Goodbye Viewfinder…
There has been a trend in camcorder design lately to eliminate the traditional viewfinder in favor of the LCD panel (such as the Canon HFS-100). And in my opinion it’s good riddance.
I’m going to probably break with most of my professional camera op brethren here, but I’ve become a complete convert to operating the camcorder using the LCD screen. I rarely bother to squint into the viewfinder anymore and these are the reasons:
I wear glasses. I know that all viewfinders have a diopter control that will compensate for my less than stellar vision, but it’s annoying to have to raise my glasses up and down constantly to check both the camera and the real life set.
Having one eye closed all the time is annoying, and takes a while to re-compensate to the real world environment. When seconds count, being able to take your head out from behind the camera and being aware of your surroundings makes it much more likely you will be able to capture what’s about to happen, rather than what’s in frame right now.
The resolutions of viewfinder screens are generally awful. In the SD days, you could still focus reliably using the viewfinder. But with today’s HD resolutions you still have to use all the focusing tools such as peaking and image magnification in order to get an acceptable focus. So what’s the point? Why not use the much larger, and (more likely higher resolution) LCD panel?
I haven’t seen a really good viewfinder since they were mini tube tv’s anyway. Film cameras are totally different, looking through the viewfinder to a nice piece of ground glass, is amazingly sharp and detailed. Looking through a plastic tube into a tiny LCD panel is just disappointing.
I know that the biggest obstacle is shooting outdoors in bright light, and that the LCD panel gets washed out very easy on a bright day. But they are getting better in this regard, some cameras such as Sony’s EX-1 actually use the sunlight, and optically direct it behind the screen to increase brightness.
That’s still the only drawback I can find, and one that’s easily worked around simply by shading the screen with your hand in most cases.
So what about you, so you still find viewfinders useful?
April 21st, 2009 at 9:56 pm
I don’t know if I can completely agree, but since you said that we probably wouldn’t agree, that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.
As you said, the one place a viewfinder still has value is outdoors. And since most consumer grade camcorders use tiny, lesser-grade CCD (or CMOS) chips, about the only place you can safely use them without risking poor image quality is outdoors.
Plus, there are all the external benefits of a viewfinder. For starters, they give you a great excuse to ignore those who annoy the dickens out of you. I can’t tell you how many wedding receptions I’ve filmed where I spent half the evening with one eye up to the viewfinder and the other squeezed shut. The number of mostly-inebriated party goers who want to talk about “the time they did a video for their cousin’s wedding” and “Their top of the line Handycam” drops by about 90% with this method. The only reason it’s not 100% is because there’s always that one guy who insists on talking to you even though you pretend he’s not there. Of course, he was seen talking to his water glass earlier, so he doesn’t really count I suppose.
If you’re especially narcissistic, viewfinders can also make you look really good. Walking around with that camera mounted on your shoulder mount with the eyepiece digging into your skull, you just feel more important. An LCD screen is fine and all, but you want to run with the cool kids, and the cool kids use the viewfinder.
I know there are a bunch more reasons to love that little lo-res box, but the ultimate reason why I don’t want to see them go is because if the viewfinder goes, what’s next? Most consumer grade (and even a few prosumer grade) no longer include a mic jack on camcorders, something that was virtually as mandatory as a viewfinder 10 years ago. If we stand by idly and do nothing, it’s only a matter of time until Sony tries to sell an empty plastic box with a hole cut in the front as their “basic” camcorder. (the hole is removed in the following year’s model).
Keep videographers looking cool, and prevent cameras from becoming empty plastic boxes. Ask for that eyepiece.
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:22 am
I appreciate your thoughts and experience. I also prefer the LCD display for indoors, fixed, tripod work when the subject is relatively still. However, for action work, especially outdoors, I must have a viewfinder for the following reasons. I shoot with both eyes open when using the viewfinder, so that I can see the wide field around the camera’s restricted view, allowing me to keep track of off-screen action and details. Focusing both eyes closeup on an LCD display precludes this simultaneous larger field observation, and switching my eye focus from the LCD to the distant action and back to the LCD is a relatively slow process resulting in bad tracking of the action with the camera. And bright sunlight does prevent adequate viewiing of any uncovered display. I just tried shooting at the beach with my new Sony HDR-XR520V, and could not see anything on the display, but could see adequately through the viewfinder with one hand cupped over my eyebrow. I also wear glasses or contacts and can use the viewfinder with either, although there is a problem with sunlight leakage aroung my glasses with the standard, small camera viewfinder cup. I just ordered an “i-cup”, hopefully to eliminate this problem. I would not purchase a camera without a viewfinder.
Bill Hays
Video Odyssey
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:47 am
You guys bring up interesting points. And certainly the flip-out LCD is not perfect for all situations. But if we dissect the purpose of the viewfinder, which is to compose the shot, provide feedback from the camera controls, and view the video itself, I think we find it lacking compared to the LCD screen.
From top to bottom here’s where I think does the best job:
1. External Monitor (Can’t beat a full size external monitor on set, but not practical for a lot of locations, and power requirements)
2. Field Monitor (lower resolution, but battery powered. This includes Laptop screens too)
3. Built in LCD panel
4. Viewfinder
So I wonder if arguing between viewfinder and LCD panel isn’t a bit like arguing between a rotten apple and a less rotten apple? Maybe we should be arguing about what would make the ultimate “viewfinder”?