Big Viewfinders = Cheating?

[JakeKristy@xxxxxxx]

A few days ago, while working with a small macro video camera and viewing the
image on a monitor, I found that I was *seeing a finished image* right before
my eyes!  That is, with a sufficiently convenient viewfinder, I was getting a
"detached" clear vision of what the final picture would look like.  This is
something that is sorely missed in my stereoscopic imaging with cameras like
the Kodak or the Realist.

Imagine that cramped feeling you get with one eye forcefully closed and the
other peering through a little viewing window in the typical camera (even a
modern SLR).

I bet that being able to see what the camera sees, in a large format (at
least a few inches on a side), and from a comfortable distance is a fantastic
tool for improving ones ability to compose a picture.

I imagine this truth found in various forms of photography with which I have
no experience.  Do modern professional photographers ever use video monitors
to compose their work (as I bet the Portrait Masters at Sears and K-Mart do)?

Do those cameras with the nice big ground glass viewfinder give an unfair
advantage to the photograher?

How could we bring the ground glass or the video monitor system to our
convenient classic stereo cameras?  I sure wouldn't mind the help.

--ChrisLookingForWaysTo"Cheat"H.


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