B&H Photo and Amazon are both offering a free DMW-LVF-1 External Live View Finder with the purchase of a Panasonic GF1 Micro 4/3 camera and the 14–45mm normal zoom. The viewfinder normally sells separately for ~$130.
Here's the link to B&H's page.
To order the same thing from Amazon, here are Amazon's fine-print instructions, with the links:
Free DMW-LVF1 Viewfinder with the Panasonic Lumix GF1 Snap up the Panasonic Lumix GF1 and get a free Panasonic DMW-LVF1 External Live Viewfinder—a $150 value—with combined purchase from Amazon.com. Simply add the GF1
and viewfinder
to your Shopping Cart, and we'll automatically apply the discount at checkout. Offer good while supplies last; applies only to purchases of products sold by Amazon.com and does not apply to products sold by third-party merchants and other sellers through the Amazon.com site.
I don't have the viewfinder for my GF1, so I can't comment on it, other than to say it's necessary if you want to shoot outdoors in bright sunlight, where the live view viewing screen of the plain GF1 runs the gamut from "less than ideal" to "utterly useless." In some kinds of light I cannot see the LCD at all, and basically end up guessing at what I'm pointing the camera at. In other words, you need the viewfinder....
Mike
(Thanks to Ken Bennett)
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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Featured Comment by james wilson: "The Hoodman loupe is still the best viewfinder for a P&S camera. It is a real SLR type experience. A little bulky perhaps but I keep it hanging around my neck and deploy it as needed."
Response by Edward Taylor: "I concur on the Hoodman loupe. It is bulkier, but much better than the viewfinder. Another plus is that I can use it on any camera to see the LCD clearly in bright light—even if I am just checking the histogram, composition or focus post exposure. Zacuto makes a more expensive one as well."
Response by Kirk Tuck: "I disagree with James about the Hoodman. I find the electronic viewfinder for the Olympus EP2 and EPL cameras [there's also a black one that's out of stock at the moment —Ed.] to be much more usable. I don't have to do a two hand shuffle to use the camera and the view is wonderful. Also much smaller than a Hoodman Loupe. I do use the Hoodman Loupe when doing video on DSLR's but only out of necessity."
That looks like it would just clip on to the Holga D concept you linked to...
Posted by: Paul Van | Sunday, 11 July 2010 at 12:52 PM
Mike:
Can't comment on the panasonic viewfinder - I'm currently using an Oly EP-1 with the panny 20mm 1.7 (love that lens...)
But I did use a Ricoh GX 100 as my main camera for a couple of years, and the ability to flip the viewfinder up 90 degrees turned out to be hugely useful, bright sun or not - it's an interesting point of view, as any Rollei user knows.
Posted by: Steve G, Mendocino | Sunday, 11 July 2010 at 02:46 PM
I own this viewfinder and at this price, I have absolutely nothing negative to say about it.
As an early adopter, I paid about $200 for it, and I must say, I don't use it much. It makes the camera a bit bigger and just a bit less rugged, so I don't even have it with me very often.
Ed
Posted by: Edward Taylor | Sunday, 11 July 2010 at 03:24 PM
I have the GF1 viewfinder and can heartily recommend it. With the limited lcd screen and lack of optical view finder it really is a must although there is a slight lag behind an optical view.
Posted by: Paul | Sunday, 11 July 2010 at 05:12 PM
" In some kinds of light I cannot see the LCD at all, and basically end up guessing at what I'm pointing the camera at."
I was going to suggest that selling the camera without a viewfinder is rather like selling a car without a steering wheel - but that would be exaggeration. Perhaps its more like selling a car without windscreen wipers.
Posted by: Robin P | Sunday, 11 July 2010 at 05:37 PM
Sounds like a GF2 may be forthcoming.
Posted by: Michael Steinbach | Sunday, 11 July 2010 at 06:56 PM
Or perhaps a new EVF.
Posted by: Poagao | Sunday, 11 July 2010 at 10:55 PM
FWIW, I went with a friend who was looking to buy either the GF-1 or the Olympus EP-2. We looked at them side-by-side. The Oly EVF was so much nicer than the Lumix EVF that it sealed the deal for the purchase of the Oly over the Lumix.
