Optical viewfinder

Optical viewfinder
The small window in the camera that you look through when taking a picture.
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Optical viewfinder
The optical viewfinder is the small window you look through to compose the image.
Unless it is of the TTL type (through the lens) it is usually separate from the lens.

Optical viewfinder
Techniques Glossary Optical viewfinder
The small window in the camera that you look through when taking a picture.

LCD Monitor and Optical Viewfinder
All our previous discussions are centred on the main components that are directly involved in the creation of a technically good image. The next item is the LCD Monitor and optical viewfinder.

Optical viewfinders on digital SLR cameras show the scene through the lens (TTL) just as 35mm SLRs do. A mirror bounces light coming through the lens into a prism that directs it out of the viewfinder.

Optical Viewfinder on a Digital Compact Camera
The optical viewfinder on a digital compact camera consists of a simple optical system that zooms at the same time as the main lens and has an optical path that runs parallel to the camera's main ...

Optical Viewfinder: A viewing system that uses no power, but does not always give a true view due to parallax and focus errors.

Optical viewfinder. See Viewfinder.
Orientation sensor. A sensor that knows when you turn the camera to take a vertical shot and rotates the picture so it won’t be displayed on it’s side when you view it.

Optical Viewfinder - An eye level viewfinder that is used to compose the photograph.

Optical viewfinder
A viewfinder system that shows a similar view to that seen by the camera lens ( as on 35mm compact cameras ) Useful because it uses no power, but can cause parallax and focus errors.

SLR or Optical Viewfinder?
Just as traditional cameras come equipped with an optical viewfinder, some digital cameras come with traditional viewfinders. Others replace the optical viewfinder with an electronic viewfinder (EVF).

Optical viewfinder provides 100 percent field of view
The K-7 glass prism finder offers 100 percent field of view and an approximately 0.92X magnification to facilitate focusing and framing operations.

Optical Viewfinder
Camera viewfinder through which one looks at the scene. Better ones have a dioptre adjustment for those who wear glasses.
Optical Zoom ...

The optical viewfinder is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it's there. Most compact cameras these days have no optical finder.

Other optical viewfinders of old cameras are placed upon the camera top as small rectangular "telescope". Since the 1950s these viewfinders were more and more integrated into the camera bodies.

Lack of optical viewfinder
Less light reaching sensor, due to portion of the light being reflected to phase-detection autofocus array (approximately 1/2 EV in current designs).
[edit] Pellicle mirror SLR
Advantages ...

If you DO have an optical viewfinder on your point-and-shoot camera, by all means use it to reduce camera shake. It will also drastically reduce the drain on your battery (the LCD is your battery's greatest power user.) Tripod, yes. Monopod, yes.

Cameras using an optical viewfinder.
Distortion
A defect in an image caused by the lens, such as barreling and pincushioning.

The big question is - is this as good as a optical viewfinder? Probably not, but the verdict so far is that it is fairly close, and better than any other viewfinder out there. This is very high resolution for an EVF.

Choose Your Viewfinder: Most consumer digicams allow you to see the scene through either a traditional optical viewfinder or in the LCD.

unless you use the little peephole direct optical viewfinder the electronic viewfinder or LCD is actually delayed a fraction of a second. Just wave your hand back and forth in front of it if you think I'm kidding.

These days I have a very sophisticated polecam system (bottom right), with a tiny video camera replacing my optical viewfinder and feeding everything my lens sees to an external monitor, ...

There is an area marked in the optical viewfinder in the center of the image. This is the area that the camera uses to set exposure- the area of the scene that is metered.

Only the very high-end DSLRs have optical viewfinders that feature this. Precise framing is virtually a necessity with macro photography but you might find you also want it for things like architectural subjects, scenics or whatever.

LCD Viewfinders: Some digital cameras come with at least an optical viewfinder--the kind you look through on traditional film cameras--as well as an LCD screen built into the back, which you can use as a viewfinder as well.

Personally I like to have an optical viewfinder as well as an LCD...I find it's easier to hold the camera steady using the optical viewfinder. I guess that's how they offer all this functionality at good prices.

Optical Storage See storage device Optical Viewfinder The window in which the photographer frames the subject and checks focus. Find out more.

However, since they lack the mirror mechanism, there is no optical viewfinder, though some models offer either built-in or optional electronic viewfinders (EVF).

Sony's sub-full-frame Alpha DSLR-A550 camera includes up to 7 fps shooting when using the optical viewfinder in Speed Priority Mode.

Because light doesn't reach the image sensor until you press the shutter, you can't use the camera's LCD as a viewfinder. Fortunately, most SLRs tend to have nice optical viewfinders that deliver good coverage, ...

Parallax - A focusing error introduced in a typical optical rangefinder at extremely close range; caused by the discrepancy between the optical viewfinder and the camera lens.

when the screen is removed, it is an aerial image. The image seen through a telescope optical viewfinder, etc. cannot be focused on a surface without the aid of another optical system and is a virtual image.

Another tip, especially with smaller cameras, is to hold your eye up to the optical viewfinder to capture the image, rather than the electronic viewfinder - this will not only help you see exactly what your capturing, ...

But what is the handling like, how does the image quality measure up, and just how is it working without an optical viewfinder? Watch the video to find out more and click the link on the right to read our full in-depth Sony NEX-5 review.

The new Digital Interchangeable Lens camera (DIL) substitutes the mirror with a high resolution display screen and the optical viewfinder with a high resolution electronic viewfinder.

5 inches measured diagonally and used to check images after they are shot. The LCD monitor can also be used to frame pictures before they are taken and is usually more accurate than the optical viewfinder, though not as convenient to use.

The most you see in the optical viewfinder is an autofocus indicator. There's a heavy crop factor too which is one reason to frame your subject with the LCD monitor on these models whenever practical.

Using this design means there is traditionally no way to have live image previews on the rear screen of the camera and have a working optical viewfinder at the same time, ...

SLR - Single-Lens Reflex Cameras that have a mirror that allows the optical viewfinder to look through the main lens. With some digital cameras this means that the LCD panel cannot be used for previewing.

See also: Viewfinder, Camera, Finder, Image, Light