• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

SLR viewfinders

S

Staples

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jul 18, 2001
Messages
7,978
I have had a Rebel XT for a long time. It is my first SLR and I can't help but to feel that my expectations have not totally been met. What you can see in the viewfinder is only like 95% (if even that) of the picture you actually take. I can adjust to this concept however I have several lens and the offset is different for each lens. It would be idea if you got another 2.5% of the picture on all sides but that is not so. It seems that is almost the way it works with one of my lens (except for the bottom). I can learn to adjust to this however with the lens I use most the time, the offset is just bad. You get like an extra 8% of so on the top (I guess I can call it that) and 0% extra anywhere else. I have taken countless pictures that are way off center because of this weird offset.

Is this only a problem with the Rebel XT because it is the value line SLR and possibly comes with a cheap viewfinder or is this a problem I would also have with a 30D?

 
Im messing with my rebel XT now, and i dont seem to have that problem. If it is taking more than what i see, it isnt anything more than 1%, because i really cant tell. Messed around with 3 diff lenses. Sounds like a setting or something is bunk with your XT, because mine is absolutely on center everytime.
 
Staples said:
I have had a Rebel XT for a long time. . You get like an extra 8% of so on the top (I guess I can call it that) and 0% extra anywhere else. I have taken countless pictures that are way off center because of this weird offset.
Click to expand...

if you have this problem and have had this camera for a long time, I would assume that you would have learned to compensate during your compositions.

I don't experience this with my D60, and if my camera does this, I don't notice it and it doesn't affect me with my picture taking.
 
Well sure I can learn to deal with it but the fact that the offset is different for four different lens is just strange. I want to know if anybody else has this problem. It does not sound like you guys seem to have this problem so I guess that is good news. I don't know anyone with a canon DSLR but I guess I can go to a store and ask if I can use their floor display with my lens and shoot off a few rounds.

The lens that is most off center where you get like 8% more on the top and 0% on the right, left and bottom is the Tamron 28-75 F2.8. I know it is a pretty popular lens so it would be interesting to hear from someone who has both that lens and a Rebel XT. I'll see if I can get some pictures up later demonstrating the problem.
 
Not having full coverage through the viewfinder is not uncommon for SLR cameras. Not quite sure what you mean by the offset changing with the lens, because with a TTL viewfinder, what you see is what you get.

FYI, the only EOS Canon cameras that have 100% viewfinders are the 1V and 1D series
 
I have a Nikon and, dont really see much of a picture gain from what I see. Even if I did that is what cropping is for in post-processing, to get the final pic you want. If you find a store that will let you shoot a couple of test pics and, the test cam doesnt have the same field. Then Id say your mount is off. Of course if they are the same then, just cop it out, it is an inherit trait of the camera then.
 
I just made an image of what the problem is for people who may not understand from my discription. Canon states that the viewfinder only shows 95% of the image that the sensor will pick up. I have made a picture here with two scenarios.

The first one is the ideal 'centered' position. The darker area shows what you would see in the viewfinder and the lighter is the area that is actually picked up by the sensor. In the first image, we see that the center of the viewfinder is the exact center of what your sensor sees. On one of my lens, the situation is more or less exactly that and pictures always come out the way I want them to.

Now for the second, this is how my pictures usually look with the Tamron lens. Way off center. Sure zooming out before shooting and cropping is a work around but I'd love to avoid this if I can since it is time consuming.

I know most of you have value grade DSLRs so I'd love to know if the viewfinder in your 'cheap' cameras have centered viewfinders with all lenses or like mine, it may be centered (or close) with one lens and then just downright off center with another.

2006.09.05_viewfinder.gif
 
I tested my Canon D60 with a Sigma 28-70 @ 28mm and it is completely centered with majority of the unseen space on the sides of the frame.

I see the top and bottom in the viewfinder and that is what is captured, there is just a little bit on the left and right that I don't see in the viewfinder.
 
Staples said:
I just made an image of what the problem is for people who may not understand from my discription. Canon states that the viewfinder only shows 95% of the image that the sensor will pick up. I have made a picture here with two scenarios.

The first one is the ideal 'centered' position. The darker area shows what you would see in the viewfinder and the lighter is the area that is actually picked up by the sensor. In the first image, we see that the center of the viewfinder is the exact center of what your sensor sees. On one of my lens, the situation is more or less exactly that and pictures always come out the way I want them to.

Now for the second, this is how my pictures usually look with the Tamron lens. Way off center. Sure zooming out before shooting and cropping is a work around but I'd love to avoid this if I can since it is time consuming.

I know most of you have value grade DSLRs so I'd love to know if the viewfinder in your 'cheap' cameras have centered viewfinders with all lenses or like mine, it may be centered (or close) with one lens and then just downright off center with another.

2006.09.05_viewfinder.gif
Click to expand...

Hold on one second here! One lens works, the other doesn't..

IMHO this has nothing to do with the camera and everything to do with the lens. I have a 20D and 3 Canon lenses- and have never had this problem..

If you think about it, if the viewfinder and image recorded are the same- it probably isn't the camera- the light is pointed in the wrong direction..

I'd recommend putting your lens on a different body and see what happens.
 
Well today I tested all my lens and it is only one that seems to have this problem. I guess it is the lens after all. I just made a picture of what you see in the viewfinder for 3 out of the 4 lenses. It is pretty much centered. I guess something is defective in the affected lens. I am pretty confident that everything will be fine once I get a replacement.

Oh screw it, I will post it tomorrow. It is in psd format.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top