E-P1 finder - are you using it?

[joachim]

Here in Europe the Olympus E-P1 pancake kits (17mm lens) come packaged with the optical finder. This also holds for the double lens kit.

Obviously the finder adds to the size and price. If you have one of these kits, do you use the finder or do you wish the kit came without the finder and would be cheaper?

Any comments?

[FrozenInTime]

I said I use it most of the time, but that's not really true:
I use the Ricoh GV-2 most of the time .

The Olympus OVF is quite bulky and overhangs the back of the camera - so it gets caught easily ( I use the camera with a wrist loop ).

Now your probably thinking 'but the GV-2 is a e28mm finder' :
It is but as the frame lines are so conservative, by a happy coincidence they actually correspond precisely to e34mm at infinity
So for me the VF-1 was a waste of money ( but it came in the kit )

[joachim]

Originally Posted by FrozenInTime

I said I use it most of the time, but that's not really true:
I use the Ricoh GV-2 most of the time .

The Olympus OVF is quite bulky and overhangs the back of the camera - so it gets caught easily ( I use the camera with a wrist loop ).

Now your probably thinking 'but the GV-2 is a e28mm finder' :
It is but as the frame lines are so conservative, by a happy coincidence they actually correspond precisely to e34mm at infinity
So for me the VF-1 was a waste of money ( but it came in the kit )

Hi,

thanks for sharing your experience. How does the Ricoh finder compare to the Olympus finder concerning image magnification?

If you are concerned about size, why are you not just using the screen for framing?

Ta
Joachim

[FrozenInTime]

Originally Posted by joachim

How does the Ricoh finder compare to the Olympus finder concerning image magnification?

If you are concerned about size, why are you not just using the screen for framing?

Hi Joachim,

The magnification is a bit less with the GV-2, and you do have to get your nose in against the screen a bit more.
However the camera is more easily stowed with the smaller finder. The first few days with the VF-1, the number of times I banged it off my leg while walking along, I was totally convinced that it would end up ripped off the hot-shoe in pieces. With the smaller OVF I have no problems - so it lives on the camera at all times.

Coming from a GR-1s and Leica M6 etc, the OVF is basically a lot more natural to me. I find the OVF a lot quicker to frame with for grab shots and also to re-frame for stitched panoramas as delay between frames increases the number of ghosts ( and having a nodal point at arms length is not a good idea ).

I even found the OVF useful with a 90mm Summicron lens attached - try finding fast moving planes doing aerobatics in the sky with a e180mm on a LCD at arms length: though once found, I held them in shot using the LCD.

Donald.

[M4streetshooter]

Is the GV2 finder a 4/3 format or a 3/2 format?

[dougi]

I like using it as a framing device before actually turning on or waking up the camera, which helps to save battery. Because the finder has no centre spot, it can be difficult to be confident when using single point AF that it is actually focussed on where you want it!

[JonasYip]

I voted "I wish..." which was the closest to what I did, which was buy the 14-42 kit and then buy the 17 with no finder. My plan was to use my voigtlander 28/35 finder if necessary, but really I'm perfectly happy using the LCD.

And the LCD works fine in bright light, or at least it works for me.

j

[Avotius]

I got the finder outside of the kit. Here in China they are about 60 dollars online and I thought what the heck. I use it with my zeiss 21 2.8 lens and it shows a hair more than the lens captures but still usable. I scale focus and shoot like that and it's not too bad really. The build quality of the finder however is quite poor, voigtlander finders glass quality is far better in brightness, frameline brightness and visability and flare control. I found the finder flares so easily and its quite annoying when it does because it's a lot of flare unlike my CV 21mm finder which rarely flares and whenit does it's usually just a color spec. I thought maybe my finder was bad but then my boss bought an EP1 with the finder and 17mm lens and his does the same.

[FrozenInTime]

Originally Posted by M4streetshooter

Is the GV2 finder a 4/3 format or a 3/2 format?

The Ricoh finder has a 4/3 aspect ratio - so is ideal for the E-P1 unlike the more expensive ( and discontinued ) VC 28/35 mini-finder which has a 3/2 aspect ratio.

[Avotius]

Maybe voigtlander can be convinced to make a few 4:3 ratio finders....I would much rather use a voigtlander offering then the Olympus one.

[M4streetshooter]

Originally Posted by FrozenInTime

The Ricoh finder has a 4/3 aspect ratio - so is ideal for the E-P1 unlike the more expensive ( and discontinued ) VC 28/35 mini-finder which has a 3/2 aspect ratio.

Thank ya sir....I have a few Voigtlander finders and they are great...
but the Oly finder works for me....

[tgoods]

I use the 28mm Voigtlander OVF paired with the Voigtlander 15mm lens, or the 50mm OVF with a 28mm lens. Both combinations work great. No real issues with 4:3 capture to 3:2 framing. I usually crop to 3:2 anyway cause that is what I prefer. The 4:3 capture just gives me more to work with from top to bottom.