EVF free

D

dixeyk

Guest
Apologies to anyone that has seen my post on mu-43

I just picked up an E-P1 and am going to put my G2 aside for the month of December and see if I can get a real feel (and appreciation) for shooting only with the LCD. I see lots of great stuff coming from folks with E-P1s so I know it can be done and while I really like the G2s layout and controls I think the E-P1/E-P2 is my favorite of the Olympus bodies design wise. There will certainly some things that will be more difficult or maybe even impossible to do but life is full of compromises. Photographers that I respect can work with whatever limitation they are handed and still produce wonderful images. I want to do the same.

So. I always tell folks make the best of what they have (my son calls it preaching) so I figure its time to put up or shut up.

Pixelmator-20111124-211010.jpg
 
Welcome to the screen club. I have the EVF for the gxr but never use it.
You'll find it liberating to see the screen in reality without the finders box confining your vision.
Don
 
Welcome to the screen club. I have the EVF for the gxr but never use it.
You'll find it liberating to see the screen in reality without the finders box confining your vision.
Don


Thank you I'll keep an eye out for the newsletter. I suppose having the G2 makes this a bit simpler in that I have an option if I need to use and EVF (and I can see there might be times when that is appropriate) but I think I am trying to get to some sort of zen of photography where it isn't about the gear but about my skill and ability to use whatever it i that I'm given to make pictures with. I've been martial artist for years and 've had it hammered into me that you work with what you have. If you have only your hands to defend yourself with then you do that. If you have a stick then use that but don't wish for the stick when its not there. Commit to what you have fully and act. It analogy is flawed I am sure but I see photography similarly.

I guess I'm trying to free myself of MY limitations and not blame the camera.
 
The Zen is in you. It's how you perceive yourself within the world.
With photography, seeing and feeling crests the flow for Zen. Looking thru a finder is very mechanical. Letting the screen/print float in time and space will open the heart and mind. The eye/camera will do the rest.

You'll be fine, just don't second guess yourself.
I learned in martial arts to see thru and beyond a situation and then get myself there by any means available.
Same in photography.
 
Look forward to reading your feedback on going LCD-only for the month. I had a little more trouble with the display on the E-P2 versus the E-P3 in bright sunlight. I will be interesting to see how you make out with the E-P1.

I bring my EVF along with me if I am bringing a backpack, but I rarely have it mounted. Unless I can not see the screen enough to even frame a shot, which doesn't really happen, I am more comfortable using the camera display. I do like having the idea of having a viewfinder in the kit if I take a camera to a dark music venue, so I am not blinding people behind with my LCD backspray (also to be able to use where cameras are discouraged).
 
While I've got the optional EVF for the NEX-5N, and it really performs well for the most part, I'm trying to use the screen more and am using it more than I thought I would. Unfortunately my farsightedness is just enough that I can't always focus my orbs on the screen, but not enough that I have to carry corrective glasses around with me all the time.

It may be harder to allow the free flow of Zen when squinting and contorting eyeballs creates a masterful headache. ;)

Still, I'm trying it out and finding it different and helpful all at once.
 
Remember, even the Zen masters and the Dali Lama wear glasses.
I need reading glasses and any newspaper reminds me of it. The screen has adjustments called arms. I'll move in and out without my glasses. I get a little fuzzy but enough to see the framing. Just by glancing past the screen, I can see details.
When I'm not stubborn or stupid, I wear my glasses and Eureka!
 
The screen has adjustments called arms.
Phew, its hard to keep up with all of that SERIOUS high tech you're working with there Don! :cool:

If I'd been drinking coffee when I read that, it would have made a most hasty exit through the nose, after stopping briefly at the sinuses just to say "hey". Fortunately, I'd finished the coffee intake for the day!

-Ray
 
Ray, arms are multifunctional also. We all know that moving the camera changes perspective. Well, the arms are fine tuning perspective tools as well as eye adjusters.
Watch that Kona.....
 
It seems to me that the work is the seeing and that the capturing becomes easier when you see what you want to capture.
 
Okay let me see if I've got this.

arms...check
glasses...check
legs (for Tele and WA)...check

Sheesh, I don't know if my bag is big enough.
 
Apologies to anyone that has seen my post on mu-43

I just picked up an E-P1 and am going to put my G2 aside for the month of December and see if I can get a real feel (and appreciation) for shooting only with the LCD. I see lots of great stuff coming from folks with E-P1s so I know it can be done and while I really like the G2s layout and controls I think the E-P1/E-P2 is my favorite of the Olympus bodies design wise. There will certainly some things that will be more difficult or maybe even impossible to do but life is full of compromises. Photographers that I respect can work with whatever limitation they are handed and still produce wonderful images. I want to do the same.

So. I always tell folks make the best of what they have (my son calls it preaching) so I figure its time to put up or shut up.

Pixelmator-20111124-211010.jpg

Since I got my first GRD virtually all my shooting has been with the LCD of my various cameras.
Don is correct, the LCD permits full use of your periphial vision.
One is 'in' the scene.
Plus most folk react better to you when you face and eyes are not masked by the camera.
 
Since I got my first GRD virtually all my shooting has been with the LCD of my various cameras.
Don is correct, the LCD permits full use of your periphial vision.
One is 'in' the scene.
Plus most folk react better to you when you face and eyes are not masked by the camera.

That's a good point, I hadn't considered the advantage of looking more approachable. I imagine that might be really helpful in some situations. BTW, I love your images.
 
Okay let me see if I've got this.

arms...check
glasses...check
legs (for Tele and WA)...check

Sheesh, I don't know if my bag is big enough.

Don't forget Waist Rotation Procedures. This works like a pan head on those tripod things.
Most street shooters wear this all the time. I haven't seen mine for a spell but I think it's still there. Dunno...
 
Don't forget Waist Rotation Procedures. This works like a pan head on those tripod things.
Most street shooters wear this all the time. I haven't seen mine for a spell but I think it's still there. Dunno...

LOL...I remember reading an article about a news photographer (Jane Brown I think) that used her trusty OM2 and 2 lenses a OM50 and an OM85. He stuff is just amazing. I especially like her seat of the pants portrit of Samuel Beckett. I look at my cabinet full of glass and I think "I am surely missing something here". Sometimes we can get caught up with gear, features and specs but none of it REALLY needed to make better pictures. I want to be able to create with whatever I have on hand and not use it as a crutch for me to make excuses why I didn't get a certain shot.
 
You have to develop your vision inside of yourself. Then you have to recognize that vision outside of yourself. Cameras, lenses etc are just tools you use to capture and present that vision. This is where the back work applies. You have to search your catalog to find the images that represent the above scenario... in this point of time.

The scenario may change as time goes on and you develop different series.
For now, I would suggest you sort and find your favorite images. Don't think in terms of subject matter, just the images.

Then, sort by lens to find the common denominator in this group. This will help you eliminate different focal lengths until needed.
After you SEE this group of images, try to define what each means on its own and in a group.
Then try to group the images so that the group reads nice, like prose or poetry.

Hopefully, you will see pieces of the puzzle that are missing.
Take your camera and the lens most used and go find those missing pieces.
I'm available if you need assistance.
Don
 
Ok, you are working on this....good.
Think about Scrabble. You know how the words connect both vertically and horizontally?
Well the letter tha connects the words together is in photography, a transitional image.
That means that a certain image fits the group but has a fairy dust that could lead to another direction. These are not easily recognizable but crucial for future work.

The connect your body of work with your signature and create the map of your life's work.
 
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