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DSLR question

S

Staples

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jul 18, 2001
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As I understand it, when you look into a view finder of a DSLR, you do not see a mirror reflected image of the object you are pointing at but rather an 118k pixel screen. If this is so, I want to know how close an object has to be before focusing manually would be so hard (because the detail on screen is so little) that you'd just elect to have the camera AF? I'd suspect that an object (the size of a person) can't be more than 15 feet from you because the detail on screen sucks in comparison to a mirror reflected image.

Do any of you guys with DSLRs wish that you were just looking at a mirror reflected image rather than a pixelated screen? I think the clarity would be so much better and it would make focusing a lot easier. Hopefully it is just as clear as it would be looking at a mirror reflected image and I am just being over critical of the whole situation.
 
DSLR's use mirrors/prisms to form the image in the viewfinder, a purely optical process. Some cameras have Electronic View Finders (EVF's), but DSLR's from Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Pentax, etc do not.

Manually focusing a DSLR may be a little difficult because the image is small, due to the ~1.6x crop, but it is an image thru the lens, unlike every P&S, which has a seperate viewfinder.
 
You have it somewhat mixed up.

It is the SLR/DSLR that uses the mirror and penta-prism to show you everything "through-the-lens" (TTL) when you look through the view-finder.

There are some expensive Digital Point & Shoots that have an Electronic Viewfinder (EVF). They have a single lens, but there is no mirror reflex action going on with them because they don't have any mirrors. The (seperate and usually out of the line of the lens) Optical Viewfinder on P&S cameras are not TTL, and you have to consider things like paralax when you focus to things close to the camera. At least with a Digital Point & Shoot, nearly everything is covered by the Depth of Field so you don't have to worry about focusing on anything beyond 5ft for it to be in focus.



Focusing on a DSLR can be very easy (split-prism focusing screen -- a special split mat that goes between the mirror and pentaprism that shows focus with a vertical break in the image that you line up) or a bit more difficult (regular focusing screen -- a regular matte-ish mat that has special patterns that help you "see" focus, but is difficult to distinguish where it is focused). Usually the autofocus points are on the focusing screen and light up when a point registers focus. It also depends on the lens used, and the Depth of Field on that lens.

I usually use AutoFocus unless there is no light. I use my fast 85mm f/1.8 lens in very low light because it lets the most light in for the viewfinder so I can focus easier. More recently I've used my 420EX flash that has a focus-assist beam. It has a lamp that emits verticle red lines that the camera's AutoFocus system lines up to achieve focus. There might be some IR beams also being emitted, but I don't see them :p Other times the strobosonic flash helps, but is annoying. That cycles the flash at low power so the camera can try to focus when everything is lit up by it. Then the flash pauses to charge, and fires for the picture.

Cheers.
 
Well, I guess I was wrong and was worried for no reason. My father had a 20+ year old Canon SLR and that is the only experience I have had with SLRs. It didn't have AF as you can imagine but I never really found it hard to focus on anything with the ring (at least that I could tell). It wouldn't surprise me if distant objects were slightly out of focus (because everything is so small when it is far away and it is hard to zero in perfectly) but I could never tell on the 4x6 prints. I would imagine that I'd use auto focus most of the time and since it is an SLR, you can see exactly where it is focused (NOT on a 200x150 screen) before you snap the shot. That is a really big plus since I hate when my camera doesn't focus right and I find out when I get home.
 
just got my sister a Nikon D70 for christmas and she loves it. At first she was "super anti digital" until she found out she could use all her lenses from the SLR on the DSLR. She primarily uses the eyepiece (mirror) to focus, and say the video screen comes in handty if she is gonna just hand it to someone to take a group pic. But i have played with it a bit, and with my limited camera expereince, I can say i use the eyepiece the most. And the pics dont look blurry in the least, even on large landscape shots. And even more so on the close ups.
 
paymepunk said:
She primarily uses the eyepiece (mirror) to focus, and say the video screen comes in handty if she is gonna just hand it to someone to take a group pic. But i have played with it a bit, and with my limited camera expereince, I can say i use the eyepiece the most.
Click to expand...

You seem to be saying the display screen can be used to frame the photo. DSLR's don't work that way. You have to look through the viewfinder (and therfore the lens) to see what you are pointed at. The display is only used for replay of photos after they are taken.

Glenn
 
my mistake, i understood it to be how my sister explained it. But then again that was christmas day, and i was busy. regardless of my apparent phopah (sp?) I still have had no problems using SLR or DSLR's. But i guess thats a relative thing. sorry if i contributed to misinformation. just trying to help.
 
Well that is nice to know. It will certainly save a lot on the batteries if I solely have to use the viewfinder. I hate using the small screens and I take pictures of people a lot (including kids who never look at the camera) so I need to snap it when everything is perfect. The timing needs to be instantaneous and of course the delay really doesn't help at all.
 
Racer-X said:
You seem to be saying the display screen can be used to frame the photo. DSLR's don't work that way. You have to look through the viewfinder (and therfore the lens) to see what you are pointed at. The display is only used for replay of photos after they are taken.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. There are plenty of DSLRs out there that will allow you to compose and shoot using the LCD display. Well, maybe not plenty, but some at least. My Olympus E-10 would be one example. Granted, it has a fixed lens, but it is most certainly TTL and most certainly can be used without the viewfinder. Of course I wouldn't usually use it that way, but it can be quite effective when taking pictures close to the ground, for example.
 
Very true. I knew there was at lest one camera out there that was DSLR-ish that had a live preview, but since we were talking about a D70, I figured it would be best to leave the exception out. My mistake.

Glenn
 
paymepunk said:
just got my sister a Nikon D70 for christmas and she loves it. At first she was "super anti digital" until she found out she could use all her lenses from the SLR on the DSLR. She primarily uses the eyepiece (mirror) to focus, and say the video screen comes in handty if she is gonna just hand it to someone to take a group pic. But i have played with it a bit, and with my limited camera expereince, I can say i use the eyepiece the most. And the pics dont look blurry in the least, even on large landscape shots. And even more so on the close ups.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I had to laugh at this.
 
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