (mostly mirrorless).

After I thought about switching from my DSLR to a mirrorless camera I read a lot of reviews to try and figure out how big the change really is. In forums and other platforms, a lot of photographers were complaining that electronic viewfinders (EVF) would be a real discomfort in comparison to classic optical viewfinders. That there would be a lot of problems and they never got used to them and eventually swapped back to DSLRs although, mirrorless cameras performed better for them.

This opinion is a few years old and technology is advancing very quickly. Is the electronic viewfinder still at a disadvantage and such a big change, or does it feel more natural now and actually offers more features, that optical viewfinders can’t bring to the table?

In short, the Electronic Viewfinder is nothing else than a small LCD or OLED-screen that You are looking at. Instead of seeing an image, that is projected by mirrors or other optical means, You are viewing directly the image that is captured by the image sensor.

Because the EVF is a complete screen, there are a lot more information that can be displayed and features that can be used. Think about the options that You can use while using the LCD-Screen on a regular DSLR.

In DSLRs, the viewfinder displays the image that is also captured by the lens. Through a system of prism and mirror, the image is then projected to the optical viewfinder. Although the optical viewfinder isn’t a frame-filling LCD-screen it does display some basic information at the bottom, like the battery life or exposure.

The electronic viewfinder does offer better preview options. Since You are able to see the digital image as it is captured on the image sensor, You see the very same image that is then saved after pressing the shutter button.

Especially when looking at the exposure, the electronic viewfinder has a clear advantage at showing the exact same brightness as the final image. You are able to see overexposed areas and can tune down the exposure in real-time, whereas in optical systems You would have to take pictures first and look at the result or trust the status bars.

Apart from the Exposure, You also have a more detailed preview of the depth of field. You are able to view in real-time which subject is focused and whether the depth of field might be too shallow to get everyone in focus. Again, You don’t have to take test shots first, like with a DSLR, but are able to see the focus live through the electronic viewfinder.

Since the Electronic Viewfinder is just a screen that records what the sensor is capturing, You are able to overlay any kind of information You like on the screen. Whereas optical viewfinders have only very basic information in the bottom like the battery status or amount of pictures, the Electronic Viewfinder can show anything on the screen to help You get the picture right.

You are able to display the histogram right into the viewfinder to see, whether there are areas that are too dark and have to adjust the exposure. But the real advantage comes when You are using vintage lenses that You have to focus manually.

Manual Focus on DSLRs with basic optic Viewfinders can be a real hassle. You rarely know when the subject is in-focus and even through chimping on the LCD-Screen often, You might still miss the focus by an inch, which doesn’t show on the spot, but only later after You review Your photographs at home and on a bigger screen.

Camera manufacturers have realized that the EVF can drain the battery life very quickly. The electronic viewfinder is a screen that needs energy to stay alive and have any function, contrary to the optical viewfinder which works through mirrors and doesn’t need any electronic energy.

To combat the quick draining of the battery, modern mirrorless cameras often have an eye sensor near the electronic viewfinder, which senses when You are actually looking through the viewfinder and when not.

I will admit, that sometimes there is a delay between getting near the EVF and the sensor correctly recognizing that You are looking through the viewfinder, but most of the time it works very reliably.

Looking at an electronic screen is not the same experience as viewing at the scene with Your eyes. Many Years ago when I first thought about buying a mirrorless camera for street photography, LCD-screens weren’t that advanced and there was a visible disadvantage in terms of quality.

When looking through an optical viewfinder, there isn’t any decrease in quality. You have a clear view of the scene that You are photographing and have only the prism and mirror in-between, which present the original scene.

An EVF works differently. The scene is captured through the lens onto the image sensor, then processed and showed by the LCD-screen. The original picture undergoes different stages that can reduce the quality from the original real-life scene onto the electronic viewfinder.

In the early stages of the EVF, they often came with a resolution of 800*600 which isn’t really much but was already praised as equal to the optical viewfinder. Of course, there was a reduction in quality and the electronic viewfinder wasn’t equal to the optical viewfinder.

Nowadays, the LCD-screen has advanced so far, that the resolution is so detailed, that there isn’t any difference in terms of quality. With resolutions up to 5 Megapixels, there won’t be any single pixel visible on such small screens.

So far, the EVF had only advantages compared to classic optical viewfinders. The quality is great and the image quality of the LCD-screens is so high, that it can be easily compared to the images projected by the optical viewfinder.

When looking at the discussion a few years ago, I would have agreed that electronic viewfinders are not an ideal alternative to optical viewfinders. The resolution was too low, the lag too noticeable and I wouldn’t have the patience to adapt to the new viewing experience.

I appreciate that I am able to view the exposure in real-time and can adjust the settings accordingly. With the electronic viewfinder, I have a way better overview of how the end result will look like and don’t have to chimp at the picture and guess how the settings would have to change.

