Do we really need viewfinders on cameras anymore? I barely even use mine!

A debate that will continue to rumble on for the foreseeable future is whether you use the viewfinder or the rear LCD screen. Now I know some of you are probably asking, well what about if you use both? True, but without doubt, every photographer will have a preference. I for one am on team LCD, but I wasn’t always, let me tell you how I eventually transitioned.

Looking through the viewfinder has forever been a magical experience since I can remember. My 14-year-old self, getting to grips with my first DSLR, and being instantly transported into an exciting new world from my first peek. You close one eye, then put the other up close to the viewfinder, like you’re looking through a submarine periscope, and a photographic love ensues.

I felt like a professional every time I used it, even at that young and innocent age. I would then review my results on the rear LCD screen in anticipation – unsurprisingly the majority of them were out of focus (I’ve improved a lot since then). But here lies the dilemma, why does using one feel like you’re more of a specialist than using the other, or is it just me? It’s because the viewfinder is the traditional way of working, it’s how we’re first taught, whether in the classroom or online.

X-T5 · f/3.3 · 1/2000s · 22.7mm · ISO125

This misperception regrettably creeped into my train of thought on occasion. Seeing fellow photographers taking pictures through a viewfinder made me believe they were an expert of sorts, doing something of great significance. I soon snapped out of this naive way of thinking when I started to take my chosen school subject more seriously, and I began to experiment with the LCD as I got older.

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