Electronic Viewfinder - Drop Rear Screen?

[theguywitha645d]

For mid to high end cameraes I assume that vendors will have to offer some kind of EVF, so why keep the rear screen?

You mean like the RX1? I don't think offering the RX1 with just an optional EVF and no rear screen will prove to be very popular, but that is just me. Alpa cameras have no EVF.

I have an E-P1 and I shoot 99% of my photographs with a rear screen, so maybe the bias to the EVF is wrong. And setting up menus on an EVF is a real pain.

And for a high-end camera, why would I want to lose the convenience of a rear screen?

[AlfSollund]

Hi,

Now, who claims to represent the masses :-) ? Perhaps your correct about rear screen and menues. I  can honestly say that I  do without menues. In fact I wish I had hard buttons for format sd card, ISO and lens profiles on my M9 so I could do without menues.

[theguywitha645d]

The "I would like a camera to be like this" discussions are always just simply a projection of personal opinion and from people who have never designed a camera and usually with a very fixed working method. If you want an EVF only camera, then simply tape over the rear screen. A camera design is always going to be a compromise. Hopefully the pluses out weight the minuses. But ultimately it come down to the photographer to learn to use the camera. The camera companies have the unthankful task of making something that is going please the largest number of people.

[ripgriffith]

Hi,

I'm a Sony Alpha shooter.

I'm essentially with Larry. I general I find the LCD useful for handling menus, but I also find it very useful when I shoot from tripod, and I do that a lot.

Best regards
Erik

I totally agree; I moved to an A65 from a Sony R1, on which I always relied upon the waist level screen (always reminded me of my old Hasselblad).  I still do when shooting from a tripod.  I find it a comfortable shooting position plus it allows me to keep the tripod low and hopefully more stable.

[hortiphoto]

Well, that opened a can of worms. As the original poster I have to say that most replies have missed my point or gone off on a tangent.

I'm not saying EVF good, LCD bad. Nor am I advocating doing away with either on cameras large enough to support both. My sole point was that now that EVFs are pretty good and can display the relevant information (menus, histogram, etc.), then instead of trying to shoehorn an LCD onto the back of a mirrorless camera, why not try liberating that space to either make the camera smaller or better yet to have room to add more manual controls in the space the LCD occupies? An inch wide viewfinder is smaller than a 3 inch wide screen, which is also bigger than a few small buttons or dials.

It doesn't have to be compulsory, just something someone might like to try, maybe.

Geoff Bryant
www.cfgphoto.com

[theguywitha645d]

Geoff, perhaps you missed our points--the rear LCD is too important to give up for a few buttons. The LCD is not really big--would you really want a smaller Nex or compact? The cameras are already getting to the point where they are too small to hold. What practical advantage are you really getting by eliminating the LCD? Camera size certainly is not a factor.

[Wayne Fox]

I can't imagine trying to press buttons and the like trying to navigate with the viewfinder up to my eye.  I also can't see using features like zoomed LiveView focusing by having to put my eye up to the camera.  If I could only have one, it wouldn't be the EVF.  I'd rather strap a hoodman to the LCD.

[erstwhile]

I don't watch the summer olympics. They ought to get rid of it.

I dont verb X. Therefore X should not exist.

Sounds innocent enough, if perhaps a little silly. Until someone replaces verb with "like", and X with a group of living things...

Please note: I am NOT implying anything about the OP in way. I am only pointing out how a seemingly innocuous tidbit of illogic is many times a cause of VERY BAD THINGS in this world.

why not try liberating that space to either make the camera smaller or better yet to have room to add more manual controls in the space the LCD occupies?

Like what? I wouldn't want to have a dial or knob in my face when I'm using the viewfinder. Maybe a bunch of dip switches for all the menu options? Or maybe buttons instead? But then people would complain about it looking like the FS700. OH. I know. A touch screen using a configurable tactile display (using micro-pins that extend and retract instead of pixels). Then the user could operate it with their tongue while using the viewfinder!

It doesn't have to be compulsory, just something someone might like to try, maybe.

Whew. That's a relief.