Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

[Dave in Wales]

E-M1:2...EVF mag 0.74x
PEN-F.....EVF mag 0.62x

I wear glasses as you probably gathered, the PEN-F's EVF is a dream, I can actually see all of the image. It's smaller and seems further away.

All the E-M's I've had have been dreadful by comparison, the image is too big and seems nearer to my eye.

So more isn't necessarily better, for some anyway.

https://www.neocamera.com/article/evf_sizes

[RobEW]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

Related question, if I may.

I met a photographer randomly, but he seemed very experienced and knowledgeable and accomplished. He suggested it was better (and indeed recommended as good practice) to use a viewfinder without glasses and to use dioptre adjustment to compensate.

Since I have astigmatism and also use varifocals, I'm guessing a simple dioptre adjustment would be less sophisticated than my glasses, but equally I can see his point.

Is there any standard guidance or recommendations?

(I find my glasses important to see stuff before I even get my camera to my eye as well of course).

[pdk42]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

Taking glasses on and off to peer into the viewfinder is a PITA - not practical at all IMHO.

[Jim Ford]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

The VF-4 viewfinder I use with my E-P5 is pretty good.

Jim

[Ricoh]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

To a more important point, Dave, is the leatherette crinkle free?

[Jim Ford]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

I wear glasses as you probably gathered, the PEN-F's EVF is a dream, I can actually see all of the image. It's smaller and seems further away.

If you like smaller and further away, try an E500. You also get dimmer as a bonus!

Jim

[Bikie John]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

I am a long-term speccie.

Apologies if you know this already - the E-M1 has various formats of viewfinder display, and with the one that fills the screen I can't see all of it at once. So I use one that has a smaller image and other info displayed outside it, and it's fine. Sometimes it needs a bit of gymnastics to see the extra info but I can see the whole image field without problems.

It's on page 133 of the current E-M1 Mark II manual, in the menu under Cogs -> I -> EVF style.

John

[drmarkf]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

I had a good play with a Panasonic S1 at the Photography Show, and the EVF is a complete dream - with specs I found it absolutely fine at its normal setting, but you can alter the magnification if you want to. The image is also wonderfully clean and I couldn't prompt any smearing or image delay during fast shooting despite lots of provocation.

Unfortunately it's also very expensive, huge and weighs a ton even without a lens.

[Ricoh]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

I had a good play with a Panasonic S1 at the Photography Show, and the EVF is a complete dream - with specs I found it absolutely fine at its normal setting, but you can alter the magnification if you want to. The image is also wonderfully clean and I couldn't prompt any smearing or image delay during fast shooting despite lots of provocation.

Unfortunately it's also very expensive, huge and weighs a ton even without a lens.

Sell a kidney and join a gym

[Tram]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

I used to do a bit of rifle shooting and there were special glasses available.
One lens hinged upwards to give access to a diopter rearsight.

Something similar could work well for those of us that can use a corrected evf instead of glasses.
Not sure if they are still around since the firearms ban decimated shooting as a sport

[Jim Ford]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

I used to do a bit of rifle shooting and there were special glasses available.
One lens hinged upwards to give access to a diopter rearsight.

When I shot I didn't wear glasses. Those that did had a correction lens in the rear aperture sight. If there was astigmatism correction, there was a little dot on the lens to ensure the correct position.

Jim

[Dave in Wales]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

To a more important point, Dave, is the leatherette crinkle free?

http://e-group.uk.net/forum/showthread.php?p=477633#post477633

[Dave in Wales]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

Related question, if I may.

I met a photographer randomly, but he seemed very experienced and knowledgeable and accomplished. He suggested it was better (and indeed recommended as good practice) to use a viewfinder without glasses and to use dioptre adjustment to compensate.

Since I have astigmatism and also use varifocals, I'm guessing a simple dioptre adjustment would be less sophisticated than my glasses, but equally I can see his point.

Is there any standard guidance or recommendations?

(I find my glasses important to see stuff before I even get my camera to my eye as well of course).

It has nothing to do with lens type/ strength etc, its just the fact that the lens is there at all. It prevents ones eye from getting close enough to the EVF.

[Jim Ford]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

It has nothing to do with lens type/ strength etc, its just the fact that the lens is there at all. It prevents ones eye from getting close enough to the EVF.

I agree, glasses are a pain to use with a VF (and most other optical equipment), but it's marginally less of a pain than removing the glasses!

Jim

[Bruce Clarke]

Re: Lower EVF mag. much better for eye-glass wearers.

It has nothing to do with lens type/ strength etc, its just the fact that the lens is there at all. It prevents ones eye from getting close enough to the EVF.

It's down to the optical design of the EVF. It's not so much the magnification as the eye relief as it's known. Some EVFs have the focal point further out from the EVF lens. I've not had any problem with my E-M5 or E-M1. Maybe your frames / lenses are thicker than average?

This is a good LL article on optical VFs, but the principle is the same.

https://luminous-landscape.com/understanding-viewfinders/