To fully understand the pros and cons of DSLR vs mirrorless, we need to answer one question right away: what’s the difference between mirrorless and DSLR? The easiest answer is that a DSLR camera has a mirror and a mirrorless camera doesn"t — but there"s a lot more to these types of cameras than that. But what are the basic mechanics?

A DSLR camera is a digital camera body that allows light to enter a single lens where it hits a mirror that reflects the light either upwards or downward into the camera’s optical viewfinder (OVF). DSLR stands for Digital Single-Lens Reflex.

Amirrorless camera is a digital camera that doesn’t have a reflex mirror. In a mirrorless, there isn’t an optical viewfinder and the imaging sensor is always exposed to light. It gives you a preview of the image on the electronic viewfinder (EVF), which is often an LCD screen on the back of the camera.

Before we get into a specific comparison, one interesting thing to note about mirrorless is the image it reveals in the electronic viewfinder. In DSLRs, the image is reflected up and into the viewfinder.

Because of that, the image created versus what we see before taking the photo is often slightly skewed. The image you see through the optical viewfinder (OVF) in a DSLR has nothing to do with the exposure. In that regard, the same considerations and applications of aperture, ISO, and shutter speed still apply.

When you see a photographer snap a photo, look at it on the screen, and adjust the lighting or another function to take a new picture, this back and forth is called “chimping.”

With mirrorless cameras, this is avoided because there is no mirror and so there is no image reflecting up into the viewfinder. What you see before you take the photo is much more true to the image taken. This and more is outlined in the video below.

A quick overview of mirrorless vs DSLR pros and cons are below, then we’ll dig a little deeper into each category. Let"s start by looking specifically at the benefits and drawbacks of DSLR cameras.

The electronic viewfinder can be used in video mode, while the viewfinder on a DSLR cannot. Also, high resolution is built into most mirrorless even if they’re on the low-end, quality wise.

To get a broader perspective on the benefits of mirrorless cameras, let"s review the top options. After the video, we"ll jump back into the mirrorless vs DSLR debate.

DSLRs tend to have longer battery life for shooting still images. You don’t have to power an electronic viewfinder because your camera sensor isn’t always on. When the mirror does flip up, that’s the only time power is exhausted.

However, when you shoot video on DSLRs, it’s using the sensor the same way a mirrorless does, but now, without the electronic viewfinder. So you’re using more battery because the sensor is on receiving the images. With either options, there are workarounds like this hack using an external battery as explained in this video.

The mechanics of a DSLR operate like this: you snap a picture and the mirror flips up. The light hits the sensor, and the viewfinder blacks out until the exposure is complete. This movement creates that satisfying sound of taking a picture. But this flicking can add to camera shake. And this affects image stability.

For beginner enthusiasts, when it comes to picking and choosing the right camera, mirrorless may be the frontrunner. Due to its simpler controls, smaller size, and easy-to-use touch screen technology, it’s considerably less intimidating than a DSLR.

Evolving technology minimizes the mirrorless camera vs DSLR debate quite a bit. And while I’ll always rely on preference as a sensible solution, mirrorless cameras may be taking the lead.

Though some DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) cameras have EVFs, a major consideration when selecting between an MILC (Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera) and a conventional DSLR is that the MILC will not have an optical viewfinder (OVF).

Safe to say is that all high-grade cameras produced today have an LCD that can be used for mirror-up, live view of an image that is about to be captured.

A big advantage of an electronic viewfinder is the WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) image preview (including with no viewfinder alignment issues).

Able to be included in the LCD image preview is the actual exposure brightness, optionally including a histogram, focus peaking, and over/underexposure warnings.

Take the lens off of an electronic first curtain shutter MILC (a common design) and the imaging sensor is right there, easily accessible for cleaning (note that some mirrorless cameras now close the shutter when powered off).

The lack of a mirror forces another primary differentiator between non-OVF vs. OVF cameras, and that is, without a mirror, the imaging sensor must be used for all pre-shot calculations, including auto focus and auto exposure.

While intelligent optical viewfinders have shown great advances in recent years, complete with transparent LCD overlays, they don"t come close to the capabilities of LCDs in terms of the information that can be shown.

A high-resolution LCD panel with a huge palette of colors available provides designers great flexibility in creating a camera"s graphical user interface and also in the customization capability of that interface.

Though a bigger advantage for true EVF cameras, LCD displays can provide an immediate display of a captured image precisely where the photographer is looking at time the image is captured (such as directly through the viewfinder).

While some manufacturers (including Canon and Nikon) contend that image stabilization technology works best in the lens vs. in-camera (and there is validity to this claim), inarguable is that the effects of in-camera

However, in bright daylight, even the best rear LCDs become very difficult to see and I find it especially challenging to compose using the rear LCD under direct sunlight.

