BebuLamar

The mirrorless is not a reflex. No mirror no reflection and is not a reflex.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I don't understand the difference you're implying here. I use the viewfinder only for shooting. I do all my thinking before I lift the camera to my eye, so all I need to see is aiming points; subtle variations don't matter. I follow the same procedures as sports and newscasters do, starting with SOOC JPEG.

jcboy3

Light still comes "through the lens".

knessr

The Canon EOS M series has an optional electronic view finder you can get. I have one for my M3 and it works great. It even has a diopter in it to adjust for old eyes like mine.

jcboy3

Reflex: (a) archaic : reflected heat, light, or color, (b) : a mirrored image, (c) : a copy exact in essential or peculiar features

Definition (c) applies.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

All digital mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras are TTL.

The way that most of them accomplish "through the lens" viewing is different from DSLRs, but it's still TTL. Instead of a mirror that reflects the image up into a pentaprism (or pentamirror), which then redirects it through an optical viewfinder (the way it's usually done in DSLRs), most mirrorless instead take the signal of what's being "seen" by the imaging sensor and "project" that onto an LCD on the rear of the camera and/or, in some cases, display it on a smaller LCD screen within an electronic viewfinder (EVF).

Both DSLRs and mirrorless (MILC) are TTL. (So are most digital point n shoots, for that matter. Vintage rangefinder cameras and many film "point n shoots" are examples of cameras that are not TTL... they use a viewfinder arrangement that's "parallel" to the lens, instead.)

But I THINK what you are actually wondering and asking about is mirrorless that have a viewfinder... versus those that only have the approx. 3" LCD screen on the back. A MILC's viewfinder is used much the same way as aDSLR's/SLR's... You put your eye up close to the eyeport. (Instead of holding the camera at arm's length.)

Most mirrorless manufacturers have some models with both EVF and LCD. For example, among currently available Canon, the M5 and M100 have both EVF and a rear LCD, while their M6, M10 and M100 have only the rear screen (as do all earlier M-series models). I don't know if they still do, but Canon used to offer accessory EVFs that could be fitted to some of the M-series models that didn't have one built in. Those accessory viewfinders sit in the hot shoe. Other manufacturers may offer the same.

In the past, I believe Fufi offered some models with a hybrid viewfinder... a combination of optical and electronic. I don't know much about them, if they still offer them or what specific models those were. Nor do I know if any other manufacturers are offering anything similar.

EVFs have some advantages over optical.... they can show "Exposure Simulation", which is helpful in two ways. One is that you can visually set exposure levels for an image, while continuing to keep your eye to the viewfinder. It's like having a fairly accurate "image preview" all the time. This also helps a lot in low light conditions, can be brighter than what would be seen in an optical viewfinder. EVFs also can have features to help with manual focusing, such as Focus Peaking. Most modern DSLRs' optical viewfinders are designed with autofocus in mind and don't have anything to assist with manual focus.

On the other hand, EVFs can introduce a slight time lag from "real time", since it's a signal being projected onto a tiny LCD screen. Hand in hand with this, many mirrorless do not have an array of sensors for phase detection autofocus (the way most DSLRs do). Instead some of them relied upon contrast detection autofocus, done using the imaging sensor itself. If you've ever done Live View autofocus on an older DSLR, you know how slow that contrast detection AF can be. The time lag of the EVF and slower AF can be real problems for someone trying to shoot something requiring split second timing to catch the action, but might not matter to other users.

Newer mirrorless have done a lot to address both these shortcomings... time lags are pretty minimal now and new forms of phase detection AF are much faster (such as Canon's Dual Pixel AF or DPAF, which was introduced on the 70D and now is being used both on most of Canon's recent DSLRs' Live View and on all of their current MILCs).

However, many sports/wildlife shooters still prefer DSLRs with optical viewfinders for their "real time" viewing. Also, an optical viewfinder doesn't need any power to operate... An EVF and the camera's imaging sensor have to be powered on to work.... And that draws heavily on batteries, significantly decreasing the number of shots per charge that MILC can typically make (similar happens with DSLRs when used in Live View). It doesn't help that to keep their mirrorless cameras compact, manufacturers also tend to use smaller, lower capacity batteries in them. For example, current Canon M-series use an LP-E17 battery with approx. 1100 or 1200 mAh capacity... while their DSLRs such as 80D and 7D Mark II use the larger LP-E6/E6N batteries that are around 1800 to 1900 mAh, if memory serves. (Note: Another reason sports/wildlife photogs, on the whole, still prefer DSLRs is because they tend to use a lot of telephotos and the selection of those is pretty limited with MILC, many more are available for DSLRs. Also, small/light MILC can feel unbalanced with a large lens fitted. The "bulk" of a DSLR can actually be an advantage in this case.)

In answer to what I think you want to know... There are mirrorless without viewfinders. But from most manufacturers there also are models that can be optionally fitted with one.... And/or there are models with a viewfinder built in. In most cases, MILC that have them use an electronic viewfinder (EVF) instead of an optical one, which most DSLRs use. EVFs have advantages and disadvantages you need to take into consideration, depending upon what you want to do with the camera.

Bill_de Loc: US

I figure if you were looking through the lens you wouldn't need a battery.

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chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon

I use Sony and will speak of only Sony mirrorless...what you see in the view finder is what you see in live view/LCD. I never use the view finder as I find more flexibility using live view. However, it is the photographer choice to use wither the view finder or live view. There is a built in function that will turn off live view when you bring the camera to your eye. You turn this fucntion on or off.

xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

Take a look at the Fuji X line-up and Sony.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

No - mirrorless means no mirror, but the converted sensor data can be sent to an electronic viewfinder.

xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

Try Fuji X100F, XT2, etc. for both EVF & OVF (optical viewfinder)

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

Olympus OMD e-Mark 5 II. I adore this camera. I loved my Nikon, but I love this one more.

Vern L

There are two major disadvantages to EVF's: They are poor in bright light and they are poor with moving subjects, such as sports or grandkids.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I have Sony and I have Olympus. And I love the EVF on both of them.

I also wear glasses. And I have zero problems in bright lights with the EVF. Not so with the rear LCD since it is easily affected in bright light.

Also I can use the EVF to look at what I have just taken, or use the menu to change settings thru the EVF.

I still have a OVF camera, and there is no going back. EVF is just so much better.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

I see neither of these two problems with my E-M mrII. I just was shooting a half triathlon and found no problems shooting the bikes as they went by from as close as 20 feet away on that hot cloudless day. One advantage I have seen is the light was so low that I was having problems seeing with my EVF. The advantage? When I took my eye away from the viewfinder to try and see and compose the shot, I could see absolutely nothing! I was at the limit of taking even a noisy picture in the dark where I could not see myself. I had to use a flashlight to find my way back.