Re: Big Viewfinders = Cheating?

[Eric Goldstein <egoldste@xxxxxxxxxx>]

JakeKristy@xxxxxxx wrote:
> Do modern professional photographers ever use video monitors
> to compose their work (as I bet the Portrait Masters at Sears and K-Mart do)?


Can't help with you what Sears or K-Mart do, but I can tell you that modern 
film-makers/directors use a device called a "video tap" to allow them to see 
what their film cameras "see" while film is rolling. The term "see" is used 
advisedly here, because while you can judge composition and action, you can't 
judge the light, or contrast, or DOF (the nature of video vs film, I'm afraid). 
Most film-makers I know kinda dislike it; it is no substitute for looking 
through the viewfinder, which they can only practically do before the shot and 
in rehearsal.

Since modern photographers _can_ look through the lenses on their reflex cameras 
(they don't need to rely on camera-people to operate the much simpler 
equipment), they do so copiously and joyfully; never have I heard a still 
photographer pining for a video display through his lens, _unless_ he or she is 
using a digital camera. When using digital, composing through the video monitor 
allows the photog to compensate for the various artifacts the electronics 
produce (ie changes in hue, saturation, contrast, resolution, etc.)

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

I always found the inverted, dull images on the ground glass to be far less 
telling than a good, bright reflex display... perhaps it is a matter of what one 
is used to?

I have in the past for certain critical stereo sessions opened both the back of 
my stereo camera and the shutter, placed a ground glass in the film channel, and 
did my shot prep while staring at the image through an Agfa loop. If you want to 
really _know_ what you are focused on, and how much DOF you really have, there 
is no substitute with the 50's cameras...

(Can't use this method with Iloca or Leica, BTW!)


Eric G.
egoldste@xxxxxx


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