Viewfinders

Morrisseeee

Well..........hows yours ?
I was quite satisfied with mine, ie. the one on my Olympus E510, I think I adapted to it, BUT.......that was until I used my friends Nikon EM Film camera & an Olympus OM10 Film camera. WOW........there's some difference, it definitley helps to have a big bright one !! I can only persume it helps massively and would contribute to much better productivity/creativity ? !!
I now find myself squinting using the DSLR again ! :eek:

Mycroft H

With auto focus i've no problems but its true that dslrs have dim pokey vf compared to film slrs. Having a pentamirror dosnt help either.

I have quite a few old manual lenses adapted to use on my a200 and i find focusing is doable but easier on a film slr with a split focus screen.

I had a quick go of the full frame a900 and it was like...... WOW. Its bright and big, a pleasure to use. It has the best viewfinder this side of a medium format camera and i dont think i will be happy until i get it (though the €2000 price tag puts me off)

ThOnda

Have a peek into 5D's viewfinder with some fast lens and you will see why they do such things.

Morrisseeee

Yeah, I peaked into AR's 5D Mk II (at boards.ie opening nite) and it is very good, although I did have guinnessessess eyes !
Having a big bright viewfinder really makes the 'job' that bit easier tho ! Its probably something newbies might overlook when purchasing a new/2nd-hand DSLR !

cnocbui

Mine's lovely. Olympus OM4-Ti.

97% coverage and I fitted an Olympus 2-4 focusing screen, which was Olympus' super bright take on a Beattie intenscreen. It is a plain ground screen with just an etched circle to indicate the spot meter circle and none of those split image or microprism focusing aids which get dark with long focal length lenses.

With a 50mm f1.2 lens on it, the viewfinder is about as bright as looking at a scene with the naked eye.

Morrisseeee

Olympus OM4-Ti.

50mm f1.2

...you great big tease i'm mad jealous !

duffarama

Well I received my E-620 in the post last week and the viewfinder is an improvement over my E-410 in size and brightness. However I do find my nose keeps hitting the flip out screen!

My biggest brightest viewfinder would be on my OM4Ti though

cnocbui, the 50mm F1.2 you have, is that the lens wih radioactive elements?

Borderfox

You cant beat the 1d and 100% coverage

cnocbui

duffarama wrote: »

Well I received my E-620 in the post last week and the viewfinder is an improvement over my E-410 in size and brightness. However I do find my nose keeps hitting the flip out screen!

My biggest brightest viewfinder would be on my OM4Ti though

cnocbui, the 50mm F1.2 you have, is that the lens wih radioactive elements?

No, that one's a much earlier lens and is actually 55mm, mine is the later MC 50mm and is an all round better lens than the earlier 55mm one with a rare earth element.

50mm f/1.2 Zuiko (multi-coated)
OM-4T with mirror and diaphragm prefire
Vignetting = C @ f/1.2, B @ f/1.5, B+ @ f/2, A @ f/2.8
Distortion = slight barrel (none?)
Aperture Center Corner Contrast
f/1.2 C C+ Mod. high
~f/1.5 B- C+ High
f/2 B- B- High
f/2.8 A- A- High
f/4 A- A- High
f/5.6 B+ A- High
f/8 A- A- High
f/11 B+ A- High
f/16 B+ B High
Notes: Average of three different samples (except contrast grades from
one sample).

55mm f/1.2 Zuiko (single-coated, rare earth radioactive version with
silver filter rim)

OM-1 with mirror lockup
Vignetting = NA
Distortion = slight barrel
Aperture Center Corner
f/1.2 C+ B-
f/2 B B-
f/2.8 B- B
f/4 B+ B+
f/5.6 B+ A-
f/8 A- A
f/11 A- A-
f/16 A- A-
Notes: Moderate contrast with high resolution, except very low contrast
at f/1.2.

OM-4T with mirror and aperture prefire, different lens than above
Vignetting = C- @ f/1.2, C+ @ f/2, A- @ f/2.8, A thereafter
Distortion = slight barrel
Aperture Center Corner
f/1.2 C- C+
f/2 B- B-
f/2.8 B B
f/4 B B+
f/5.6 B+ B+
f/8 A- A-
f/11 A- B+
f/16 B+ B+
Notes: Moderate contrast images at f/1.2; moderately high contrast at f/2;
high contrast images at f/2.8 to f/4; very high contrast images at f/5.6
to f/16. Paired comparison with the non-radioactive, black snout
version below, with all grade differences significant to the 1/3rd grade
level. Comments: This lens utilized one or more radioactive rare earth
elements (lanthium or thorium floride), which are high refractive index
(and extra low dispersion?) elements but with the undesirable side effect
of yellowing with age. The yellowing is attributable to the effects of
radioactive decay. This design has particularily strong radioactivity,
which registers on a Gieger counter through the mirror and the shutter
when metered at the film plane (gamma radiation?). It does not fog fast
(ISO 800) film in tests of up to 3-4 minutes exposure time.