In today’s video I’ll be going over the optical viewfinder on the X100V; its advantages
and disadvantages, and if you stick around, I’ll also be going over my settings on turning
this X100V into a truly analog experience, so stick around for that.
Now if you’re new to my channel, my name is Jay.
I’m an amateur enthusiast photographer navigating my way through the photography world, learning
as I go and sharing my insights with you guys.
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Let’s get it.
The Hybrid viewfinder is one of the standout features that is often overlooked by new users
on the X100 cameras, despite being the reason why these cameras cost a bit more than cameras
with similar technical specifications.
So why bother using the Optical Viewfinder when the Electronic viewfinder is so bright
and responsive?
What’s the point when you can have all the visual aides you need on the screen and film
simulations displayed in real time to ensure your final image reflects what you see in
camera?
It all comes down to subjectivity, and this may come across as pretentious and cliche,
but looking through an optical viewfinder still provides one of the most visceral experiences
and provides an unmatched connection between the camera and the user.
The optical viewfinder does not enhance, nor does it detract from how our eyes see the
world.
It’s an intangible experience that only those who have come from optical viewfinders
can understand when transitioning to electronic.
There are two main advantages of the Optical viewfinder on the X100V.
First being that it provides an unobstructed view of your scene compared to an Electronic
viewfinder which displays a scene based on your aperture, iso, and shutter speed values.
A good example would be if you are operating flash and you wish to lower your ISO and raise
your aperture, while keeping the shutter speed relatively fast.
In the case of an EVF, you will literally see nothing because low iso, high aperture
and high shutter speeds will greatly diminish the exposure of a scene, and as you can imagine,
trying to compose would be difficult.
And speaking of composition, the other advantage of the OVF is it allows you to see a bit more
of the scene beyond the framelines.
In the EVF, you will see no frame lines because the entire viewfinder is the frame.
In an OVF there is a white rectangle which represents the framing of what your final
image will be, everything outside the rectangle is peripheral.
This is great for street photography as you can pre compose and wait for a subject to
enter your framelines without having to take your eyes away from the viewfinder.
The OVF does come with a drawback, and that is to do with parallax.
The X100V is not a true rangefinder camera, in that it doesn’t actually have a rangefinder
window.
This means what you are seeing out of the X100V’s viewfinder will not align perfectly
with what the sensor sees from the lens.
Luckily the framelines are still accurate, however when it comes to focusing, especially
at closer focusing distances, this poses a problem.
And that is where corrected AF frame comes into play.
In single shot AF mode, with corrected AF frame turned on, you will notice there is
a seperate box that is offset to the lower right of the main focus box.
The main box represents focus at infinity and the offset box represents where the focus
point would be at X100V’s closest focusing distance, and somewhere in between the two
boxes will be where your actual focus point would be.
When you half press the shutter, the main focus point will shift slightly and turn green,
indicating the point of focus.
I’ve tried it extensively and have come to the conclusion that this method is not
predictable and takes too much guesswork.
On the X100V a more effective way to focus would be to utilize the pop up focus assist
box by pushing the viewfinder selection dial to the left while in optical viewfinder mode.
I hope that clears things up a little.
Alright, so now that we know a little bit more about the optical viewfinder,let me share
with you guys the settings I have on my X100V that turns this in a truly analog experience.
Or at least I feel like, the closest to an analog experience that you can for an X100V.
Let’s run through the settings I’m using for my analog setup.
This goes without saying but we are set in manual mode.
First and foremost, I assign viewfinder mode to the function button located between the
shutter button and the exposure compensation button.
In the menus Wrench icon - button/dial setting - function seting - Fn1 - and locate view
mode setting with the icon that says ‘view mode’
This is necessary for this setup, I’ll explain why shortly.
Now we go back to wrench icon home screen - Screen setup - Display Custom settings - OVF
Here is where you can personalize what will be displayed as an overlay on the OVF.
For myself, I have MF distance indicator, Exposure compensation (scale), and battery
level turned on, everything else is unchecked.
If we look through the viewfinder you can see these elements displayed.
But notice how clean and minimal the viewfinder looks.
It’s less distracting and it helps me focus more on composition.
Finally in the AF/MF menu - depth of field scale - select film format basis.
Where pixel basis calculates the range of precise focus, film format also adds to the
range perceived focus.
Where objects in this range may technically be out of focus, however to the human eye
viewing from a distance, it would seem to look in focus.
This will provide you with some extra range when manually focusing.
Now for the dials.
If you wish to simulate an analog camera with aperture priority, you can set iso and shutter
speed to auto and select your auto ISO range of choice.
Choose a higher aperture value f/8 or above and using the focus ring, set the point of
focus to your desired distance.
Now we will use that function button we assigned the view modes to and toggle through the different
view modes until we get to viewfinder + eye sensor.
You may have to look through the viewfinder while toggling as the LCD will be off when
you select this desired mode.
This ensures that the LCD will never be turned off and the digital overlays on the optical
viewfinder will not be displayed until you have your eye up to the viewfinder.
And there you have it.
In my opinion this is the closest you can get to an analog camera shooting experience
with zone focusing on the X100V.
One final very critical advantage to this method is that the shutter response time is
the fastest in this set up.
With OVF and manual mode, the camera is not hindered by autofocus so you won't experience
that extra split second delay when you perform a full press of the shutter button as you
would in single shot AF or continuous AF modes.
Alright that about wrap things up for today.
If you learnt something new, definitely let me know in the comments section below.
And if you have any suggestions on what you would like to learn next, also let me know
in the comments.
My name is Jay, and until next time.