Save the OVF!!!
New mirrorless systems are driving the rapid demise of optical viewfinders. But this goes against the very essence of photography. A movement is born in defense of the optical viewfinder. And I ask you to participate.
The electronic viewfinders count already with a lot of estimators. In particular these photographers argue that with an EVF:
You see the actual final image including depth of field, noise, etc, and besides a lot of information on the screen…
So, why in 2023 we should defend the optical viewfinders?
I expressed my ideas this way:
If one really works with photography, one knows that EVF can only give terrible headaches. And that effectively extinguishes all the enthusiasm that many pour into most of the mirrorless on the market.
I have rediscovered the pleasure of photographing with reflex cameras for this very reason: I work with optical viewfinders, which is a whole other story, just for how you experience photography.
Having said that I have a mirrorless camera but without a viewfinder and therefore I photograph framing only with my eyes, knowing my lens well, if I have to frame through a viewfinder I still prefer to do it with an optical viewfinder. And therefore for me either reflex cameras, now considered outdated by most or cameras with Galilean viewfinder, even possibly mounted on.
Already this plasticky, fake world almost requires us to always stay attached to the LCD screens of telephones, tablets, TVs, computers, so that at least when I do what I really like I can feel really comfortable.
Please note, this is not a defense of DSLRs respect to mirrorless cameras. I have extensively demonstrated that I can work with mirrorless and not with DSLRs. in all these years apart from the last two I have used exclusively mirrorless and point & shoot. I'm not intimidated by the decision by camera manufacturers to discontinue DSLRs.
I'm just saying that the optical viewfinder cancellation is wrong. The EVF technology has been advancing at lightning speed over the last few years and now we can't even talk about delay anymore compared to the real moment, but the headache problem remains if you work continuously framing from an electronic viewfinder. And dear camera manufacturers, to make mirrorless with optical viewfinder is possible. The Leica M users show that optical viewfinders are still a thing. And we know is possible even to make hybrid viewfinders so you can turn off the EVF and switching to optical vision. Clearly an optical viewfinder will have field vision of a specific focal distance. This is why a DSLR always will show what the lens sees, but consider it at least for rangefinder style cameras.
I say this especially to Canon, Nikon and Sony, the brands that really are capable to move the market: don't forget the importance of taking pictures with an optical viewfinder. Despite advancing technology we know that in the face of physical reality nothing can be done. So it is for the lenses and so is for the optical system. Technology is good only when we are intelligent to understand its limits. Because there are limits and always will be. At least in this planet, in this dimension, as we know it.
A demonstration of my speech is that, despite all the technological advances, photography always remains the same: in the combination chosen to have well exposed photos, in the way we see and photograph. The human factor now and always will play the most important role. And I tell you this at a time when many are entangled with artificial intelligence.
In this sense I respect a lot Leica because they still have an idea of humanity within the photographic world. Robots are fashionable today, but man cannot be erased. And not even made a hybrid. Despite some monsters out of here say the opposite.
OPTIOCAL VIEWFINDER IS A PLEASURE.
True photography has never won with icy precision, but rather drinks from the wellspring of imperfection, and the best photos are always teetering on failure. The parallax error is part of the game. At least for some genres. For street photography especially. This is the reason why the new M6 has been enthusiastically received by so many photographers. And many street photographers still prefer to photograph with film cameras where there is not AF, there is an optical viewfinder and…what? Are you a portrait photographer and you need accuracy and parallax error is the last thing you want to find yourself fighting with? OK, you are right. This is why I support the idea of hybrd viewfinders. Clearly if you really can't help but suppress DSLRs. Because I believe that there is still more than a reason to stay with reflex cameras. But this is me. And I know that there are many photographers like me that still enjoy to photograph with DSLRs. But we can’t change the world.
We can just try to keep the OVF. And this is why I decided to share this initiative here. Please let’s make it viral: #SavetheOVF is the hashtag to use.
