Customer Reviews

Panasonic DMW-VF1 External Optical Viewfinder

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I wrestled with getting this external viewfinder. The friend of mine who seduced me into getting an LX3 had one. He loved it. I drooled over it. I put it on my wish list and no one bought it for me for Christmas, so I got it for myself.

The major reason to get it is that it's cool. If you put this on your LX3, you'll look like a baby Leica (which in fact you do have already). If you're shooting outdoors, it's a useful thing to have. It even saves you battery life.

If you're indoors, you don't need it. If you're up close, you'll have parallax.

Let's face it, it's just an optical viewfinder with frame etched in it and some ticks so you can estimate frame size when you have the zoom all the way out at 24mm mode. That's it. Don't expect magic.

On the other hand, if you want an optical viewfinder, then you want one. I searched around for other options. If you check photo sites, eBay, and other places, you can find optical viewfinders for other cameras. I suppose some of them will work fine, but they're not designed for this camera and I worried about how well they'd track the frame. If you were shooting with a Leica rangefinder, you'd have a set of these, one for each lens with the viewfinder matched to the lens.

Through my shopping, I couldn't find another option that was cheaper. I could find a few that cost less, but they were the ones I found to be the most dodgy. Either they were designed for something off-base, or they were for the wrong focal length lens, and they weren't -that- much less expensive. For example, 28mm viewfinder that was only about $100. Not bad, but the LX3 has a 24mm focal length at wide-angle, so it doesn't match. I think I found an even worse match for around $70.

And let's face it, it's not like $100 (or $70) is cheap. Sure, if I'd found one for a sawbuck or two, I'd have gotten that, but the options were not only misfits but more than I wanted to pay for a lark.

So ultimately after months of shopping, I took a deep breath and bought it. I cursed mildly because before the holidays there people who priced this (through Amazon) for $130 instead of the $160ish I got it for, and I should have bought it then. But I didn't, because I hoped someone would get it for me. They didn't, so I forked out the money.

I love it. It's what I wanted. It looks cool, it saves some battery life, it does what I expected. It has a five star review from me because I agonized over the purchase and looked at all the options, and frankly, if you want one of these you are not going to do better than just getting it. Yeah, it's expensive for a piece of glass. But it's a piece of glass that serves a purpose and the other pieces of glass that serve not quite the same purpose aren't so much cheaper that it's worth getting something that almost works. You're better off with nothing than the other options. If you don't believe me, search eBay yourself.

On the other hand, there's another gentleperson here who has rated it two stars for some very good reasons. Read his review, too, because if you don't really want this, then there are better things to spend the money on. I empathize with his disappointment. If you're like him, don't get it, at least not until the price drops by a lot. If you're like me, and you want one, you know the options, you know the limitations, you'll be happy with it.

I like the Panasonic external optical viewfinder (EOV) and I keep it on the camera all the time.


Cons:

1. Bit pricey.

2. It's not connected to the camera's brain at all, so, when you look through the EOV, you don't get any feedback from the camera about focus, exposure, etc. You don't necessarily even see what the camera is going to capture. (On the other hand, it's not difficult to turn the LED on and see whatever you need to see, when you want to see it.)

3. Related to the previous point, with the EOV, you can't see the change in the framing of a photo when you zoom the lens.


Pros:

1. Saves battery power. I haven't done any tests but my rough sense is that the savings is significant. I'm taking the camera camping with me, where I won't be able to recharge the battery very often. I'm taking a spare battery Panasonic CGA-S005A/1B Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery for Panasonic FX8, FX9, FX01, FX07, FX3, LX1, LX2 and FX50 Digital Cameras, but by using the EOV, I'll be able to keep the LED screen off most of the time.

2. In bright sunlight, it's easier to use the EOV than the LED to compose your shot.

3. Even when the sunlight isn't so bright, I find the EOV makes it easier to work with the camera. For some folks like me, who are used to shooting with a DSLR, using the EOV seems more natural and direct, and I think it makes it somewhat easier to keep the camera steady while you depress the shutter than it is if you are holding the camera at arm's length so you can see the LED.

4. Some of the third-party EOVs you can buy for the LX3 get in the way of the pop-up flash; this Panasonic EOV does not.


Ultimately, this is very much a subjective personal choice kind of accessory. I find the pros compelling, but others might not.

