Just like the live view mode on DSLRs but on a much smaller scale, the electronic viewfinder shows you a live preview of your image the way it is. Electronic viewfinders (EVFs) are found on mirrorless cameras the way optical viewfinders (OVFs) are found on SLRs and DSLRs. Optical Viewfinders work when light passes through the lens, hits the mirror in front of your camera sensor and goes into a prism above before hitting your eyes- meaning what you see is how the light is interacting with your frame/subject but in the case of EVFs, light passes through the lens, hits the sensor directly and is digitally processed before reaching the viewfinder so you see the image as the camera sensor sees it. This way, if your image is underexposed in the viewfinder, it’ll be underexposed if you click the shutter.
The great thing about EVFs is they eliminate that small bit of time where the photographer using a DSLR has to check his screen to know whether his frame is properly exposed or not. Right off the back, you know what your image will look like but the problem is since this is digital, it comes with all the problems associated with electronics. You need a fast refresh rate as you scroll through various settings and lens focal length and if your EVF doesn’t have a fast refresh rate, you have to wait for the EVF to adjust to catch up with what the camera sensor is now seeing which means you could miss out on various shots.
Over time, since the advancement in mirrorless technology, the EVF has gotten much better than the optical viewfinders found on DSLRs. Here are some advantages of having a camera that sports an EVF:
- Histogram display; Since the image you see in the viewfinder is recorded on the imaging sensor, the camera can use that data to show a histogram of the brightness levels in the photo. This is very important to help properly expose a photo in a difficult lighting situation.
- Live display of how the photo will be rendered. One problem with cameras is that they don’t have the dynamic range to show all of the brightest parts in the photo and the darkest shadow detail. Since you can see right in the EVF how the brights and darks are captured, you can plan your camera settings accordingly.
- Focus distance display: Handy to have when calculating the proper aperture for a landscape image.
- The image is much brighter in dim environments. Since you have the benefit of directly using the exposure triangle and getting an immediate response, you can see in much dimmer environments where a DSLR user would have a problem seeing anything.
- EVFs are great for close up focus peeking and focus assist zoom
- After you take a photo, you see the preview right in the viewfinder without needing to take your face off the viewfinder and look at the LCD, and then go back to the viewfinder for another shot
But the green isn’t always green all year round, there’s some disadvantage to using EVF systems too like:
- Drains battery much more quickly. Since you’re powering a monitor, albeit a tiny one, the power has a tendency to go down more quickly. Easy solution–buy more batteries!
- Lag due to slow refresh rates.
- Brightness; Looking into a little monitor can sometimes take a second for your eyes to adjust to if it’s bright outside
- If there’s a problem (Just like there was a couple years back with Fujifilm’s X100 EVFs), it renders your camera almost completely useless.
Here’s a video by Jared Polin of FroKnowsPhoto that further discusses the differences between OVFs and EVFs.
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This article was written by Adekunle Ibukunoluwa. He is a contributor to the BOPNetworks Community, a Poet and Intern Photographer with SORB Pictures. Follow him on Instagram here.
