OVF&EVF Vs BackScreen - which better for you?

[Dylan777]

Good to hear from you again John.

Have you try the Batis lenses yet? Be careful

Had to take a break for a while because things got rather uninteresting around these parts. Finally saw a decent topic today in the right pane

Haven't tried the Batis lenses yet. Started with metabones IV and the native 28/2. Sold my Pentax K5IIs rig and the 6D today which subsequently prompted an overnight shipping order for the FE 35/1.4 which will be here tomorrow.

Probably going to stay away from the Batis lenses unless they put out faster stuff. I'm inclined to not pay those prices for slower lenses regardless of how good the optics are. You know me, whore for speed. lol.

hehe...

FE35/f1.4 be prepare to fall in love. I took about 100ish shots with my a7s from rental. Haven't try with a7r II yet.

Do me a favor...DO NOT post your FE35/1.4 with A7r II photos to this thread. I might end up with one 8)

 

[old-pr-pix]

Unscientific, but I'd guess 40% with EVF, 40% with OVF and 20% rear screen. EVF works great in low light - not night vision, but better than a dim OVF. EVF on my OMD E-M5II is very responsive, min. lag and effects of EC etc. are immediately obvious. OVF on Canon is good for most everything except real low light. OVF saves battery power when shot requires a lot of waiting for just the right moment. Rear screen gets used only for magnified manual focus, when the tilty-flippy screen is used, sometimes with camera tripod mounted, and for selfie (really rare for me!), etc.

I always set viewfinder and rear screen to show grid lines at rule of thirds spacing. Same for OVF if gridded screen is available. I find the grid lines really help with composition and level horizons/vertical buildings.

Current generation of EVF's are really very good. I'm lucky enough to have both EVF & OVF cameras. The only thing I won't depend on the EVF for is a set-up and wait type shot where it might drain the battery too much.

 

[Aglet]

Just want to see what methods do you prefer when framing your photos. Do you prefer to frame your photos through OVF/EVF or back screen. Why?

I came from P&S, therefore, framing the shots through back screen is better for me. I recently look through my photos. Most of mirrorless photos seem to have better framing than my 5d and 1Dx.

Am I the odd one here ;D

+1
I've framed better using rear display or EVF than OVF.
Better coverage, no misalignment issues, obviously composing more slowly than when using OVF.

 

[PhotographyFirst]

I think that if you are asking shooters that haven't had a whole lot of experience with current mirrorless offerings, you will generally get people saying they hardly ever use the LCD for this. But if you ask people on the Fuji or Sony forums, I think you'll get much different answers.

I personally believe it depends on your subject, style of shooting, and scenario. I never used it with any of DSLRs as it is sluggish and basically useless for anything other than very static and controlled environment type work.

For my shooting (mostly my kids, family, friends, etc), the rear tilting LCD is priceless and gets used for at least 50% if not more of my shooting these days. The responsiveness and utility of being able to shoot from lower angles and tilting the screen is awesome on the Fuji xt1 and the A7R2 I picked up recently.

+1 on those articulating screens! I love being able to hold the camera right at my waist on the tripod and look down to use the camera while holding an umbrella over my head to keep the moisture away. Having to bend down and look behind at the LCD or through the viewfinder means my ass is getting wet because the umbrella is too far forward. It also helps when shooting into the Sun for prolonged periods of time, as you can look down and not be blinded by the Sun.

 

[JohnDizzo15]

Good to hear from you again John.

Have you try the Batis lenses yet? Be careful

Had to take a break for a while because things got rather uninteresting around these parts. Finally saw a decent topic today in the right pane

Haven't tried the Batis lenses yet. Started with metabones IV and the native 28/2. Sold my Pentax K5IIs rig and the 6D today which subsequently prompted an overnight shipping order for the FE 35/1.4 which will be here tomorrow.

Probably going to stay away from the Batis lenses unless they put out faster stuff. I'm inclined to not pay those prices for slower lenses regardless of how good the optics are. You know me, whore for speed. lol.

hehe...

FE35/f1.4 be prepare to fall in love. I took about 100ish shots with my a7s from rental. Haven't try with a7r II yet.

Do me a favor...DO NOT post your FE35/1.4 with A7r II photos to this thread. I might end up with one 8)

It's here! Lol.

 

[eml58]

It's an interesting question, as are the answers.

And in my own situation it does depend on what I'm doing.

Wildlife is definitely all OVF

Since I dabbled with the Sony a7r I've had a liking for the EVF, not in particular the one on the a7r, so I recently purchased the Zacuto Gratical HD EVF system, and I'm exceptionally impressed at just how good this piece of gear is, I've yet to try it on a Cheetah at 80KPH, but everything else it does wonderfully well. It is of course an extra piece of gear, but at present the trade offs seem to work for me.

Night time shooting I tend to lean on the LCD screen.

 

[Dylan777]

Good to hear from you again John.

Have you try the Batis lenses yet? Be careful

Had to take a break for a while because things got rather uninteresting around these parts. Finally saw a decent topic today in the right pane

Haven't tried the Batis lenses yet. Started with metabones IV and the native 28/2. Sold my Pentax K5IIs rig and the 6D today which subsequently prompted an overnight shipping order for the FE 35/1.4 which will be here tomorrow.