In contrast, viewfinders make it easy to critically view the composition under even the brightest conditions, giving them a huge advantage over a rear LCD under bright daylight conditions.

Dioptric adjustments provided by viewfinders resolve this issue, permitting a clear view of what I"m about to photograph and review of what I already photographed if it is an EVF.

A camera"s primary LCD tends to collect fingerprints and other smudges at a rapid pace, and these can interfere with visibility of the display, especially in bright light.

However, a viewfinder, with its inset glass, is harder to clean than a primary LCD that, especially if properly coated, easily wipes clean with a microfiber cloth.

A downside is that LCD loupes are not nearly as well integrated into the camera design as EVFs are and built-in EVFs are considerably more compact and less intrusive.

With resolution not limited by dots of pixels (that can appear to flicker as they change colors when framing is adjusted with lower-end EVFs) and refresh rates not limited by an electronic display, advantages of an OVF include higher resolution and speed-of-light responsiveness.

The EVF properties just discussed can leave the photographer feeling somewhat disconnected from the moment, akin to watching a movie of an event vs. seeing it in-person as an OVF provides the sense of.

While an LCD can make low light composition easier, a photographer"s eye must constantly adjust between the bright display and dark ambient light levels.

While not directly related to the viewfinder type, MILCs are very commonly given EVFs with reduced camera size and weight being two of the common design targets.

With the imaging sensor required to be powered up for an EVF to function and because an EVF"s full-color LCD requires its own share of power, EVFs require more battery capacity for an equivalent number of photos to be captured.

Initially, most OVF systems had a significantly shorter viewfinder blackout time during the image capture, and if following action, this is a critical factor.

OVF stands for optical viewfinder. Now, the viewfinder is the part of the camera that you look through to check out the scene. When you put one eye up to the camera to preview your shot, you’re looking through an optical viewfinder.

When you look through an optical viewfinder, you’re looking through the lens. You’re seeing what the lens sees. This is what you find on all DSLR cameras.

Instead, EVFs show you what the camera sensor sees–because it’s a little screen inside your camera. Which means you don’t get a simple, straightforward view of the scene. You’re looking at the scene once it’s been processed by the camera–so you essentially see it already exposed.

Electronic viewfinders, on the other hand, do have a slight lag. On the best EVFs, this is negligible, and won’t make any difference to your shooting. But if you purchase a cheaper or older mirrorless body, you may get stuck with an electronic viewfinder that lags behind the scene, and makes tracking moving subjects especially difficult.

Electronic viewfinders, however, are showing you a screen. And that screen’s picture quality depends on the resolution of the EVF, as well as the dynamic range of the screen and the camera sensor.

This makes it much easier to take photos without needing to constantly check your LCD (known as chimping). And it allows you to feel much more confident in your final images during a shoot.

Some EVFs show live histograms. Some show levels, that tell you whether your image is straight. Others give focus peaking, which allows you to see, on the viewfinder image, which area of the photo is sharp.

But optical viewfinders don’t often always offer this feature. In entry-level Canon DSLRs, for instance, viewfinder coverage is pretty consistently 95% of the frame. This may not seem like a big deal, but it can result in unwanted elements entering your frame without you noticing.

The clue is in the name! Mirrorless cameras don’t have a reflex mirror-like DSLRs. In a DSLR the mirror reflects the light up onto an optical viewfinder, whereas in a mirrorless camera there is no optical viewfinder. Instead, the imaging sensor is constantly exposed to light, giving a digital preview of the image on either the LCD screen or through an electronic viewfinder (EVF). The term mirrorless is actually a little disingenuous as it relates to mirrorless digital cameras with interchangeable lenses (ILCs). However, there are and have been many other styles of camera that haven’t had a mirror. But in modern terminology mirrorless describes ILCs. You will find that mirrorless cameras are significantly smaller and lighter in construction than DSLRs.

One of the areas where mirrorless cameras excel is with video. The EVFs can also be used in video mode and the manufacturers have also put a lot of effort into building in 4K capabilities to the cameras. Autofocus capabilities have also improved immensely on mirrorless cameras. Many mirrorless cameras also have touchscreens, meaning that you can literally ‘tap’ a point on the screen to focus on. However, good as the systems are I don’t believe that they can currently compete with the traditional DSLR AF systems. This is particularly noticeable when it comes to low light and tracking moving objects. However, the systems are improving all the time and it’s quite possible that they will surpass DSLRs one day.

Battery life on modern mirrorless cameras is excellent. But if you come from a DSLR background, you’re going to notice that the batteries don’t quite last as long. This is because of the constant use of the sensor and either a live view LCD or EVF.

The EVF shows virtually 100% of your image and gives you a preview of how the final image will look. If you increase or decrease your shutter speed or aperture, for example, the results will show on the EVF. You can also electronically adjust the brightness and contrast of an EVF.

