Viewfinder difference between DSLR and mirrorless cameras

Mirrorless cameras give you the option of including a live histogram in the viewfinder.

Having grown up with SLR film cameras, I have gotten used to the optical viewfinders associated with them.  I have always liked the clear TTL view that one gets when putting your eye to the camera, regardless of whether the media is film or a digital sensor.  With the advent of live view, you could now see the world to be photographed with all the benefits of information displayed right on the screen.  Of course, this meant that you had to hold the camera away from your face, which limited stability and made it difficult to see in bright environments.  Then, along came mirrorless cameras.

The EVF (electronic view finder) was nothing new to photography as compacts, bridge cameras, and video cameras all came with one.  This was a game changer for those wanting the information available on electronic viewing screens while still using the camera's eyepiece.  There was a second benefit with mirrorless cameras is that glare or bright lighting could no longer affect your ability to see what you are shooting.  Instead of looking at the back of the camera when doing video or shooting stills, you could now look through the eyepiece as normal.

One of the complaints of using mirrorless cameras is the view provided by the screen, rear or eyepiece, when the exposure is off.  This happens regularly when using flash for example as the view screen may be dark because the exposure is well under what the camera may recommend.  I have found this doing macro work with my mirrorless cameras when my small aperture and fast shutter speed show nothing in the viewfinder - my macro flash unit is what provides the light.

Then there is shooting back lit situations.  If you want to properly expose your subject when strongly backlit, you have to overexpose the image by a few stops leading to a very bright viewfinder.  Wouldn't it be nice if you could make the electronic viewfinder work the same way that DSLRs do?  Well it turns out, you can.

Mirrorless cameras offer the best of both worlds in that you can make the viewfinder work like a DSLR where the image is not affected by exposure settings and you can have all the information immediately available to you without having to look away from your camera or switch to live view mode.  The trick is knowing how to do this.  

Many mirrorless cameras will have a menu item in settings called Live View.  This is the toggle that lets you choose what the viewfinder looks like.  To make it so that the live image is using the exposure settings, make sure Live View is ON.  If you want to get the DSLR view, turn Live View OFF.  When off, it allows the camera to view the image as you would see it through the optical viewfinder on a DSLR, but with the benefit of having information present.

I much prefer having the Live View function OFF.  I can still use flash but now can see what I am shooting.  Backlit situations are no longer uncomfortable to look at.  And I can have a live-histogram display which I love as it is an empirical way of  examining the scene.  Another great bonus is using manual focusing as you get a blue-haze appearing on anything in focus.  This is a tremendous asset when depth of field is critical.  I use manual focusing in macro work.

The one disadvantage of mirrorless cameras over DSLRs that you can't get away from is the shorter battery life.  The key here is to keep your stuff charged up and have spares ready to go.  I bought a power grip for my Z7ii and use 2 batteries.  And even then, I still have backups.

You can never have too many spare batteries.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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