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good, better, and best viewfinders in MFT world?

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buratino

buratino

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Hi guys,

I am not extremely happy with my GX85 viewfinder. I am not so bothered with that it's probably sequential field variety, but it's definitely small and not very well suited for exact focusing and framing.

So, what are the better and best options in this respect? EM10? EM5? EM1? G85? G9? I have heard the names, but still do not have much idea about their comparative qualities. GX9 is probably the same...

Please comment: I am a pretty recent MFT shooter. Thanks!
 
buratino said:
Hi guys,

I am not extremely happy with my GX85 viewfinder. I am not so bothered with that it's probably sequential field variety, but it's definitely small and not very well suited for exact focusing and framing.

So, what are the better and best options in this respect? EM10? EM5? EM1? G85? G9? I have heard the names, but still do not have much idea about their comparative qualities. GX9 is probably the same...

Please comment: I am a pretty recent MFT shooter. Thanks!
Click to expand...
For focus G9. Best all around but not quite as good for focus GX8. In my experience the G85 and Pen F are also quite good. Haven't tried others in your list.
 
E-M1 MkI and MkII (same VF) are every bit as good as the 100% 1x optical VFs in my E-30 and E-1 (actually better than).

Can't comment on other mFTs VFs.
 
I like the G9 the best. Also E-M1 Mark II and G85. Sold my GX85 because I couldn’t stand the viewfinder.
 
Because not only is it very high resolution, it also tilts.
 
I have both the EM-1 Mark II and the G9. The G9 offers magnification of 0.83, 0.77 and 0.70, which is a nice add considering I wear glasses. Nevertheless, the two cameras are comparable, and their viewfinders present no issues to my shooting.

The VH-4, which is attachable to the hot shoe on the EP-5 and other bodies is also a very fine viewfinder. The GX-8 offers a viewfinder that is not fixed, thus allowing more versatility in shooting options.
 
Last edited:
buratino said:
Hi guys,

I am not extremely happy with my GX85 viewfinder. I am not so bothered with that it's probably sequential field variety, but it's definitely small and not very well suited for exact focusing and framing.

So, what are the better and best options in this respect? EM10? EM5? EM1? G85? G9? I have heard the names, but still do not have much idea about their comparative qualities. GX9 is probably the same...

Please comment: I am a pretty recent MFT shooter. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Well, I think anyhow. Unless I'm mistaken, the EVF on the G9 is as good or better than the GX8 but since I haven't actually tried it, I can't say.

GH5 should be approximately the same as the GX8? Maybe slightly worse?

I find I much prefer the EVF on my GX8 over the E-M1 MK1/2 albeit, they are both really good and probably the best EVF from Olympus.

VF-4...is good, specially for it's time and the fact it's a removable EVF but compared to the GX8, no contest, the GX8.

I can't say about the GX80/85 as I just don't know, though they should be close to GX8?

The EVF's on the GX7, GX80/85, GX9...well, I prefer the colour rendering over most Oly EVF's but two things that pretty much kills it for me. Being sequential field EVF's means I'm one of the few that had problems with it. A straight no because of it...albeit, it only seems to really bother me if my eyes are tired...I should check. Besides all that, being a 16:9 view, the view is TINY! Generally speaking, I would only use it for composition.

So...with that said, and with holes for some missing cameras I'm sure...

GX8, G9

GH5

G80/85, E-M1 MK2

E-M5 MKii

E-M10 MKiii

Pen-F

GX80/85, GX9

Please note, this is just a guestimate so a camera can easily go up or down one slot except for the GX lines as they should be dead last in current M43 cameras.
 
G9 is very impressive. Noticeably better than my E-M1 Mk 1 and Pen F. However, I've never complained about any of them.

Brian
 
I recently replied about the differences between TFT LCD viewfinders (Olympus E-m1 mark I/II, Olympus E-m5 mark I/II, Olympus E-m10 mark I) vs. OLED LCD viewfinders (Pen-F, Olympus E-m10 mark II/III, FZ300, G85) here:
 
dougjgreen1 said:
Because not only is it very high resolution, it also tilts.
Click to expand...
But in order to use it, you need to use an older camera, since Olympus has phased out the accessory port. But you don't want a really old camera, since the eye sensor (and maybe something else) didn't work on the older cameras that had an accessory port.

Also, if you wear polarized sunglasses, it may not display if you use the sunglasses.
 
Michael Meissner said:
dougjgreen1 said:
Because not only is it very high resolution, it also tilts.
Click to expand...
But in order to use it, you need to use an older camera, since Olympus has phased out the accessory port. But you don't want a really old camera, since the eye sensor (and maybe something else) didn't work on the older cameras that had an accessory port.

Also, if you wear polarized sunglasses, it may not display if you use the sunglasses.
Click to expand...
It's also fully functional on an E-PL8
 
GX8 for me. You just can’t beat the tilt!
 
buratino said:
Hi guys,

I am not extremely happy with my GX85 viewfinder. I am not so bothered with that it's probably sequential field variety, but it's definitely small and not very well suited for exact focusing and framing.

So, what are the better and best options in this respect? EM10? EM5? EM1? G85? G9? I have heard the names, but still do not have much idea about their comparative qualities. GX9 is probably the same...

Please comment: I am a pretty recent MFT shooter. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Currently, the LUMIX G9 has the best EVF. With a huge eyecup. It has super fast refresh rates, is larger than a FF DSLR, and can be changed to 2 smaller sizes for loner eye relief. And, it has customization for brightness, contrast, and even a red light night mode.

The only downer for this EVF is the pincushion distortion. But, it doesn't take long to get use to the distortion. Also, you can reduce the distortion by pressing your eye up on the large eye cup for a larger view with less distortion. IME, after a few moments using it, the distortion becomes irrelevant. I prefer it over a FF optical view finder. For me, that's how good it is. And one of the main reasons I switched to MFT.
 
Last edited:
None
 
buratino said:
Hi guys,

I am not extremely happy with my GX85 viewfinder. I am not so bothered with that it's probably sequential field variety, but it's definitely small and not very well suited for exact focusing and framing.

So, what are the better and best options in this respect? EM10? EM5? EM1? G85? G9? I have heard the names, but still do not have much idea about their comparative qualities. GX9 is probably the same...

Please comment: I am a pretty recent MFT shooter. Thanks!
Click to expand...
My Panasonic GX8 viewfinder is stunning - and it tilts. My Olympus em1-mk2 viewfinder although quite good is a downgrade and took me a while to accept it. Gx7 is much poorer than both by far.
 
I have a GX80 and a G80 and there is no comparison, the EVF on the G80 is so much better. It's so good that when reviewing a picture taken with the G80 I use the EVF rather than the LCD screen.
 
Thank you much guys: a lot of useful info!!
 
Last edited:
buratino said:
Hi guys,

I am not extremely happy with my GX85 viewfinder. I am not so bothered with that it's probably sequential field variety, but it's definitely small and not very well suited for exact focusing and framing.

So, what are the better and best options in this respect? EM10? EM5? EM1? G85? G9? I have heard the names, but still do not have much idea about their comparative qualities. GX9 is probably the same...

Please comment: I am a pretty recent MFT shooter. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Not having tried them all, I couldn't say which is "best". I will say the GX8's EVF is luxuriously large, especially coming from my previous GX7. It also renders movement more smoothly. The G9's EVF is even bigger and, AFAIK, has the highest magnification of any camera available today.

There are other metrics of quality, though, and I was surprised to find that color accuracy of my GX85's EVF is markedly better than my GX7 and a bit better, even, than my GX8.
 
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