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Post by dee on Oct 21, 2014 16:54:23 GMT -5
I have a Samsung NX 1000 and Panasonic G1, both bought for convenient size [ and very reasonable prices ] .
However, I am becoming increasingly disenchanted with screen/EVF focusing/composing.
Digging out the Pentax K10d due to the advent of a new manual 50mm f2 was a relief.
I also have a very budget Sony A290 which was bought simply to use my Minolta lenses before upgrading to the A35.
I actually prefer using it with the 35mm f1.8 Sony AF lens.
This may be a phase as the Samsung and Fulifilm XF1 compact 'notebook' are always in the car/shoulder bag, but a viewfinder screen free of artefacts sure is relaxing!
dee
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mickeyobe
Lifetime Member
Resident President
Posts: 7,280
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Post by mickeyobe on Oct 21, 2014 18:51:24 GMT -5
I have a Samsung NX 1000 and Panasonic G1, both bought for convenient size [ and very reasonable prices ] . However, I am becoming increasingly disenchanted with screen/EVF focusing/composing. Digging out the Pentax K10d due to the advent of a new manual 50mm f2 was a relief. I also have a very budget Sony A290 which was bought simply to use my Minolta lenses before upgrading to the A35. I actually prefer using it with the 35mm f1.8 Sony AF lens. This may be a phase as the Samsung and Fulifilm XF1 compact 'notebook' are always in the car/shoulder bag, but a viewfinder screen free or artefacts sure is relaxing! dee Dee, I agree with you 100%. When I finally decided to get a digital point and shoot to back up my Pentax K5 it took me months to find one with an optical viewfinder - a Canon PowerShot A1200. I do not like the tiny thing but it does have its uses and does do a credible job. Mickey |
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Dave
Lifetime Member
Posts: 124
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Post by Dave on Oct 23, 2014 21:39:34 GMT -5
While I have a little screen finder only back-up digital, I much prefer an optical viewfinder or, if I can't have that, an EVF. I prefer the optical for three reasons: I don't have to worry about not seeing the screen when the sun is behind me. Holding the camera with both hands against my face minimizes any shake. Optical viewfinders do not consume battery power. Dave
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Post by philbirch on Oct 24, 2014 2:39:26 GMT -5
I bought a Sony A6000 recently and that has an EVF, almost as good as an optical finder. I gave it the ultimate test a few weeks ago, shooting at an air show with a long lens. scarcely missing a shot. On my old NEX this was a big problem. I think with the camera to your face you can track and pinpoint fast moving objects with ease instead of waving it about in the air looking for your subject.
And of course its smaller than a DSLR, and with the tiny kit lens it doubles up as a compact.
I'm afraid my 'new' K10D has been consigned to the camera bag and I'm only keeping the Nikon D3200 because of the flexible video capabilities.
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Post by paulhofseth on Oct 24, 2014 14:42:12 GMT -5
This gets me off on a photo-technology rant.
About a decade ago, it was a question of whether to give up the darkroom and the slide projector. Reluctantly, yes. Chemistry, primarily developer, always got stale, possibly also the fix. Also, I never had time for developing and printing, and setting up for viewing was laborious.
For digital the question was, what would provide crop leeway and not more than FP4+Hyfin grain, and for colour, (relative) permanence, such as Kodachromes -although Agfachrome colours were more like the visual world.
I tried various digital solutions. They gave more leeway for errors. Digital also provided new opportunities for improving (and faking) selected aspects of images. In exchange we are all receiving sharply reduced archival permanence .
Yesterday I took some 150 year old family photos out of a frame where the glass had cracked and put them in with a new glass. Remember DOS, 5-inch floppy discs? Even the more recent varieties used today, formats as well as media, not to speak of "cloud companies" may be going out of business or not bothering about small customers in the years to come. They may even all become extinct the next 150years. How many Micro-andro-nux snaps will be physically and technologically readable in 2164 ?
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Back to the present; yes, rear screens get washed out by the sun, unless you always shoot against it. Also, holding the camera out to see the screen, is a recipe for wobbly snaps.
For catching the fleeting moment, the SLR view ,or the eyelevel electronic view, is preferable to the screen- view. With manual optics, the digital SLRs will only be suitable IF the groundglass is made for focussing and on FF cameras. Usually, even FFs, are made for AF optics, but on some cameras the screen can be replaced. Still not as good as the old Contax or Leicas.
Some available digital bodies have electronic viewing ancillaries that work better than optical viewers (Olympus) and some have it built in. Unfortunately Sonys FF e-view products use an ugly and volume-greedy SLR-like bump. Fuji has had the sense to incorporate it into their body, but their body is still not down to Olympus size.
Combination and disabling of currently fashionable abilities would be excellent.
Full-format type pixel count and dynamics. Fuji type eyelevel finder and physical, rather than faff-about menu-controls, as well as easy central frame-within frame focussing & enlargement (& spot metering invariant while reframing). Touch screen and wifi disablement option - to prevent involuntary operation and to save battery power.
As for archival permanence, I would like the option of saving say 40 frames for the next 150 years.
My conclusion so far, has been to use FF digital in the SLR form (with MF screen),rather than mirrorless for FF, since the system, including lenses, is huge and cumbersome anyway. For hiking and travelling, the mirrorless + Novoflex adapters must serve.
Archives: yet unsolved.
p.
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Post by dee on Oct 24, 2014 15:11:01 GMT -5
The Sony A35 with EVF at eye level was useless at the Air Show, too many artefacts/missed focus and blacking out.
In the past, I used the 4/3rds Leica Digilux 3 with 135mm f3.5 Rokkor [nom 270 with crop factor]at infinity which was so easy.
The K10d had been retired,but using the 50mm in manual, stopping down perfectly without the hassle of using old lenses on micro 4/3rds etc is just great for me.
I like architectural details, so the crop factor creating a nom 67mm on the Leica M8 and 75mm on the K10D suits me perfectly.
It's not which camera creates the best resolution I guess I am not a proper photographer, more about the comfort zone.
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Stan
Senior Member
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Post by Stan on Nov 2, 2014 10:04:50 GMT -5
About 6-8 months ago, I "retrograded" for pretty much the same reason. I had settled on a Panasonic GF-1 as a compact system camera for when I didn't want to carry my Nikon D300. After using it for several months, I was disappointed in that I only felt comfortable using it when I had the EVF on the camera, in which case it was functionally not much more compact than the D50 I had at the time. Maybe I'd have felt differently had I of had the Panasonic pancake lens with it, but all that is water under the bridge.
Ultimately, I sold it, and the D50 as well and bought a D40 for what the D50 sold for, then added some very compact manual focus lenses to go with it. I couldn't be happier with the difference! Now, my compact system not only functions like my main camera, but will take the same lenses as well.
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