Some high-quality viewfinder cameras, however, have a parallax error compensation feature for close-up work. Most compact camera makers get around the problem by marking the viewfinder eyepiece to indicate the area that will be included in a close-up.
RED-EYE
When the flash head and the lens are very close to each other, as they are with most viewfinder cameras that have built-in flash, and you use flash to photograph a person who is looking directly at the camera, you will often get "red-eye" in your picture. Visit our section on red-eye to learn more about this phenomenon.
REMOVE THAT LENS CAP
Because the photographer does not view the scene through the lens, it is important to remember to remove the lens cap when taking pictures. Often, a compact camera's lens is protected by a sliding cover that automatically opens when the camera is turned on, or that must be opened manually.
THE VIEWFINDER CAMERA'S VIEWFINDER
One of the disadvantages of this type of camera is that the lens in the separate viewing window shows the whole image as being sharp, regardless of how the lens is focused. Of course, there may be no lens at all in the viewing window of the simplest cameras of this type. The window's primary function is for image framing, and typically contains lines or marks etched or printed on the glass to show the margins of a scene that delineate what will appear on the film or the digital sensor.
FOCUSING
Focusing of a viewfinder camera is generally accomplished by rotating the lens to extend or retract it so that it is further or closer to the sensor (or the film). This is performed automatically by many compact cameras. Some rudimentary viewfinder cameras are equipped with fixed focus lenses - i.e. fixed in one position so that selective focusing cannot be accomplished - and rely upon predetermined hyperfocal distance for sharpness. The original Kodak "Brownie" invented in 1900 by George Eastman was a camera of this type. At the other end of the scale, more advanced viewfinder cameras can be focused with tremendous accuracy via a coupled rangefinder that produces a double or split image in the viewfinder until the lens is adjusted for correct focus, and then the images coincide.
Certain compact models have become quite sophisticated, with automatic focus, a zoom lens, auto-exposure, built-in flash and many other advanced features, while still retaining their simplicity of operation.
ADVANTAGES OF THE VIEWFINDER CAMERA
The viewfinder camera has its advantages, too. Price is one, due to its simpler construction. And because it has fewer moving parts than its single lens reflex counterparts, there is less to break down, the camera can be operated more quietly, and it is generally lighter and more compact than a comparable single-lens reflex camera. High-quality viewfinder cameras equipped with rangefinder focusing systems can be manually focused very quickly, and can often be accurately focused more easily in low light conditions than cameras with other viewing systems.
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