Jump to content

Optical viewers


albert

Recommended Posts

Albert,

 

One of the useful new features of the D-Lux 5 is that you can step the zoom so that you know what focal length (in 35 mm format) the lens is set at. You can choose from 24, 28, 35, 50, 70 and 90 mm so it would make sense to find an external viewfinder that also has some or all of these focal lengths, although it's likely that 70 mm will be hard to find.

 

Pete.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I agree 100%, Jan. The Electronic Viewfinder is very good due to the following reasons:

 

_you get a "normal camera" with that

_you see exactly what the sensor see (and the monitor shows)

_holding camera near to you with EVF, pics get more sharp then on "long arm holding"

_Camera is more discret e.g. during concert or so: the monitor is very bright!

_to set the EVF to different angles up to 90 degrees, one can take pics very discret, e.g. on street photography

_when taking photos with the EVF less people recognise you, then if one stand as everyone with compact cam: holding it 40 cm from your eye

 

these reasons are worth the money for the EVF (for me).

 

The disadvantage of an EVF is

 

_resolution is not so high, nothing to compare with an optical VF

_sharpnes control has to be done with monitor (but camera recognise when press playback button, it switch to monitor)

 

just try it out, I love it ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites

I bought one after much deliberation - it's really not cheap - but it makes such a difference in the way you use the camera and also in terms of control. You can see what you need to change very easily, but just as easily you can clear the screen and just shoot. It really turns the camera from a simple PAS to something more sophisticated.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Has anyone compared Panasonic's DMW-VF1 optical VF with its DMW-LVF1 live view digital VF for the LX5?

Thanks,

RIch

 

The latter is electronic and shows "WYSIWYG" exactly the same you see on the camera monitor, also when you zoom in, and all teh information you may choose when pressing "display" on the camera.

 

The VF-1 is "only" optical and offers a natural sight at a specific sight angle. Useful when you take pictures with the camera in wide angle position. Not to use when youn zoom in (then you have to use the monitor to check the picture frame -or you need much experience :) When you look at the price, you get IMHO more benefit from the electronic viefinder.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Many thanks, Thomas. Think I will start out with my Zeiss 21mm optical VF and see how that goes before buying a Panasonic dedicated VF. Based on your post, the electronic version likely makes more sense.

Rich

Link to post
Share on other sites

Many thanks, Thomas. Think I will start out with my Zeiss 21mm optical VF and see how that goes before buying a Panasonic dedicated VF. Based on your post, the electronic version likely makes more sense.

Rich

Rich,

 

That sounds to me like a good plan for wide angle because, as I feel sure you already know, the Zeiss external viewfinders are arguably the best there are. But that's not going to help you at mid-range or telephoto because it'll be tricky to estimate what's in the photo and at the 90 mm end, even if you've accurately estimated the 90 mm 'frame', then it'll be very small in your 21 mm viewfinder.:o

 

I use the EVF and I find it okay for zooming, framing, checking AF, and other camera settings although some users feel it's a little grainy. I haven't noticed the graininess although I don't find manual focus easy with the DL5 (or the DL4) either with the EVF or on screen.

 

Pete.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't find manual focus easy with the DL5 (or the DL4) either with the EVF or on screen.

 

Pete.

 

Yes, Pete. Always it is not so easy with compact cameras, and D-Lux 5 is same like the others in that case. But the AF is really reliable. I only use the MF for some special situations where the AF strikes and cannot find the right focus. So one can mostly trust on the AF - also when using optical VF.

Link to post
Share on other sites

It is really nice, i just got one (for something like 150 euros), to use it with my digilux 2. Unfortunately, it is not so easy to use if you ware glasses.

 

Reg

 

A Nikon Variframe viewfinder (35/50/85/135 mm) (look for the yellow highlighted words towards the bottom of the page) would probably work fairly well if you could find one cheaply enough but they tend to be rare and go for £300 to £500.:o

 

Pete.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...