Live View is a neat function that uses the LCD screen to display exactly what the camera sees at any time. This tool is available in the majority of modern digital cameras, though additional functions or modes might vary from camera to camera.

This might sound similar to the Optical Viewfinder but when using Live View, you can see the real-time impact adjusting a camera setting has on the photo. For example, if you change to a quicker shutter speed, the Live View displays a darker image than before. This is a real-time change.

Exactly how great Live View works will depend on the camera you’re using. It’s no secret that some cameras (often entry-level cameras) don’t have high-quality LCD screens. Monitors of low quality may lack detail and have a lot of grain, making it hard to exploit many of its advantages.

Since the quality of the LCD screen has such a big impact on how well the Live View work, it’s important to understand that it might not perform as well in dimmed light.

You might be wondering how a visual representation of the image displayed on the back of your camera will affect the sharpness of an image. Well, a benefit of Live View is that you’re able tozoom in on the LCD screen.

This allows you to take full advantage of manual focus and make slight adjustments until you find the sharpest point. That would’ve been very difficult if you were using the Optical Viewfinder.

At that time I didn’t have a camera with Live View so, naturally, I relied on the viewfinder. This became a habit and when I years later purchased a camera with Live View, it took a long time for me to start using it.

It’s extremely convenient to have a live representation of the image on the camera’s display. This allows me to see the changes I make to the composition live and without having to stand in an awkward position while adjusting the tripod and looking through the viewfinder.

Grid Viewis an excellent tool to use when working on your composition. A grid is placed on the LCD screen which allows you to align elements in your image and work with the composition.

This is even more true for mirrorless cameras that have an EVF and LCD, but no Optical Viewfinder. In other words, Live View is on all the time and you can’t turn it off.

A suggestion to those with a DSLR or camera with an Optical Viewfinder is to turn Live View off when it’s not being used. You can even turn it off after you’ve found your composition and camera settings. There’s no reason to leave it on if you’re sticking to that shot for a while.

The beauty of photography is that every photographer has their own habits, preferences, and workflows. There are many who still swear to the Optical Viewfinder and their photos are not less because of it. At the end of the day, it comes down to what feels right for you.

Mirrorless uses sensor data to AF, metering, and upon the info, estimate the combined effect of parameters in used, jpg setting, filter applied etc to simulate an image for display in evf/LCD. Not to mention the real-time histogram, all sorts of exposure alerts, and under usual standard of mirrorless such LV simulated image is refreshed at 30~60 frames every second. You can imagine the amount of energy would been needed to keep the CPU in full power running, evf/LCD to maintain the feedback etc until it goes into sleeping or power off.

2) The current electronics, from CPU to others are not energy efficiency enough, and on another hand, the battery of most mirrorlesses are not advanced enough. I always wonder why my phone has such a relatively tiny 5000mAh battery but my camera battery is limited to <2000mAh?

First of all, I love shooting on the LCD screen because I feel it helps me be more creative with my compositions. It encourages me to take risks, and experiment.

With the LCD screen, I use a diagonal-overlay on the Ricoh GR II, which allows me to see the world with diagonal lines. It encourages me to shoot more diagonals.

Furthermore, I can do crazy stuff with the LCD screen — like sticking my camera inside a hole in a wall, through a fence, or in other situations where I cannot shoot otherwise.

It is easier to stick out your arm and shoot with a camera with an LCD screen, than getting very close to someone with the viewfinder stuck to your eye.

I know my friend Neil Ta likes to shoot with the LCD screen on his Fujifilm x100, because it makes him more low-key. He is more discrete. People don’t notice him shooting as much.

It is true that if you want to be more stealth in photography, using an LCD screen makes you look more of a tourist, and less harmful. Not only that, but people aren’t quite sure when you’re taking a photo.

If your camera has no viewfinder, the camera is smaller. Easier to fit in your front pocket. And the more you have your camera in your front pocket or hand, the more likely you are to bring it with you everywhere you go, and the more likely you are to take more photos (generally my biggest problem).

I’ve been shooting a lot of high contrast black and white lately, and shooting with an LCD screen helps me see the world in this blissful monochromatic ink.

The last advantage of shooting with an LCD screen is that it helps me play around ore. I use it like a point and shoot camera, like a kid, having fun.

I remember when I started photography, I felt like I needed an optical viewfinder to look like a ‘pro.’ But in reality, having this child-like ‘beginner’s mind‘ is what helped me initially build up my curiosity and inspiration in photography. And this is what I want to return to — this child-like state of curiosity in photography, without limits, and without ‘rules’ or boundaries.

But I still like optical viewfinders, but have been finding that shooting with an LCD screen (or electronic viewfinder, EVF) opens up new creative opportunities as well.