Viewfinder vs Liveview


qystan

Senior Member
Jul 8, 2010
503
2
18
A personal observation. It's not a final judgement on what's right or best. In the end it's all down to personal preference.

I find taking pictures thru the viewfinder yield better pics. Especially in composition

Wasn't quite able to figure put why for a while but I think its because of a few factors:

1. The VF focuses your entire view on the pic to be taken, means less distractions.
2. I have a natural tendency to adjust the camera height, less so in LV.
3. The overlaid data in LV blocks some of the pic and being at the periphery tends to hold clutter. Also, in LV the mind sets the perimeter at the inside edge of the data overlay.
4. My mixed myopia n longsight prevents good confirmation of focus using the LV screen. VF diopter adjustment allows for this.

Of course these can be overcome with higher awareness of the issues but VF seems to make it easier

Again, just my thoughts.
 

personally prefer viewfinder myself.
live view seems to have a slower focus.

only use liveview when I really, really need to.
 

If you use liveview handheld with a DSLR, you will see that liveview would not be that good of an idea. However, liveview is extremely useful on tripod for scenes where the OVF I'd way above your eye level.
 

A personal observation. It's not a final judgement on what's right or best. In the end it's all down to personal preference.

I find taking pictures thru the viewfinder yield better pics. Especially in composition

Wasn't quite able to figure put why for a while but I think its because of a few factors:

1. The VF focuses your entire view on the pic to be taken, means less distractions.
2. I have a natural tendency to adjust the camera height, less so in LV.
3. The overlaid data in LV blocks some of the pic and being at the periphery tends to hold clutter. Also, in LV the mind sets the perimeter at the inside edge of the data overlay.
4. My mixed myopia n longsight prevents good confirmation of focus using the LV screen. VF diopter adjustment allows for this.

Of course these can be overcome with higher awareness of the issues but VF seems to make it easier

Again, just my thoughts.

Everybody got their preferences. No one really cares whether you use VF or LV, at the end of the day, even the EXIF doesn't say what you use.

It's like getting from point A to B, people don't care if you take bus, bicycle, or walk, as long as you got there. Whatever you use, does it really matter?

That said,quite a lot of your given reasons why you prefer VF, to me, that isn't linked to VF or LV, more of a psychological thing. If you force yourself to care about composition, doesn't matter if you use LV or VF. Simple as that.
 

Like you said, it's a personal thing. My own observations are almost exactly opposite from yours.
Yes, I use the OVF for most things, mostly because I shoot people and animals, and EVF/Liveview is laggy (but improving!), but....

1. I find with the OVF I look at the subject and ignore the periphery, which means I could miss a branch intruding into the frame or something like that. It takes a conscious effort to check. Composing on a good Liveview screen is almost like using the groundglass screens on MF cameras -- I see the image as a flat photo, and find it more natural to look around, examine the composition etc.
For shoots where I have the camera on a tripod and can take my time to adjust things, LV is great.

2. With a swivelling LV screen, I would find it easier to change camera height -- hold it above my head, close to the ground (without having to lie down!)

3. You should be able to hide all the overlaid data. All the cameras I have tried (DSLRs and compacts) have been able to do this.

4. I guess focusing might be an issue if you are using MF (though most LV modes allow MF with an enlarged section of the image for accuracy). Not much of an issue with AF (though except for Sony, LV focusing is SLOWWWW)
 

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Manual focusing live view increasingly for me when lightings are bad. Works fabulous focusing stars.

Again personal opinion, but it has certainly make much of my way of shooting easier.

Ryan
 

Both are used for under different scenarios. Most of the time I will use viewfinder as this is closest to what your eyes and lens see. However the output of the image depends on what your camera sensor 'see', so sometimes if I am unsure whether the white balance, or exposure is correct I will use live view to double check. Also shooting buildings, I might want to align the vertical lines, using live view is easier for me.

Finally live view is good for manual focusing and when thin dof pictures you want to check if your focus is bang on spot. Not forgetting, live view is important for videography.
 

I use LV when I can't reach to view through my VF....
 

Personally, I would prefer using VF when handheld. LV suck more battery compared to using VF.
 

Im 100% LV shooter, its very comfortable, AF is very fast....
 

I still prefer View Finder!
 

VF for me :)
 

Ovf for me. Personal preference. Cant imagine a using beercan with lv. I'm small sized, so weight matters. Would use lv for awkward angles and labdscape though. Makes life much easier.
 

Basically I use both the VF and liveview... not limiting myself to just 1 choice
 

i use both.

but when i am doing landscape related shoot at night, i tends to use liveview to do focusing cos my eyesight not that sharp in the night :p
 

Both have different purpose. It all depends on the situation. Live view was built to help the user take the shot where view finder would have limitations using such as angle of the shot or just an added convenience for u.

I use live view sometimes for quick group shots, land scapes/macro and difficult angles.