Which viewfinder you prefer?

I am also an EVF convert. The V1 I find top notch. I am very happy with it.. Sorry. Them. I now have @ V1's
One for the 10mm & one for the 18.5. Given the chance one for the 32 :eek:

When you say the V1 EVF is top notch, what are you comparing it to... I havent ever been able to actually look through a V1 viewfinder, simply because the stores where I have looked at them have not had batteries in the camera and have not been willing to charge one up for me to see it (hence, lost sale)... it always just looked too small, no better than, for example, my panasonic FZ100. If its that good, I probably will get one... not that I have had issues with the LCD screen of the J1... it doesnt seem as reflective as some.
 
When you say the V1 EVF is top notch, what are you comparing it to... I havent ever been able to actually look through a V1 viewfinder, simply because the stores where I have looked at them have not had batteries in the camera and have not been willing to charge one up for me to see it (hence, lost sale)... it always just looked too small, no better than, for example, my panasonic FZ100. If its that good, I probably will get one... not that I have had issues with the LCD screen of the J1... it doesnt seem as reflective as some.

Sue - the V1 viewfinder is an entirely different and better experience than the J1. Having both, it's a big change. Granted, compared to the really nice EVF like the Fuji XE-1 (I got some time behind one courtesy of my mentor), it's not going to be that whiz-bang. But for me, I'm used to OVFs on D300 and D2 series cameras. The EVF on the V1 works well, the refresh rate is competent (important for moving subject shots where you might pan or track) and I can manipulate the controls with my eye to the VF and see the realtime changes like Exposure Compensation.
 
...there's something natural about looking through glass, instead of an up-close image.

But W T, you are looking at an "up close" image. The image is projected onto ground glass which you then peer at through the eyepiece and prism. It is a common misconception among many that you are looking right through the lens but you are in fact not.

Were it not so, you would have a devil of a time manual focusing as your eye "corrected" the focus of a direct view imaging system. The ground glass is necessary in the reflex system to provide a fixed point at which the eye looks so that your lens in your eye doesn't enter into the "optical system" that is being focused.

So both systems (OVF and EVF) are indirect viewing systems: one by electronic relay, the other by projection. Only the rangefinder systems are a direct optical view and focusing is handled a different way. On a non-EVF rangefinder though, there is no way to see DOF.
 
Sue - the V1 viewfinder is an entirely different and better experience than the J1. Having both, it's a big change. Granted, compared to the really nice EVF like the Fuji XE-1 (I got some time behind one courtesy of my mentor), it's not going to be that whiz-bang. But for me, I'm used to OVFs on D300 and D2 series cameras. The EVF on the V1 works well, the refresh rate is competent (important for moving subject shots where you might pan or track) and I can manipulate the controls with my eye to the VF and see the realtime changes like Exposure Compensation.

About 20 minutes after I posted that, I decided to go find one, and look. I was lucky, the place where I bought the J1 had one *and* it had a battery in it, charged. I Love the viewfinder. The camera itself felt a lot heavier than the J1 though. I could get a V1 today, OR I can get some lenses from B&H. I think, for now, I am taking the second path. it was tempting though, $100 off an already seriously reduced price. The thing is, I didnt need another 10-30, couldnt just get the body, and I didnt much like the white shiny...
 
To the question, my order of preference is:

Rangefinder (my M2 is close to perfection)
SLR (good and bright like my FM3a)
OVF (the Olympus XA2 for instance)
EVF (XE-1)
Rear screen (the Ricoh GR is as good as it gets)
Ground glass (Rolleiflex)
Wireframe/sportsfinder (too inaccurate)
Hybrid (just doesn't work for me)

Sent from another Galaxy
 
About 20 minutes after I posted that, I decided to go find one, and look. I was lucky, the place where I bought the J1 had one *and* it had a battery in it, charged. I Love the viewfinder. The camera itself felt a lot heavier than the J1 though. I could get a V1 today, OR I can get some lenses from B&H. I think, for now, I am taking the second path. it was tempting though, $100 off an already seriously reduced price. The thing is, I didnt need another 10-30, couldnt just get the body, and I didnt much like the white shiny...

Consider getting the refurbished V1 body-only kit from Cameta Camera. They're an authorized reseller and are a stone's throw away from Nikon USA HQ in Melville NY. They seem to have unusually large access to Nikon refurb kits. That's how I got mine, plus a 30-110 in white, so I feel your pain. But the V1 kit is in black, so good news. :D
 
Composing in a Rolleiflex or in a good rear electronic screen have a few things in common. Although the electronic screen has no image inversion, and so makes it much easier to follow moving subjects, both give you a good view of the composition - and, in my case, force me to keep putting on and taking off my reading glasses. But the electronic screen can be hard to view in strong sunlight, which is common here in Portugal.
SLR viewfinders can go from a so-so tunnel to a magnificent screen - you have to move up & expend more if you want the real good ones. Non-reflex optical viewfinders are often small and imprecise, again you must move up to get the better ones. Moving up here can be really expensive.
Electronic viewfinders used to be a lesser nuisance - at least I could roughly compose under the sun - but they have been getting better and better.
As far as digital compacts are concerned, my choice goes for the combination of a (preferibly) foldable rear screen + an electronic viewfinder.
 
Consider getting the refurbished V1 body-only kit from Cameta Camera. They're an authorized reseller and are a stone's throw away from Nikon USA HQ in Melville NY. They seem to have unusually large access to Nikon refurb kits. That's how I got mine, plus a 30-110 in white, so I feel your pain. But the V1 kit is in black, so good news. :D

Sounds perfect, thank you!. Looking now (btw, I was considering the V2 at greater expense but I see its not *that* much cheaper than an OM-D... so the V1 is the go. I like 10Mp anyway, always have).

[edit] OOPS, did it! *and* ordered a refurb 30-110 as well and dont care that its a colour mismatch. White goes with black well enough :)
 
LCD is preferred. I liked the OVF accessory on the DP1 which had a terrible rear LCD, but the newest DPs have good screens. No one pays attention to the person with a small camera composing with the rear LCD. I do have a clearviewer when I want to manual focus.
 
Optical, definitely -- of the OM-1 variety, which was quite bright. Or rangefinder viewfinders, which I love.

But I like my E-M5 with its EVF, which is quite good. And as along as I have some sort of eye-level viewfinder, I'm relatively happy. I even got the 45 degree eye level prism for my Hasselblad.
 
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