VIEWFINDER (EVF) or LCD Monitor?

[David Battistella]

This thread is meant to be about aesthetics from an operational perspective and how viewing images through a viewfinder is different from viewing the image on an LCD and how that relates to cinematography and composition.

I am wondering if anyone thinks that composition is vastly affected by whether you are looking at the image through a viewfinder or at a distance on an LCD panel.

Just wanting to start a discussion around the merits of:

eyepiece vs. the distance of the eye from the LCD and how that affects composition and framing.

I know it's esoteric but...

Discuss.

 

[Clint Lealos]

Great discussion topic! Thanks David.

Speaking for myself only, I think my composition choices are the same either way. I only say that because I was a camera operator for documentaries and television for 10 years before making the switch to commercials and movies. In those 10 years I used many different camera systems, and each job seemed to have a new one for me to learn. Some had just an EVF, and some had both (but the EVF was usually useless), so I was constantly going back and forth between LCD and EVF as I learned my trade. However, I am curious to see what folks who used EVF for 20 years have to say about looking at an LCD when composing shots. Guys?

 

[axel ebermann]

I agree with clint. Generally, especially with the Red - I prefer working off a bigger monitor and I only use the EVF when I have no other choice (handheld, sunlight etc...)

That being said that is the old EVF, the Bomb is much better and I will certainly use that more.

Generally, from my own personal experience, EVFs encourage 'tunnel vision syndrome', meaning that I am much more likely to neglect what is going on on the edges of the frame...

 

[Mike 'Fireman' Ross]

Interesting question, and one I happened to post about recently, so I'll repeat some of it here.

Now, I've been primarily a stills guy - although that is changing, hence my decision to invest in RED! I used to shoot a lot of medium format, and I miss the ability I had there to (metaphorically and literally) sit back a little from the camera and the viewfinder, and think about the composition - and pick up on things I might be missing out of peripheral vision - things I just couldn't do so easily with my eye screwed into a viewfinder (optical or electronic); it imparts a certain tunnel vision.

My biggest regret in the transition to my current DSLR system was losing the ability to attach a WLF, something I last enjoyed with the old Kodak DCS 760 - Nikon F5 based. It's something I look forward to getting back with EPIC and the LCD display!

For some of my work it won't even be possible or advisable to use an EVF; working close up to a volcanic eruption you 1. have to maintain 'situational awareness' of everything in your surroundings for the sake of safety and 2. in extreme radiative heat you wear an encounter suit which effectively prevents you getting your eye anywhere near a viewfinder.

 

[Ryan Lalonde]

I prefer to operate with an EVF, but in the right conditions it is better to use the monitor. Mostly so I can react to things outside the frame and be able to pan over to something that I would have never noticed glued into the EVF.