Viewfinder or LCD screen?
A few days ago I had to show a product to a client so I took out the phone from my pocket, snap a photo and email it straight away. Simple. Ok, nobody expected (it was not required) a super proffesional image, so the phone photo was more than enough. It was then when struck me how simple has become to preview the “scene” on a screen instead of a viewfinder. It is also interesting how my mind is working: when I have a camera in my hand, I preffer the viewfinder - don’t know why but I’m more confident/comfortable using the viewfinder.
Fine, when I’m using any of the analog cameras, I don’t have a choice: rangefinders, SLR, TLR, all have only the viewfinder. Totally different story with digital cameras. The smallest digital camera that I own doesn’t even have a viewfinder, it’s normal, there’s no room for it. The phone also doesn’t have one. But this doesn’t stop me from using them and the process is a natural one. The other digital cameras have the option of viewfinder or the LCD screen at the back and, in those cases, for me the most natural thing to do is to use the viewfinder.
How are things in your case: are you a viewfinder or LCD screen user? I will leave the poll open for a week and tell you the results after. Also I introduced in the poll the third option: depending on the situation for which I would like you to leave a comment explaining what that means.
I prefer the viewfinder if a camera has one — my Fuji XT-5, for instance. But I also love my Ricoh GR3, which doesn’t have a viewfinder and I have no problem with that.
This is timely. I grew up with EVFs and of course used them on all my film cameras. The first time I used a camera without one and tried using the LCD was with an Olympus E-P2 followed by the Ricoh GR. After a few years of using the Ricoh alongside my film gear, I got tired of the rhythm that the LCD required. I switched to Fujifilm and felt more connected to the analog style. Now, using the Nikon Zf almost exclusively for street and other types of photography, I leave the back LCD closed. I never look at it except to occasionally adjust settings. It's important to me to feel part of the image, immerse myself. Nice post!