Posted by: jim | Monday, 12 July 2010 at 12:02 AM
Dear Robin,
Depends on the camera. My Fuji S6000 had a terribly dim back screen, and a very poor eye level finder. What made it usable in sunlight was adding a folding hood to the back. Insignificant weight, a few mm thickness, and about $25. Worked beautifully-- I could see the finder on a sunny day.
The finder on my S100 was much, much brighter; it was usable in direct sunlight without a hood. The eye level finder was decent, also.
My Olympus Pen has an even brighter finder yet-- it's readable even with sunlight hitting it directly. Still, I'm thinking about adding a folding hood, which should make it work extremely well.
Not putting down eye level finders, just pointing out a camera isn't inherently crippled nor useless without one. Unless, of course, one insists on having an eye-level finder, But that's an issue of personal taste, not camera design.
pax / Ctein
Posted by: Ctein | Monday, 12 July 2010 at 03:46 AM
Mike, if you only have the 20mm lens, try the Voigtlander 35mm (metal) viewfinder. Despite the mismatch of aspect ratios, it is pretty accurate beyond about 6 ft. or so. It solves the screen visibility in bright light problem. Except for focussing, you'll just have to trust in The Force.
Posted by: dkreithen | Monday, 12 July 2010 at 10:05 AM
There are plenty of examples of historic cameras that did not have a daylight optical viewfinder -- most view cameras for example. That's what that "focusing cloth" is for, right? So you can see the image on the ground glass screen in the sun? So it can't be an "inherent" requirement for a "real" camera.
I do so little of my photography outside that, when I am working outside, it always surprises me how much the sun can mess up my view of the LCD on some cameras. Still, that's not enough to make it a major factor in choosing a camera. It's still a very rare event. If it got a bit more annoying I might get one of those add-on hoods, or something.
Posted by: David Dyer-Bennet | Monday, 12 July 2010 at 02:45 PM
For what it is worth - I use both, the "Live View Screen", and the viewfinder, what I like about the viewfinder is that one can rotate it, permitting framing of images in a manner that is not possible with cameras with a fixed LCD screen.
Posted by: Peter Szawlowski | Monday, 12 July 2010 at 07:19 PM
Mike & ddreithen:
I'm using the Voigtlander 40 mm finder on an EP-1 with the 20mm and it's accurate enough for street work. The rear screen is always there for more exacting framing.
Posted by: Steve G, Mendocino | Monday, 12 July 2010 at 07:31 PM
I have the viewfinder, and I'm somewhat less enthusiastic about it than others here - and my experience more closely matches some I've read elsewhere, i.e., it's too easy to flip up/down, it will easily come off when fishing the camera out of a pocket/bag, and the actual display is a big disappointment after using the G1.
That said, I still find it an absolutely necessary option for both bright days and for angled shooting.
But it bugs me that Panasonic did such a great job on the G1's evf and such a lackluster one on the GF1's - while Olympus apparently did the oppsite re: the EPs' screen vs optional evf.
Posted by: Ludovic | Monday, 12 July 2010 at 09:25 PM
I have a GF1 but not the viewfinder. If I did have it, I'd only use it occasionally, so it didn't seem worth the (full) price.
But hey, if they're giving them away, perhaps a few will show up on eBay over the next few weeks -- being sold by people who don't really want it but got it anyway for free. I'd gladly fork over 40 bucks for one. Heck, maybe even $50!
Posted by: ed hawco | Monday, 12 July 2010 at 10:04 PM
Personally I own both the LX3 and the GF1 and I have no use for a viewfinder what so ever. I use it for landscape and I've always got the cadre-lines to help me decide what I ám about to shoot. Then from the few things I can see I can deduct what I'm shooting, and afterwards I can check the picture using my body as a shade and reshoot if necessary (landscapes and buildings are not in the business of running of into the distance :-)).
I would not be in the business of buying a 200 euro viewfinder either, I'd rather go for a 500 euro G2 body or even better a 250 euro G1 secondhand if need did arise. It ads a capable body for bright light conditions (no worries about high iso) and is a few euro's more expensive.
Greetings, Ed
Posted by: Ed | Tuesday, 13 July 2010 at 01:51 PM