What’s the difference between rangefinder, SLR, electronic, and LCD/TTL viewfinders?
Asked 1/14/2011
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2 answers
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I’m trying to understand the main differences between these viewfinder types:
- rangefinder
- single-lens reflex (SLR)
- electronic viewfinder (EVF)
- LCD / live view (TTL)
How do they differ in what you actually see when composing, and what are the main pros and limitations of each?
Originally by Teresa Skaggs. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Teresa Skaggs
15y ago
2 Answers
10
Rangefinder: The view you see is not 'Through The Lens', of the 4 view types this is the only one that isn't. You're looking at a estimated view of what the lens is seeing, it may or may not include guides/crops within the viewfinder to indicate different fields of view. One side benefit of this is there is no mirror between the lens and film to direct light to your eye so no mirror needs to flip up when you take a picture.
Single Lens Reflex: The view you see is 'Through The Lens', a mirror is placed between the lens and film to direct light to your eye for you to view, there may or may not be another mirror or prism to direct the light again (to your eye). The first mirror needs to flip up in order for the photograph to be taken. There will be slight differences between what you see and the sensor actually captures. Canon actually created a film SLR that used two prisms instead of any mirrors to speed up FPS by having no mirror slap, the EOS 1N RS, it got 10FPS.
Electronic Viewfinder: Provides a similar 'viewing style' as SLR but instead of using a mirror and prism to send the light from the lens to your eye a tiny LCD is place in the viewfinder and you're looking at exactly what the sensor is capturing.
LCD Viewfinder: I assume you mean an LCD on the back of the camera, this eschews the viewfinder all together and has a large LCD on the back of the camera that shows exactly what the sensor is seeing. You don't actually need to place your face to the camera.
Originally by user1819. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1819
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The main difference is whether you’re seeing directly through the lens or some other representation of the scene.
- Rangefinder: not through the lens. You look through a separate optical window, so framing is only approximate and can be offset from what the lens records. A benefit is no reflex mirror is needed.
- SLR / optical viewfinder: through the lens. A mirror and prism direct the lens image to your eye, so framing and focus alignment are much more accurate. Many SLRs show less than 100% of the final frame, and the mirror must flip up during exposure.
- Electronic viewfinder (EVF): also through the lens, but via the sensor and a small display in the viewfinder. This can show a more “what you see is what you get” preview, including exposure-related changes.
- LCD / live view (TTL): similar to EVF, except you compose on the rear screen instead of at the eye. It’s through the lens because the sensor is feeding the display.
In short: rangefinders are separate-view systems; SLRs are optical TTL systems; EVF and LCD live view are electronic TTL systems.
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