I needed to take a few quick shots of something at the weekend and my old Nikon D800 was closest to hand, so I fired it up, looked through the optical viewfinder and instantly felt at home. I realize I’m probably going to be in the minority here, but I really do prefer optical finders to electronic viewfinders (EVFs).
Maybe it’s because I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about being present, having recently stood behind an Oasis fan, at the much-hyped reunion tour, who proceeded to film the entirety of the two-hour set on their phone. Even going so far as to plug the darn thing into a power bank halfway through. They might as well have watched it on YouTube and saved themselves from Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing.
My point is, I already spend 85% of my life staring from one screen to another. Getting out and taking photos has always provided a much-needed respite from this digital world. So, try as I might, I simply cannot get totally comfortable sticking my eye millimeters from yet another screen.
Call me old-fashioned, but photography is all about light. I simply don’t feel as present when my retinas are being fed digitally-manufactured light from a series of minuscule LEDs, as when I’m witnessing the actual light rays I’m capturing, flooding directly into the viewfinder.
Encasing my eye in an EVF can feel like a very lonely place to be. How can that not sever some of the connection between photographer and subject? I actually find myself taking pictures through the rear LCD screen of my camera nowadays, much like a phone. And before anybody accuses me of hypocrisy, it’s partly so I can look up in a split second or connect with the scene I’m shooting through my peripheral.
Don’t get me wrong. I understand why the industry has shifted to EVFs; the mirrorless camera really is a technical marvel and, clearly, I don’t hate electronic viewfinders enough to stick exclusively with my old DSLR. But I can’t help how comfortable an old optical viewfinder feels. There’s a reason why the Fujifilm X100VI has a hybrid viewfinder, and that’s because some people do prefer using an OVF.
And while I absolutely agree that EVFs make learning the exposure triangle easier for beginner photographers, I had become so used to my D800’s built-in light meter that I knew its foibles and could work around it quite happily. Besides, EVFs aren’t a perfect replication of the image you’re shooting.
Ultimately, I know very few people are going to agree with me on this one, and that’s okay. But maybe we can both agree that an EVF is a physical barrier placed between your eye and the subject. I think that matters.
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Want to experience the joy of an optical viewfinder? Take a look at the best DSLRs. I think the decade-old Nikon D800 is still a beast. Despite its EVF, I reckon the Nikon Z8 could remain in my kit bag for a decade AT LEAST. On the subject of the Fujifilm X100VI, I can’t believe I actually bought this camera.
