In photography, a lot of people say that gear doesn’t matter as much, and that it’s the skill that makes a good photo.
I think that is good advice generally. But it applies better to people who have already attained some level of skill. The question of skill vs gear is a chicken and egg situation - better skill allows you to make the most out of gear; better gear allows you to develop a fuller set of skills.
Either way, at a given skill level, gear does influence the final image. This is why even at beginner levels, I do recommend giving it some thought before buying.
In this series I am sharing my thoughts on things beginner photographers should consider when buying their first cameras.
View Finder
For your information, I shot on a Sony Nex 5-R (it has been discontinued) for 4.5 years, on a Canon 1200D (also discontinued) for 1 year, on a Canon 80D for 2.5 years, and a Canon 5D Mark IV till now. I have also experimented with a Nikon D300 on and off.
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Here goes the SECOND CONSIDERATION of the series —
(Find the first article of the series here)
View Finder
What is a view finder?
See the boxed part in the below image.
Not all cameras them but if they do, they are located above the screen.
Looking into these give you a direct vision of what is going into your frame.
An example of the view finder on a beginner Canon DSLR camera.
Why some people don’t use the view finder
Some people prefer shooting on live mode on the LED screen because:
View finder doesn’t show you what the final picture looks like
Whatever changes you make on your settings will not be reflected in the view finder. You can’t be (100%) sure that your settings are appropriate until you have taken the first photo, and will (usually) have to make adjustments.
It creates a need for trial and error.
Almost everything can be done on the LED screen
Many new camera models have touch screen, which allows you to make changes almost immediately without having to go through the buttons and lists of menus.
You can change shooting modes, white balance, focus points etc.
If you are making all these changes through the LED screen anyway, you might as well just take the picture.
Why you should still learn to use the view finder
For everything that still exists today, there are (usually) very good reasons they do.
Trains your sense on exposure
For genres of photography such as sports, animal, and even street, you only have ONE shot. The moment is gone forever if you missed it or messed it up. There is no way you could work out the exposure through the LED screen AND take the shot in time.
Shooting through the view finder is good practice to developing a sense of light. You are putting yourself out there every time you take your first shot. Therefore you gain precious experience on what lighting situation requires what settings.
Protect your composition
Live shooting mode causes delays. This can be a huge issue because it affects your composition - the bread and butter of your photo. Most photos involve elements that move.
After you press the shutter, the camera takes it time to actually capture the scene. You end up getting a subject that strays slightly away from where you thought it is, which can drastically undermine your original creative intent.
Enhances stability
When you shoot on live mode, you probably hold your camera at a distance from your eyes. The further you extend your hands, the shakier the camera will be.
When you shoot through the view finder, you are resting the camera on your face. This adds stability when hand holding the camera.
This can mean, just to name a few, less motion blur, and sharper focus.
Better low-light performance
Under a dimly lit environment, the human eye can catch more details in the darks than the camera.
If you see through a view finder, there is not much difference from seeing normally.
But if you are seeing through a LED screen, or an electronic view finder, you can only see what the camera is able to capture.
This would adversely affect your judgment on how to compose your photo.
Summary
In this article, we talked about:
What the view finder is.
Some people don’t use it because it is hard to use, and partly made redundant by LED screens
But you should still learn to use it, to train your sense of exposure, to protect your composition and to take advantage of extra stability
More sharing coming soon!
Meanwhile, follow me on Instagram (@_bjiao__) and let me know what you think in the comments!
Keep shooting, keep creating!
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