elent

Do any of the newer cameras have an equivalent to through the lens viewing? I'm not a fan of LCD use.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Better than through the lens!
https://www.lumixgexperience.panasonic.co.uk/lumix-academy/using-the-electronic-viewfinder/#.W3G6t9JKi00

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repleo Loc: Boston

By 'LCD use' do you mean the digital screen on the back of the camera? Pretty well all of the newer mirrorless cameras have an eye view finder that gives a 'through-the-lens' view. The difference is that mirrorless uses an electronic or 'Electronic View Finder' (EVF) as opposed to mirrors and/or prisms as in a more traditional SLR or DSLR. Sony also makes an Alpha or 'A' mount camera that has an eye viewfinder that is sort of a hybrid of the two. The latest mirrorless EVF's are pretty well on par with the optical viewfinders for clarity etc and have advantages over them in terms of 'what you see is what you get'.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Fujifilm cameras, including my Fuji X100F advanced compact.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Yes, an Electronic ViewFinder (EVF) is common.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

The newer camera models have an EVF that is so good that it actually seems like you are looking through an OVF. And I think it is overblown where some say that there is too much lag. Whatever lag is there is certainly faster than the DSLR takes to raise the mirror and mirrorless has no mirror to raise.

I am totally satisfied with current EVF's.

Now for mirrorless cameras just a few years old, the EVF is not quite as good. And looking forward, Sony has a new EVF coming out, probably in the A7Siii when it arrives, that is going to raise the bar even more.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

By LCD I'm assuming you mean a panel on the back of the camera, and by through the lens viewing, I'm assuming you mean something you hold close to your eye and look through, much as you would do with a dSLR... A few mirrorless cameras have rather lousy optical viewfinders, but most have electronic viewfinders, or LCDs, or both.

All of the "dSLR form factor" and some of the higher end "rangefinder form factor" MILC or DSLM or EVIL cameras (That's Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera, or Digital Single Lens Mirrorless, or Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens, all common acronyms) have electronic viewfinders. The dSLR form factor cameras tend to have the best implementations of EVFs.

Better mirrorless cameras with an EVF can be programmed to display several different screen layouts on either the rear LED/OLED LCD screen or the EVF. Many have sensors near the eyepiece that automatically switch the view from the rear screen to the viewfinder as you move the camera up to your eye.

The link Linda listed is an excellent description of mirrorless cameras and their technologies.

I would look carefully at Fujifilm, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony mirrorless gear before buying. Each company makes very different cameras, each of which has a good niche in the market. You can watch all sorts of camera reviews on YouTube, and read in-depth reviews at http://www.dpreview.com. If you plan to buy one, see if lensrentals.com or borrowlenses.com has it available for rent. Try before you buy. The interfaces are all different!

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

"Mirrorless" LITERALLY means there is NO through the lens viewing capability. No mirror, no SLR.

BebuLamar

You view thru the sensor via an LCD display whether it's in the back of the camera or in a viewfinder.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

And therefore no "through the lens" viewing. Its a jpg processed video representation either way.

elent

Thanks. Good solid info at that site.

aphelps Loc: Central Ohio

The EVF is in fact viewing through the lens, the only lens, that takes the picture. It behaves the same way as viewing through an optical view finder on a dslr. You can compose, see depth of field and exposure before shooting.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Care to explain how that happens?

I guess one could push that point because the lens is focusing light on the sensor. However, the viewfinder is showing the person operating the camera an electronically produced image of the what the sensor sees.
--Bob

jtwind

Live view through the viewfinder is one of the best features of the mirrorless cameras.

jcboy3

Single Lens Reflex: a "camera in which the lens that forms the image on the film also provides the image in the viewfinder"

Which can be done with a mirror (for both film or digital) or direct use of the sensor (for digital mirrorless).

As opposed to a rangefinder or dual lens system.

Some cameras only have an LCD, but most larger bodies also have an electronic viewfinder (EVF). The EVF can be crappy or quite good, usually a function of overall camera cost.

As opposed to a camera with a mirror, which has an optical viewfinder (OVF) in which the actual light that travels through the lens can be viewed.

Olympus has a simulated OVF (S-OVF) mode, which simulates an optical viewfinder. This is done by not applying image adjustments (such as picture mode), and by expanding dynamic range (suppressing crushed shadows and blown highlights).

One of the main issues with mirrorless is display time lag (the time it takes for the image to get to the display). This has gotten down to less than 0.016 seconds with cameras such as the Olympus E-M1.

Another issue is shutter lag, which is the time it takes from shutter press to image capture. This can also be quite significant, because since the sensor is being used to view the image, it must be erased before capturing the image. But it has gotten much better with advances such as electronic first curtain shutter, so the shutter doesn't have to be closed first.