Living in the high desert of the southwest US the majority of our days are bight, cloudless, and very sunny. This makes it hard to see the LCD monitor on my LX3 (and any other camera that uses an LCD to frame your photo). I saw this view finder and thought it might be the answer to this problem. Sadly, it is lacking. Perhaps I can not read or understand what I am reading, but it is certainly true I didn't understand the limitations of this item. All it is is a piece of glass with a frame etched on it, encased in plastic with a base to enable you to slip it in your hot shoe. It does not communicate with the camera in any way. Once it is mounted on your camera, you then have to go into your menu and tell the camera the view finder is there. You only do this so the LCD turns off to save battery power. If you make any adjustments or change any of the settings the LCD comes back on and you have to take the camera away from your eye to see what was done on the LCD that you can't see in the sun anyway. If you zoom, the view in the view finder does not change. Therefore, you have no idea how much or how little of the scene you will be capturing. I ran a quick completely unscientific test. I lined up a light pole just inside the left side of the frame in the view finder and the camera was set with absolutly no zoom. This was the picture I captured. Everything inside the frame, just as it should be. I then zoomed a little, with the light pole still lined up on the left hand side of the frame in the view finder and discovered I could only guess at the paramaters of the image I captured. I did this several more times, zooming more each time. The more you zoom, the more you get to guess what your picture will look like.

The one bright spot (pun intended), you can use it to find the center of your picture. This is helpful, but unless you do not zoom, you will have no idea how much to the right, left, up, or down of the center you are getting. I am hoping that with patience and practice I will be able to better judge this.

This item is worth about $40.00. It certainly isn't worth the current price.

Back about a million years ago and for a long time, the street or candid photographer reigned supreme. Armed with their Leicas with 35 and 50mm lenses, they moved in close and captured what Henri Cartier-Bresson beautifully and appropriately called "the decisive moment". Their work graced the pages of Life Magazine and other venues famous for photojournalism.

Few people have used Leicas and they don't know the elegant simplicity of simply raising a small, lightweight camera to their eye, not needing to focus because they have already set the lens to capture the depth of field they want and shooting multiple shots as rapidly as they could rack the thumb drive.

Digital cameras have spent the last 15 or so years maturing.

Now in the Panasonic Lumix LX5, we have a very lightweight shooter with a fast F2.0 lens, a pretty fast start-up time and impressively fast shot-to-shot times as well as modest burst capability.

The DMW-VF1 optical viewfinder provides the last element to the package - a brilliant optical viewfinder that allows you to frame a shot at 24mm focal length instantly. This is an accessory for people who shoot on the street, grabbing moments as they happen. It really doesn't have much utility for anyone else.

There is no electronic connection between the VF1 and the camera, so you don't see any information in the viewfinder. If you rack the lens beyond 24mm, you're guessing at the composition.

The VF1 has only one purpose: to provide a brilliant, unimpeded optical view of the 24mm field of view. That's it. If you're into people photography, capturing "the decisive moment", it turns the LX5 into a formidable machine, very similar to the old Leica M series. If you try using it for any other purpose, you'll rightfully curse it as a waste of money.

For myself, I love it: it is very much like using my old and much-missed Leica M6,

Jerry

Useful for a bright sunlight conditions.Despite the negative reviews,I still recommend it as a great compliment for the Panasonic LX3 camera.

The Panasonic DMW-VF1 viewfinder appears to be well made but is of limited usefulness. The image viewed through the finder is close to what you see on the camera LCD display if the camera lens is in the non-zoom position but of little use otherwise. Very pricey for such a limited use gadget.

I bought this device for two reasons : better framing of pictures and saving battery power. For this price I was expecting an electronic viewfinder that can provide at least 50% of the information that I would normally have on the active display. I'm talking basic information like aperture, shutter speed, focus, EV compensation, not to mention that it would have had a purpose if it displayed 100% of the menu informations or settings made before taking a shot. What I got is 100% failure : not only the viewfinder does not display any information AT ALL, but there are indicators left on the darkened display, as if it was not enough that you're in the dark with all the settings, but you also have to look at the dark screen too before taking the shot, to make sure your photo is in focus, or your flash is charged.

So, if you are going to use this viewfinder, you will have to : mount it, choose whatever setting you like for your photos, go to camera's menu and set it up to viewfinder mode (your display will go black, but will still display the focus indicator and the flash charge indicator), take your photos. If you decide you need the slightest adjustment to your camera settings to improve your photos, you need to access the camera's menu again, get back to display mode, chose your new settings, get back to viewfinder mode, and keep taking your photos, completely ignoring the focus indicator or flash charge indicator if possible, in order to not move the camera after you chose the best framing for your picture.

If you decide not to go through all this hassle, then you have the option of leaving your display always on (the viewfinder will still work as it is just a piece of glass attached to the camera shoe), which completely defies the purpose of saving battery power. Also, using the viewfinder with the display on, will do nothing but give you a false impression that you can frame your picture better.

Altogether, the worst investment among this camera's accessories. I really expected a lot more from Panasonic on this one.

This thing is useless.
Don't waste your money.
Enough said. I bought this item, can't return it and am stuck with it. And it was expensive. Trust me, it doesn't add anything and your camera is better off without it.