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Just getting into looking at DSLR's.
Looking thru, anyway.

So DSLR's, I assume, don't have focusing screens? Is that why looking thru
the viewfinder everything is in focus?
Do any DSLR's have Depth of field preview thru the viewfinder or do you have
to go to the lcd display?



--
Pat Lundrigan
http://dandyfunk.typepad.com/

dosferatu wrote:
> Just getting into looking at DSLR's.
> Looking thru, anyway.
>
> So DSLR's, I assume, don't have focusing screens? Is that why looking thru
> the viewfinder everything is in focus?

They do have focussing screens; not everything is in focus - try a long
(tele) focal length lens or a closer subect...

> Do any DSLR's have Depth of field preview thru the viewfinder or do you have
> to go to the lcd display?
>

As above; my D70 has a DOF preview button that works (mostly)...

Many 'prosumer' DSLRs do not have very nice viewfinders; typically they
are mirrors not pentaprism, are not very bright, do not show 100% of
frame (?) and are 'challenging' to use for critical focussing...

They also have an LCD overlay for the focus point indications etc., when
the camera has no battery installed this darkens the viewfinder further.

Pro models are somewhat/much better.

>
> Do any DSLR's have Depth of field preview thru the viewfinder or do
you have to go to the lcd display?

Only after taking the shot - most DSLRs do not have LCD live preview



Guy

"Alfred Molon" <> wrote in message
news: ...
>
> What is Depth of field preview ?
>


Press the DOF preview button and the aperture goes from wide open, as used
for focusing and framing the shot, to your selected aperture. The VF will
now 'preview' what's really in focus/not in focus at that aperture and focal
length. The main problem is that it will get dark in the VF at small
apertures.

dosferatu wrote:
> Just getting into looking at DSLR's.
> Looking thru, anyway.
>
> So DSLR's, I assume, don't have focusing screens? Is that why looking thru
> the viewfinder everything is in focus?
> Do any DSLR's have Depth of field preview thru the viewfinder or do you have
> to go to the lcd display?

Perhaps you are comparing to memories of film SLRs which have larger
viewfinders (most DSLRs have smaller sensors) and used to come with a
fast (bright) 50mm lens versus the slow kit zoom lenses common these days.

--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

all google groups messages filtered due to spam

"dosferatu" <> wrote:
>So DSLR's, I assume, don't have focusing screens?

They do have focussing screens. And there are even companies like e.g.
CatzEye Optics who make custom replacement focussing screens for special
requirement

>Is that why looking thru
>the viewfinder everything is in focus?

Well, it isn't. Quite the opposite actually. Under 'normal'
circumstances the apperture will be wide open, giving you a narrow DOF.

>Do any DSLR's have Depth of field preview thru the viewfinder

You just close the apperture to the working size, typically by pushing a
small button near the lens mount.

>or do you have to go to the lcd display?

Wouldn't do you any good because almost no DSLRs have what is called
'live preview'.

jue

In article <>, Jürgen Exner
<> wrote:

> >or do you have to go to the lcd display?
>
> Wouldn't do you any good because almost no DSLRs have what is called
> 'live preview'.

actually quite a few do. nikon, canon, sony and olympus all have at
least two models each. pentax's depth of field preview actually takes
a photo without writing it to the card and displays it. not exactly
live view, but it's not the traditional dof preview either.

In article <>, Alfred
Molon <> wrote:

> In article <210520081528134895%>, nospam says...
> > pentax's depth of field preview actually takes
> > a photo without writing it to the card and displays it. not exactly
> > live view, but it's not the traditional dof preview either.
>
> Are you saying that for instance the Pentax K20D has no live video feed
> to the LCD?

i haven't seen a k20d yet, but i was referring to how depth of field
preview is implemented. however, it looks like pentax does both
methods now, at least on the k10d. i'm pretty sure the *ist series
only did the digital preview.

<http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxk10d/page5.asp>

The K10D also provides a 'digital preview' option so that this lever
position instead takes a preview shot which is representative of the
final image in depth of field, white balance and exposure. This
'digital preview' image is shown on the LCD monitor but not saved.
This feature is also available when selecting white balance.

On May 21, 8:33*am, Bigguy <biggu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> dosferatu wrote:
> > Just getting into looking at DSLR's.
> > Looking thru, anyway.
>
> > So DSLR's, I assume, don't have focusing screens? Is that why looking thru
> > the viewfinder everything is in focus?
>
> They do have focussing screens; not everything is in focus - try a long
> (tele) focal length lens or a closer subect...
>
> > Do any DSLR's have Depth of field preview thru the viewfinder or do you have
> > to go to the lcd display?

>
> Many 'prosumer' DSLRs do not have very nice viewfinders; typically they
> are mirrors not pentaprism, are not very bright, do not show 100% of
> frame (?) and are 'challenging' to use for critical focussing...


My Nikon D80 uses a Pentaprism and the viewfinder is large and bright,
unlike the D50 that I owned before it.

Jim Townsend wrote:
> dosferatu wrote:
>
>> Just getting into looking at DSLR's.
>> Looking thru, anyway.
>>
>> So DSLR's, I assume, don't have focusing screens? Is that why looking thru
>> the viewfinder everything is in focus?
>> Do any DSLR's have Depth of field preview thru the viewfinder or do you have
>> to go to the lcd display?
>
> Originally, SLR cameras allowed the user to look through the lens.
>
> - The light passing through the lens was reflected by a mirror onto a
> focusing screen.
>
> - The image on the focusing screen was directed to an eyepiece by means
> of a pentaprism or (penta mirror). The pentaprism was used to orient
> the image correctly so it was right side up and not backwards.
>
> Today the principals above have been discarded by many and as such are
> meaningless when describing an SLR camera.
>
> Modern cameras provide a live through the lens view through the sensor
> and LCD display. If you add advanced features like shutter and aperture
> priority, then you have a SLR. Many of these cameras have a fixed zoom
> lens, so someone decided to call them ZLR cameras. This hasn't really
> caught on. It's mostly a source of confusion.


Functions like aperture and shutter priority have nothing to do with a
camera being an SLR.

The term SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. A single lens, vs. separate
picture and viewfinder lenses as found on most P&S (particularly film
P&S) or rangefinder cameras. "Reflex" refers to the action of flipping
the mirror out of the way to to allow the light through to the imaging
device (be it film or digital sensor).

A number of P&S cameras are single-lens (live-view display only, no
optical viewfinder), but no reflex action; these are not SLRs. Many
models also have aperture and shutter priority and even full
manual-exposure modes; these don't make them SLRs either.

By the same token, some old SLR cameras don't have through-the-lens
metering, or any form of auto-exposure modes (Program, Aperture, or
Shutter priority), but are manual-exposure only. They are still SLRs
for the fact that they are a Single Lens Reflex design.

"Matt Ion" <> wrote in message
news:g12mf1$ms9$...
>
> The term SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. A single lens, vs. separate
> picture and viewfinder lenses as found on most P&S (particularly film P&S)
> or rangefinder cameras. "Reflex" refers to the action of flipping the
> mirror out of the way to to allow the light through to the imaging device
> (be it film or digital sensor).

Does it?
What then, does "reflex" mean in a TLR camera, such as the Rollei or Mamiya?

Isn't it the *presence* of the mirror (disregard pentaprisms here) rather
than the action of flipping it?

--
Jeff R.