Canon EOS-1DCanon leaps into the professional SLR arena, with the fastest digital SLR on the planet!<<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:ViewfinderReview First Posted: 12/08/2001 |
Viewfinder
A TTL optical
viewfinder is the sole mechanism for composing images on the EOS-1D, as the
2.0-inch LCD monitor is purely for image review and menu navigation. (This is
typical of most SLRs, the light path is either through the eyepiece or onto
the CCD, with no provision for a "live" LCD viewfinder display.) Fortunately,
the optical viewfinder on the EOS-1D offers a true 100% field of view, a relative
rarity, even among high-end SLRs. The optical viewfinder has a glass pentaprism
design, using a mirror to reflect the view from the lens, just as in a traditional
SLR viewfinder design. A full information overlay along the bottom of the viewfinder
window reports the current exposure settings, including shutter speed, aperture,
exposure compensation, and ISO, among other information. A circular black outline
at the center of the viewfinder window indicates the central spot-metering area,
(although as we'll see later, the 1D is capable of spot metering at a number
of locations within the field of view). A large black elliptical outline marks
the boundaries of the autofocus area. A total of 45 discrete autofocus sensors
are distributed within this ellipse, and may be used singly or in combination
as I'll describe in the "Optics" section of this review. Active AF
points illuminate red when the Shutter button is half-pressed.
The amount of information conveyed by the EOS-1D's viewfinder readouts is quite impressive, all the more so because the display is actually quite uncluttered and easy to understand. The illustration below (courtesy Canon USA) shows all the internal viewfinder displays and their functions. (Readers familiar with the EOS-1v film SLR will immediately recognize the strong similarities between this display and the one used on that camera.) Apart from the 1D's viewfinder displaying information for ISO setting (optional), JPEG mode, and the number of shots remaining in a burst, the major differences between the 1v and 1D's viewfinder have to do with the latter's being masked to accurately depict the area covered by the CCD sensor. Because the CCD sensor is smaller than the 35mm film frame, the AF ellipse covers a greater percentage of the frame, as do the metering sensors for spot and partial metering. (Metering areas are 3.8% and 13.5% of frame area on the 1D, vs 2.3% and 8.5% for the 1v.)
On the left side of the viewfinder eyepiece is a diopter adjustment dial, which
corrects the viewfinder display from -3.0 to +1.0 diopter units to accommodate
eyeglass wearers. The viewfinder has a moderately high eye point, meaning that
the view should be reasonably clear, even with fairly thick eyeglasses. (In
addition to the rather wide range of diopter adjustments available on-camera,
Canon also offers dioptric correction lenses for the viewfinder ranging from
-4 to +3 diopters in 10 steps. These clip on externally, and act in addition
to the built-in diopter adjustment, for a total range of -7 to +4 diopters.
(If you can see to pick up the camera, you should be able to see through the
viewfinder.) On the right side of the viewfinder eyepiece is a small lever that
opens and closes a shutter behind the eyepiece. This prevents any additional
light from filtering into the camera through the viewfinder eyepiece during
long exposures on a tripod. The EOS-1D also features a removable eyecup that
fits over the viewfinder eyepiece, handy for high ambient light environments.
The 2.0-inch, TFT
color LCD monitor is used only for image playback and menu viewing, and is made
up of approximately 120,000 pixels. A brightness control offers five brightness
levels, helpful for viewing in excessively dark or bright situations. Images
can be displayed with or without the relevant image information, and the EOS-1D
offers four- or nine-image index display modes. A very useful feature is the
optional Highlight Alert, which flashes overexposed sections of the image gray/white
during playback. An optional histogram display is also available, which is handy
for assessing overall exposure, though I've personally found the blinking highlight
display much more useful for showing where I've blown out highlights. (The problem
with a histogram display is that blown highlights usually represent only a small
percentage of overall image area, meaning it's hard to pick them up on the histogram
readout. A blinking area on the LCD playback display is pretty hard to miss.)
A feature I sorely missed seeing in the 1D's LCD display was any form of zoomed
playback. Most cameras I've tested make some provision for enlarging images
on the LCD monitor during playback. This can be handy for checking fine framing
details, or (if a high enough enlargement factor is provided) for checking focus
and depth of field. The EOS-1D has no option for enlarged playback.
Active Mirror Technology
As I mentioned earlier, the EOS-1D is incredibly fast, faster than many film
cameras. (Up to 8 frames per second.) It turns out that in normal situations,
even the bounce of the mirror as it settles back into position after each shot
would prevent frame rates this high. To overcome this, Canon developed "Active
Mirror" technology for the EOS-1v model, which uses active drive electronics
to damp out mirror vibrations in half the time that would be required otherwise.
The sheer shot-to-shot speed of Active Mirror technology is only part of the
equation though -- because the mirror moves so fast, the viewfinder blackout
time between exposures is reduced to only 45 milliseconds. I commented on this
in my preview article about the 1D, remarking that I'd report on my subjective
experience once I got my hands on an actual test sample. Having now had the
benefit of personal experience, I can say that the viewfinder remains very usable,
even when the shutter is clattering away at the maximum frame rate. Quite impressive!
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