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Photography vocabulary · Camera Parts & Settings

Viewfinder

Meaning in photography, with examples

/ˈvjuːˌfaɪndər/nounCore term

In photography, viewfinder means: The small window you look through to frame a picture. It can be optical, showing the real scene, or electronic, showing a tiny screen.

In Turkish: vizör, bakaç

How it is used

Common in camera reviews and on shoots. An electronic viewfinder is called an EVF and an optical one an OVF. Photographers talk about shooting through the viewfinder instead of using the rear screen, especially in bright sun.

Example sentences

  1. In this bright sun I can't see the screen, so I'm using the viewfinder.

  2. The electronic viewfinder shows you the exposure before you take the shot.

Common collocations

  • electronic viewfinder
  • optical viewfinder
  • look through the viewfinder
  • viewfinder coverage
  • DSLRShort for digital single-lens reflex: a digital camera with a mirror that reflects light from the lens up into an optical viewfinder.
  • mirrorless cameraA digital camera with interchangeable lenses but no mirror inside. Light goes straight to the sensor, and you see the image on a screen or an electronic viewfinder.
  • framingDeciding exactly what is inside the edges of the photo and what is left out, and where the subject sits in the frame.
  • compositionThe way the elements of a photo, such as people, lines, shapes and empty space, are arranged inside the frame.

More terms: Camera Parts & Settings

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