Evolution of the DVC

Arguments are starting between DSLR and P&S advocates as digital camera
technology evolves. My hopes are on the DVC (Digital View Camera) as the
final solution to these arguments.

Early P & S cameras were considered just toys with their tiny screens and
minute viewfinders. Now as the view screens get bigger and the sensors get
better people are starting to see better pictures coming from this crop of
new cameras. The simple ergonomics of these new P & S cameras is making
better photographers out of the people that use them. Taking shots with both
eyes wide open is a definite asset to any photography.

The DSLR is a dinosaur with its clunky mirror and one-eyed viewfinder.
Fortunately you can see from the latest crop of DSLR's that they are taking
their pointers from the P & S crowd and adding Live-View and larger view
screens.

The end result of this evolution will be the advent of the DVC which will
have a large and effective view screen, combined with an excellent CCD. The
new DVC cameras will mimic the old film view cameras that many true
professionals still use today.

NM

 

Ther are two sides in any argument - Mine and the mistaken one.

 

To me, the SLR will not be obsolete until electric viewfinders have
the same number of pixels or more than the main image chip. Not many
7 Mp LCD screens around.

 

It would be interesting to figure out what the effective resolution of an
eye looking through an SLR viewfinder is. What with all the optics and
focusing screens in the way, I would suspect it would be quite low.

NM

 

I have shot with SLR's (and compacts) for many years (both film and
digital). For me, live view on DSLR's would only really be useful when I
can't get my eye on the optical viewfinder (for example, if there is an
obstruction in front of you and you need to hold the camera above head
height). In the past this was more luck than judgment. It could also be
handy when shooting on a tripod, but to be honest, it wouldn't get me any
photos I wouldn't get anyway.

The other benefit is a 100% field of view, but most pro DSLR bodies have
this through the optical viewfinder and when shooting with DSLR's that only
have 95% FOV, it is fairly easy to adapt.

I can see no disadvantages of having large LCD's, but to be honest, I only
use this when I am in the hotel, plane, etc. with some time to spare and
scan through the days photos. What really counts is what you see through
the viewfinder when you take the shot, and for this I want to look through
an optical viewfinder, not an LCD.

 

I doubt it. The ground glass collar on my old Pentax
viewfinder screen is sharp enough that a 2x magnifier
over the eyepiece is genuinely useful. I would
guess that that means a resolution on the fine
ground-glass portion of the screen of better
than 1 line pair per minute of arc.

The viewfinder is around 20 degrees by 30 degrees,
so a whole screen with 2 pixels per minute of arc would
have to be over 8 megapixels.

That being said, an 8 megapixel EVF would be in
many ways better than an optical system. The
really sharp area would not be confined to
a doughnut shape at the centre of the screen,
and it could be as bright as you like.

Peter.

 

[A complimentary Cc of this posting was sent to
Don Stauffer in Minnesota

As experience shows, a VGA (640x480x3) eVF with an "instant on-demand"
2x or 4x magnification (as on A2) is getting close in usability to an
honest optical viewfinder. Given this, I expect that about 1200x800x3
eVF would be much better than an optical viewfinder.

(And, honestly speaking, I would gladly reject the "tunnel"
viewfinder at all, if there were an alternative way to stabilize
the camera - I hate screwing the camera into my eyesocket.)

Hope this helps,
Ilya

 

You mean Minolta Dimage A2? Interesting comment.

As it turns out, holding a digicam at arms length and looking at
the LCD viewfinder works just as well (for stability) as putting the
viewfinder next to your face, perhaps because arm-holding eliminates
shake from breathing.

 

[A complimentary Cc of this posting was sent to
Bill Tuthill

Actually, I lost the count. It might have been this, otherwise it is
Konica Minolta Dimage A2. ;-)

I find it hard to believe such blanket statements. This MUST depend
on the design of the grips, weight of the camera, physical length of
the lens, on focal length, exposure time, presence of stabilization
etc...

Yours,
Ilya

 

There was a test on this, which I will endeavor to find...

Here it is:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1018&message=17501274

 

... which includes:

"What I think is happening is that the classic SLR braced position is
slightly more stable than the two hands held out in front. This is most
clearly indicated by the slowest shutter speed results where the E-300
seems better. But the C7070 has an advantage in that it does not have
vibrations induced by a flipping mirror. And I suspect this is why it
gives us such nice undistorted dots at 1/60 of a second compared to the
not quite perfect dots from the E-300 at the same shutter speed."

David