Learn aboutViewfinder types

Inexpensive camera with a viewfinder

The Canon PowerShot A1200 (starting at $56.00) is an affordable digital camera that features a viewfinder.

Until digital cameras you had to look through the viewfinder to take a photo. Now most digital cameras have display screens on the back allowing you to see what you're taking a picture of. Nonetheless there are still many reasons for having a viewfinder in addition to or instead of the rear screen.

Reasons to Consider a Viewfinder

• Taking pictures in very bright light can make it extremely difficult to see exactly what you're taking a picture of on the display screen.
• Having the camera braced in close and held tight provide better ergonomics for taking a steady shot vs having your arms outstretched.
• People who require glasses to view the display screen can use a viewfinder without glasses as most have a diopter built in to adjust for poor eyesight.
• Optical viewfinders permit you to you use the full resolution of your eyes which is magnitudes higher than the LCD screen.
• A viewfinder lets you immerse yourself in the picture - using up much more of your field of vision allowing you to experience the photo.

Types of Viewfinders

Pentaprism - SLR

SLRs permit the photographer to see through the lens. Pentaprisms use a prism do redirect the light from the lens to the view finder vs the camera sensor. Pentaprisms are the highest quality viewfinders - they provide the highest resolution and most natural representation of the photo about to be taken. Pentaprisms are higher quality than penta-mirrors and thus are found largely in most professional DSLRs, they allow more light to pass through permitting a brighter view of the scene being photographed.

Penta-mirror

Penta-mirror Viewfinder

Illustration of a penta-mirror that would be commonly found in a beginner digital SLR. Image by Basilicofresco.

Most entry-level DSLRs use penta mirrors which, like pentaprisms permit the image being captured by the lens to be redirected (in this case by a series of mirrors) through the viewfinder. This permits full resolution and a natural immersive view of what your are taking a photograph of. Penta-mirrors provide the same function as a pentaprism by are typically constructed of plastic and cheaper to produce; on average they produce a darker image in the viewfinder.

Tunnel / Rangefinder

This is also an optical element and permits the full resolution of the eye but it does not look through the lens. These viewfinders are separate optical elements that for the most part approximate what the camera will take a photo of. When a subject is very close the suffer from parallax error, meaning what you are looking at will not be what the camera is taking a picture of - macro photos using these viewfinders are not terribly useful because the parallax error is huge. Depending on how important the framing is a few feet away may be acceptable to remove the parallax error. You will nonetheless get used to the parallax and adjust accordingly - especially with the instant feedback of a digital camera.

Best Digicams with a Viewfinder

These are some of the best digicams that offer a viewfinder

	Nikon Coolpix P500 from $339	Great zoom 36x Flip-out screen Great for movies Full HD 1080p @ 30fps Learn more about the Nikon Coolpix P500
	Fujifilm FinePix HS20 from $305	Great zoom 30x High ISO 12,800 ISO Flip-out screen Great for movies Learn more about the Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR
	Canon Powershot SX40 from $379	Great zoom 35x Flip-out screen Great for movies 24p movies For that film look Learn more about the Canon Powershot SX40
	Nikon Coolpix P7000 from $279	24p movies For that film look Large sensor 1/1.7" 7.6x5.7mm High resolution screen 921k dots Learn more about the Nikon Coolpix P7000

See more of the top digicams with viewfinders

Discussion

Showing 8 comments

tandrews0555@yahoo.com (3:09 AM, January 17, 2012)

Many of your comparison fields are incorrectly represented.  How can you rate Sony's OLED viewfinder as basically the worst of the bunch?  Ridiculous.

Snapsort (10:06 PM, November 06, 2011)

Hi Sam, it is not considered a DSLR.  Key features of a DSLR are: interchangeable lenses and an optical viewfinder that lets you look through the lens.

SAMtheMAN (10:50 AM, November 06, 2011)

um.....would the Fujifilm FinePix S3300 be considered as a D-SLR of would it be a point-and-shoot?

Wjesse (1:17 PM, October 11, 2011)

Another very important consoderation....the tunnel view finder does not drain the battery

Snapsort (2:13 PM, March 29, 2011)

We apologize, thats a mistake. You're correct, the Sony R1 has a digital viewfinder which obviously uses battery power.

l8tr597 (3:28 AM, March 29, 2011)

then how does the type of camera like the sony R-1, where you say "digital" and "no battery" which cannot be accurate, as it uses some type of power, or, lets just say if its "off" the viewfinder is black (blank)

Snapsort (3:29 PM, March 23, 2011)

Good catch, thanks, we'll correct that.

Justin Ji (6:09 AM, March 23, 2011)

800uz has no viewfinder...