100% Viewfinder

Hi, Can anyone tell me if using a camera with 100% finder will help

an ameture like myself with composition? All I've used to date is an

FE with 93% view. What I see throught the lense is'nt at all what the

prints look like. I'm waiting for my new (used) F4s.

The problem with print film is that the end product is a result of inputs from you AND the developer/printer. Usually the consumer printing machines only show a certain percentage of the frame, not the entire frame. Each machine differs, as does each printer operator. Thus, there is no standard.<p>If you want to learn more about composition, I suggest using slide film, or B&W film and develop & print it yourself. You can see on the film what was actually captured. With most slide mounts, there is some encroachment of the mount on the picture area, so your FE's view should be a reasonable approximation of what a slide looks like. The 100% view is very useful to me when I want to fill the frame with a subject, and maximize my usage of film area.

Probably not, and your prints are most likely a different aspect ratio than the full 35mm format. What helps most is examining the view in detail. Go around the edges looking for things that lead the eye out of the frame. Look for distracting stuff in the background- you'll have to stop down. With the lens wide open for normal viewing, distractions are blurry, but if the shot is taken at a smaller aperture, all manner of things become very sharp and visible. Get some books that talk about composition, then look through the finder and try to justify why you're standing where you are, i.e., why the image works or not. I haven't mastered this in 30+ years of shooting, but practice makes perfect :-)

It (the 100 percent) would not matter much unless you do your own printing (color prints?) or work with unmounted transparancies (slides.)

One does not often put faces in the very edge of a image. Any color print machine 'has to' crop the edges some for the print machine mask (the gadget used to hold the strip of film in the machine.) You may try but it is unlikely you will get 100 percent of the negative printed completely...... Work more on understanding lighting in your images: worry less about the percentage of image seen in the viewfinder and what has been cropped off in the printing process.

If you're using a minilab, then a 100% viewfinder will not help you at all. Stick with

93%.

If you are shooting slides, the "100% viewing" will be of little advantage unless you remount in Full-Frame (100%) slide mounts. I used to do this but it seldom seemed worthwhile unless I just had to include something at the periphery of the image. (A full-frame is about 1.5mm wider and about 0.9mm higher than a standard slide mount frame.)

Notice also that the 100% viewfinders are precisely aligned to match the image recorded by film. The smaller-% viewfinders are often a little off-center which may or may not be a problem.

Jim,

 

I know of very few pictures that succeed compositionally just because (or only because)of the last 3% along the edges of the frame. It has been done, but most compositions use/need the center portions much more that a precise subject crop at an edge. [And: If you have more than you want, you can crop when printing. If you are short, you are stuck with what you have...]

 

So, rather than gear-heading about printer crop, 100% viewfinders and the like, I would like you to learn to compose with what you see in your 93% viewfinder. Edge composition is not as extremely important as you may think from looking up gear head type number specs.

 

The quality of a picture involves art and feeling and overall composition. Good luck!

If you use slides, the mount crops a bit around the edges. If you use print film, the negative gets cropped a little around the edges by the photofinishing process. Even if you develop and print in your own darkroom, the negative ends up being cropped a little around the edges by the film carrier, and that's not even taking into account yet what has to be cropped to fit on the standard paper sizes. So, do you still think you need to worry about a viewfinder being 93% as opposed to 100%? If anything, for precise composition purposes, the 93% viewfinder may actually be better.

We scan alot of photos for attorneys. Many are regular 4x6 and 3.5x5 inch sizes. On a few occasions we get the actual negatives and the prints. The negative scans can make a better image; but sometimes the image has to be cropped to match the photo; the actual submitted evidence to the court.<BR><BR> The several labs in house all have their processing machines of different brands and the way they are set up.<b>One yields 4x6 prints with almost NO CROPPING AT ALL; the others crop the normal amount.</b> Some have their machines left or right justifed; the 4x6 inch image starts at one edge; and leaves alot at the other edge. Here the print is not centered on the negative. Then there are some that all the prints vary in the 6 inch length by about 1/16 of an inch; like their cutter is muffed up; or software. <BR><BR>You might want to experiment with different printing labs; to see what their cropping actually is.<BR><BR>With my Nikon F's and F2's; the finder shows 100 percent; this will often result in prints alot less than ones view finder; depending on the lab.<BR><BR>With my Russian Lennigrad LTM camera; the 36mm dimension gets wider as more frames are shot. The motor drive camera has no sprocket; the takeup spool revolves the same angular amount for each frame. The film thickness buildup on the takeup spool increases the actual frame spacing. The Walgrens girls called me up; and asked me to check my camera; because the frame spacing was abit goofy. But remember they are not a pro lab :)