• Article ID 000051111
  • Date Published 21/12/2016
  • Date Last Updated 21/12/2016

Optical and Electronic Viewfinders

Optical and Electronic Viewfinders

A viewfinder in a camera helps you frame a picture which is to be taken by the camera. There are currently two types of viewfinders being used in Nikon cameras, optical and electronic.

Optical Viewfinder
An optical viewfinder is a small window in the camera used by the photographer to frame the scene. The image seen through the optical viewfinder is generally a reflection of the image off a mirror and pentaprism or penta-mirror in the camera. The optical viewfinder shows the scene as it truly is and does not consume any electrical power from the camera.

A thing to note about viewing through the optical viewfinder would be its frame coverage. Generally, the area framed through a DX body format digital SLR camera (APS-C sized image sensor) would be slightly smaller than the actual area framed by the lens. Thus the area captured in the resulting picture might turn out to be slightly larger than what was seen through the viewfinder. As for the area framed through a FX body format digital SLR camera (full frame sized sensor), it would generally be approximately 100% (with an exception for the Nikon D700). Thus the area captured in the resulting picture would be similar to what was seen through the viewfinder.

Electronic Viewfinder
An electronic viewfinder is also a smaller window in the camera that allows the photographer to look through to frame the scene. The method of image display through an electronic viewfinder is similar to that of the LCD panel display on a digital compact camera, or the Live View of a dDigital SLR camera. The image is sent to the viewfinder after it is received by the image sensor. The electronic viewfinder consumes electrical power while image is being displayed through it.

The frame coverage of an electronic viewfinder is approximately 99% to 100%. Thus the area captured in the resulting picture would be similar to what was seen through the viewfinder. In addition, it displays the resulting effect of the scene (eg, exposure settings, white balance settings and picture control settings), based on the adjustments of the camera settings.

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