MikeMck Loc: Southern Maryland on the Bay

I have only had the camera for a couple of weeks, but I have an terrible time seeing through the viewfinder on a sunny day. I am considering returning it. I had set the brightness to the highest level on the menu.

Does anyone else have this issue?

Thanks in advance.

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Yep, same problem but I've found plenty more to like about the camera than the not-so-spanky viewfinder. It still takes great photos.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

So, what is the problem?

Is the viewfinder too dim?
Does the body allow light into the space between the EVF and your eye?
Is there something else I didn't think of?

MikeMck Loc: Southern Maryland on the Bay

The problem is that I can't see the subject. This problem seems to be in most EVF applications.

jimfullwood Loc: Sarasota, but Ex pat from UK

I have the FZ1000 and the EVF on it is very good, its sharp and big. I have to say that anything smaller and my old eyes don't see it to well. I am selling a ZS40 for this reason.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I have always insisted that my camera have a viewfinder, partly because my shooting style, based on years of experience, increases stability by holding the camera against my forehead, and partly because I have trouble seeing an LCD in sunlight.

Thus, when I got a digital pocket camera, I got a Canon Elph, because they did have a viewfinder. In recent years, however, I had trouble using that viewfinder. Eventually, last December I replaced it by a Pentax Q, which doesn't have a viewfinder; part of my reason for accepting its lack of viewfinder was my difficulty in using the Elph's OVF (I did get a Hoodman, also).

Because of this thread, I located that old Elph this weekend, and compared its OVF to the OVF on my Pentax K-30. Measuring with a ruler is not very precise at this level, but approximate measures show that the OVF on the Elph is roughly 4x5mm, while the OVF on the K-30 is roughly 10x15mm - in other words the useless-to-me OVF is roughly one-third the size of the DSLR's OVF. If you look at my picture below, the Elph's OVF is basically flat, while the DSLR OVF has a rubber cup blocking incident light, and the OVF has a 3-D construction which pushes the actual "mechanism" away from my eye and makes the optics work better. The general lesson is that we need to look at more than just presence/absence of viewfinder - actual construction details are also important.