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An electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a camera
An electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a camera viewfinder
In photography, a viewfinder is a device on a camera that a photographer uses to determine exactly where the camera is pointed, and approximately how much of that view will be photographed. A viewfinder can be mechanical (indicating only direct ...
where the image captured by the lens is displayed on a small screen (usually LCD
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not em ...
or OLED
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is an organic compound film that emits light in respon ...
) which the photographer can look through when composing their shot. It differs from a live preview
Live preview is a feature that allows a digital camera's display screen to be used as a viewfinder. This provides a means of previewing framing and other exposure before taking the photograph. In most such cameras, the preview is generated by ...
screen in being smaller and shaded from ambient light, and may also use less power. The sensor records the view through the lens, the view is processed, and finally projected on a miniature display which is viewable through the eyepiece
An eyepiece, or ocular lens, is a type of lens that is attached to a variety of optical devices such as Optical telescope, telescopes and microscopes. It is named because it is usually the lens that is closest to the eye when someone looks thro ...
.
Digital viewfinders are used in digital still camera
A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...
s and in video camera
A video camera is an optical instrument that captures videos, as opposed to a movie camera, which records images on film. Video cameras were initially developed for the television industry but have since become widely used for a variety of other ...
s. Some cameras (such as Panasonic, Sony, Fujifilm) have an automatic eye sensor which switches the display from screen to EVF when the viewfinder is near the eye. More modest cameras use a button to switch the display. Some have no button at all.
While many cameras come with a built-in EVF, this is fixed in place and can only be used while holding the camera to the user's eye, which may not be convenient. Other cameras don't come with an EVF at all, or come with a low quality one. It is sometimes possible to get a separate, attachable EVF to use in these cases. In certain higher end models such as the Alexa Series by ARRI
Arri Group () (stylized as "ARRI") is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. It ...
, an external viewfinder is the default way of monitoring what is being shot.
Comparison with optical viewfinders
Whereas EVFs use a digital screen to display a representation of the scene captured by a camera, an optical viewfinder (OVF) typically uses a prism and mirror to direct the image coming through the camera's lens to the viewfinder. An EVF enables the user to view previously taken photographs and use the camera's menu system while looking through the viewfinder, which is not possible with an OVF. It also allows the use of features such as focus peaking (colourful lines displayed on screen to indicate which parts of the scene are in focus which helps with focussing and composing a shot) andzebras
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped Animal coat, coats. There are three Extant taxon, living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and t ...
(which help with setting exposure by indicating on screen when a part of the image will be overexposed with the current camera settings). The digital preview shown in an EVF incorporates the camera's settings (including exposure, white balance, etc.) and so the image seen can be an exact preview of what the taken photograph will look like, which is not possible with an OVF.
OVFs may be better suited to use in low light or situations with very big differences in brightness due to the dynamic range limitations of an electronic screen. There is also no time lag with an OVF, whereas an EVF might take a bit of time to process the image and update the display (particularly when using longer exposure times).
To get the advantage of both optical and digital viewfinders some cameras have hybrid viewfinders. These display the image in an optical eyepiece viewfinder, or digitally on an LCD screen. Examples include some Fujifilm X-series cameras.
See also
*Digital photography
Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image is ...
* Zoom-lens reflex camera
References