Originally posted by Winder Most people who say they don't like EVFs have never used one of the current generation of EVFs for any extended period. The experience of capturing an image is important, but not as important as actually capturing the image. I enjoy working with an OVF and I enjoy using manual focus lenses, but for what I do and how I work the modern EVF with AF is more important than my user experience.
The upcoming generation of photographer got started taking pictures with a smartphone. The digital viewfinder is natural and as they mover up to real ILCs they are gravitating toward mirrorless. There will always be people who prefer the OVF just as there are people who still shoot with rangefinders, 8x10 large format and 20"x24" Polaroid. The mass market is moving more and more toward mirrorless. How far will it go? I don't know, but I can easily see mirrorless sales exceeding DSLR sales in 5 years.
You make some good points... I'm just not sure I agree with them
Firstly, EVFs... I don't doubt that the latest EVFs on cameras such as the A9 and A7RIII are fantastic. But then, I really like the EVF on my A7 MkII... I even like the one on my Sony A99-based Hasselblad HV. I like both of them
a lot. But I also know there are plenty of people who just can't get on with them... and it's not just the way the view is displayed, it's the fact that it doesn't look the same as optical rendering. Plus, some people claim (and I have no reason to doubt these claims) that they get headaches or nausea from using EVFs for any reasonable amount of time (I hear the same complaints from some users of VR headsets). I realise that higher frame refresh rates and reduction in lag on newer EVFs should significantly reduce those problems, but by definition of the A-to-D conversion process, there will always be
some lag, however small.
As for those who got started taking pictures with a smartphone... I'm in my late 40s and I got started in photography with compact digital cameras, using their LCD screens for composition. Around 2008 or 2009, I got my first DSLR and fell in love with the optical viewfinder. Nowadays, I shoot both OVF and EVF. There are advantages to each that the other can't yet match. I prefer the look of an OVF... but I often prefer the functionality - for my own personal use-cases - of an EVF.
But I do think you have a point that the younger generation are more comfortable with digitised views in almost any application, and camera-buying population will therefore increasingly lean towards those who will accept (if not always prefer) EVFs