p.2 #1 · Fuji Hybrid Viewfinder - What do you use the most?
ottokbre wrote:
If the lighting is even and I am mainly optimizing DOF than OVF all day long. But since I live in high contrast LA sun I have to worry about back lighting and deep shadows..... EVF.
Also since I don't trust Fuji critical focusing as much as my Sony I am often using EVF when shooting f2-4. Also I have only used Xp3 and X100F (five of them though!).
When I owned Leica's I didn't have this crutch and the glass had more character. So happy accidents abounded. I should really just shoot -1 stop on the Fuji like I did the Leica. ...Show more →
In bright light and high contrast situations, the EVF is almost useless. Shadows go down in black. The OVF shows a balanced contrast (well, just as real life) and I can always manage exposure (and shadows/highlights) by calling the color histogram with a custom button and adjust EV accordingly. As to focus: I don't trust Fuji AF regardless of OVF or EVF. So I use MF and the EVF come on for a short time to focus - and back to OVF.
p.2 #2 · Fuji Hybrid Viewfinder - What do you use the most?
I used the optical viewfinder with the x100 through to the x100v. The A7Rv was the first EVF where I no longer felt some advantage, other than framing and the accuracy of the autofocus points. Unfortunately, Sony continues to use inferior EVFs on many of their newer cameras.. The A7CR is a good example of an EVF that is wanting.
p.2 #3 · Fuji Hybrid Viewfinder - What do you use the most?
Nielk Mike wrote:
In bright light and high contrast situations, the EVF is almost useless. Shadows go down in black. The OVF shows a balanced contrast (well, just as real life) and I can always manage exposure (and shadows/highlights) by calling the color histogram with a custom button and adjust EV accordingly. As to focus: I don't trust Fuji AF regardless of OVF or EVF. So I use MF and the EVF come on for a short time to focus - and back to OVF.
That awful behaviour of the EVFs was what drove me back from the Sonys (I had Nex 6 and A7) to optical finders, I swopped them for an Xpro2 and went back to using my Nikon DSLR for a while. The EVF on the Xpro2 is better than the Sonys were, but really the Xt3 was a great improvement and I'm happy using that and the Xt5 in any light conditions.
p.2 #5 · Fuji Hybrid Viewfinder - What do you use the most?
I've kept going back and forth on this over the years, but ultimately I favor the OVF. There's something about seeing what's going in front of you relatively unfiltered (even less than DSLR viewfinder) that I really like.
Yeah it gives you less accurate information in terms of exposure and framing, but for me this is a feature, not a bug. Combined with literally zero lag, I find it really shines for taking documentary style photos of people in situations. Why? Well, when I have accurate exposure and framing information I tend to focus on those at the expensive of paying attention and capturing people at the right moment. The OVF really helps me focus on the people and the situation they are in! After all, it's way more important to actually capture the situation (I recently shot some friend's half-surprise proposal) than to get exposure and framing perfect. I should also mention that I shoot with RAW exclusively these days, so I have a lot of leeway when it comes to exposure.
Moreover I do find that the OVF is just fun to use when I'm just talking photos for fun and walking around. That said, when doing landscapes and other static scenes is when I do often switch to the EVF to get that precise framing and exposure (or if I'm taking macros the OVF doesn't really work well at all).
For manual focusing with the Voigtlander 27mm f2 I really like using the OVF with the little EVF patch in the bottom right. I find it's the fastest and more comfortable way to focus. I never loos the whole scene, but I have this zoomed in part (usually set to BW with red peaking) to help me focus. (Though, I suspect that a true rangefinder would be better still, but that's wildly out of my budget).
I'll be happy with the X-Pro3* for years, I don't really need more megapixels. That said, I do hope Fuji keeps the X-Pro line alive as I love this unique experience of having the OVF and (with the 3) being not having the back LCD shine annoyingly in my face when I dont' use it (which is most of the time), yet being able to get a down shot angle in under a second and as quickly get it away.
I understand some don't like the 3's backscreen, but I'd miss it if it were gone. That said, a compromise that would work almost as well for me would be to have an X100V style screen, yet have a setting such that the LCD would only turn on when it was flipped up and would stay off the rest of the time. The main thing I appreciate about the X-Pro3 screen is fast workflow, not the supposed “retro” force you to not use the backscreen. I don't need to be forced to that, I already don't use LCD backscreen much, I just want to have it not shine in my face, yet be quickly accessible when I do need it for low shots.
*X-Pro2 wouldn't be bad either, but I really appreciate the much bigger OVF of the 3, worth the tradeoff of only having a single magnification for me.