Probably going to stay away from the Batis lenses unless they put out faster stuff. I'm inclined to not pay those prices for slower lenses regardless of how good the optics are. You know me, whore for speed. lol.

hehe...

FE35/f1.4 be prepare to fall in love. I took about 100ish shots with my a7s from rental. Haven't try with a7r II yet.

Do me a favor...DO NOT post your FE35/1.4 with A7r II photos to this thread. I might end up with one 8)

It's here! Lol.

Congrats John....it's a beautiful lens.

 

[benperrin]

EVF for portrait and landscape. It's fun trying out different white balances/b&w effects in camera to quickly make a creative decision. It also reduces the need for test shots mostly. Having some sort of tilt available on the back screen is also a big advantage. For all other things though I still prefer an OVF. Something like the 5ds with the digital level is really helpful.

 

[sdsr]

For me, as near 100% viewfinder as makes no difference. Perhaps because I grew up with film cameras I can't stand using anything other than a viewfinder: it makes the whole experience of making a photo more immediate, and I find it far easier to concentrate on what I'm doing - focusing, framing, etc. (I can't imagine focusing manually - my preference - by looking at a piddly little image on the back of a camera held away from my face, or AF in tricky conditions). And I prefer an EVF to an OVF because it's so much easier to tell if the exposure and focus are right - it's nice to be able to check exposure, focus peaking and magnification, and the results, with the image against your eye where the image is so much bigger. The extra stability provided by holding a camera against your face doesn't hurt either. (Plus, it's much more discreet taking photos that way - it's pretty obvious when you're taking a photo with arms extended, and you don't look anywhere near as silly.) For these reasons I won't buy a camera that lacks a viewfinder, and will only use my iphone to take a photo in an emergency.

 

[TeT]

Viewfinder... seems more natural.

 

[MrFotoFool]

Optical viewfinder all the way. It drives me nuts that point and shoot cameras mostly do not have viewfinders (not that many people use point and shoot cameras these days).

I have the original EOS M with 22 pancake only because it was on sale a while ago for $250 and I wanted the better quality of APS C sensor for my pocket camera. But the lack of viewfinder is really annoying and if I could get the money I would replace it with Fuji X100S (APS C with built in viewfinder).

 

[pwp]

Backscreen is a useful tool, but just know when to lift the camera up to your face. It's like keeping both hands on the steering wheel when the pressure is on and things start moving very quickly or unpredictably. That speed can be right in your face (so to speak) or tantalizingly subtle. It's usually too fast for conscious thought. It's also true that sometimes using the backscreen can be useful to keep in open communication with your subject. Some photographers will unconsciously hide behind their camera with OVF or EVF. The way I see it there are no rights or wrongs. Just good choices.

Try matching successfully nailing that completely intuitive peak moment that just shimmers past you in a heartbeat with an OVF and to some degree an EVF vs a backscreen. Try hand-holding at 1/15 sec or slower without the camera steadied against your face, that physically vital third point of contact. It's plain smart to engage as many attributes available to you as possible to get the shot and come home with as high a percentage of keepers as you can.

OVF & EVF vs BackScreen? I like and use them all.

-pw

 

[Dylan777]

Backscreen is a useful tool, but just know when to lift the camera up to your face. It's like keeping both hands on the steering wheel when the pressure is on and things start moving very quickly or unpredictably. That speed can be right in your face (so to speak) or tantalizingly subtle. It's usually too fast for conscious thought. It's also true that sometimes using the backscreen can be useful to keep in open communication with your subject. Some photographers will unconsciously hide behind their camera with OVF or EVF. The way I see it there are no rights or wrongs. Just good choices.

Try matching successfully nailing that completely intuitive peak moment that just shimmers past you in a heartbeat with an OVF and to some degree an EVF vs a backscreen. Try hand-holding at 1/15 sec or slower without the camera steadied against your face, that physically vital third point of contact. It's plain smart to engage as many attributes available to you as possible to get the shot and come home with as high a percentage of keepers as you can.

OVF & EVF vs BackScreen? I like and use them all.

-pw

We burned the 1st log this morning to welcome the up coming winter. Without the back/swivel screen, I would be on the ground to frame the shot.

A7r II + Batis FE25

 

[pwp]

OVF & EVF vs BackScreen? I like and use them all.

-pw

We burned the 1st log this morning to welcome the up coming winter. Without the back/swivel screen, I would be on the ground to frame the shot.

A7r II + Batis FE25

That's a nice cosy shot! Yes, the capacity for ground level shooting is definitely a top attribute of an articulated backscreen. Lucky you with the Batis FE25!

-pw

 

[JohnDizzo15]

Congrats John....it's a beautiful lens.

Sooooo.... the 35 was shipped back. lol. Just shockingly inconsistent for the price tag. So instead, recently reacquired the 50L, 50 Art and 85L2 so I could have fast glass for the Sony for the time-being.

Nice shot with the Batis btw.

Here's a couple of my tilting screen shots.