|
Jan. 20, 2006
When was the last time you heard someone ask “Is that a film or digital camera?” I used to get that question on a regular basis, especially when I was shooting with a compact digital camera. But now that most folks own a digital compact instead of a 35mm or APS camera, I rarely get asked about the one I'm carrying around. It's only when I use a DSLR or the optical viewfinder on a compact camera to compose my shot that people get confused. After all, compact film shooters and DSLR owners have no alternative but to use their viewfinders to compose, but why would a digital camera owner rely on an optical viewfinder when it's so easy to set up a shot via the live LCD monitor? And isn't it more sanitary to use the LCD, since a ton of nasty germs could jump from the optical viewfinder into your eye? (Ok, I made up that last question, but don't be surprised if a digital camera manufacturer uses the idea in an ad someday.)
The point is that optical viewfinders are rarely used on digital compact cameras. Instead, most shooters assume the “Zombie” position: two arms outstretched in front holding the camera, just like a scene from “The Night of the Living Dead”. When I first saw a tourist in NY city using the “zombie” photo stance, I had to laugh. As a graduate of the school of “brace yourself, take a deep breath, and squeeze the trigger”, it was obvious to me that the pictures taken by photo zombies were going to show severe signs of shake and blur. And they did. Plus, the first tiny 1.5-inch LCD monitors were so awful compared to optical viewfinders—especially in low light and bright sunlight—that it was a real challenge to compose a good shot in all but ideal conditions.
However, I have to admit that I now, occasionally, when I'm in a hurry, when I have sunglasses on, when the camera doesn't have a viewfinder, or it's someone else's camera covered in germs, do assume the zombie stance when taking a photo with a compact camera. But I swear, I will never do that with a DSLR, even if someone actually invents one with a useable live preview! Why have I crossed the line? The dramatic increase in quality, size, and viewing angle of the current crop of LCD monitors have all but fixed the problems found in on earlier digital cameras. They are clearer, more colorful, and even viewable in extreme lighting. Even the shake and blur caused by using the zombie stance has been minimized by the growing use of built-in image stabilization. And while live LCD monitors have been getting better, optical viewfinders in compact cameras have been getting worse, often showing only 60 or 70 percent of the actual image capture. And using them for close-ups? Forget it, parallax problems abound.
So now we've gotten to the point where an optical viewfinder just gets in the way of including a larger, and more desirable LCD monitor (for composing and sharing images) without increasing the size of the camera. This could explain why the majority of compact digital cameras being sold this year won't even have an optical viewfinder. It might also explain why there will be more photo zombies walking around, but fewer photographers afflicted with a case of pink eye.
Comment on this
|
