Digital cameras forum: Optical Viewfinder on Point-and-shoot digital cameras

You will find very few cameras that have optical viewfinders any more.
The camera makers delete the viewfinder to reduce cost and to put bigger LCD screens on the small cameras.

The Canon SD series of cameras have optical viewfinders on models with 2.5 inch LCDs.
The models with 3.0 LCDs don't have room left for a viewfinder.

Some Sony W series cameras have viewfinders, but all of the newer ones don't.

Panasonic has never had a camera with an optical viewfinder.
The big zoom Panasonic cameras usually have an electronic viewfinder.

Some LCD screens have improved glare protection, but most are not good enough.
I have a Fujifilm F30 that has a button on the back that brightens the screen for a few seconds.
This does let you see past the glare on the screen.

Unfortunately the specifications released by the camera makers rarely mentions how well their LCD screen works in bright sunlight.
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I'll use my old Canon G2 as an example. The G2 is very hard to see in sunlight and not good with contrast. The new camera's LCDs are night and day compared to the old LCDs.

There is no LCD on the market which can stand up to bright sunlight. If you are looking for a point and shoot cam with a viewfinder look at the Canon SD1000, SD1100 and SD1200, they all have viewfinders. I personally would never buy a camera which does not have one, I owned one a long time ago and that was my biggest regret.

No problem.I don't even remember what's it's for.

I use one of the more recent Canon Digital Elphs as my carry-around camera. It came with a 3" LCD and no viewfinder. After having a less than stellar experience with my prior Canon's LCD in bright light, I was a bit leary of not having a viewfinder, but I have found that I have not missed it one iota. (I also have a DSLR, so it's not that I am not used to using viewfinders....)

I would not hesitate to get a point-and-shoot with no viewfinder after my experience with this last Canon. I think the LCD's have gotten enough better and enough larger that it is much less common to have a problem in higher light situations than it used to be. Just pick a camera that has a display that you find comfortable in brightness and size, and you should do ok.

Now I would be interested in knowing how you are enjoying this camera as this is the one I am presently looking at.
Thanks.

My new camera does not have an optical viewfinder, although my next one will (I am already shopping for a replacement that has a viewfinder). I live in Arizona, and the LCD screen is useless outside during the day (If I just point the camara in the right direction, and I hope to get what I want, then sometimes I get lucky...).

I'm not buying a new camera until they put the viewfinder back on. I live in Hawaii, there is no way to take a good photo out in our boat without it. I was in Costco, ready to buy a new one until I realized there was no viewfinder. Three other customers also walked away for the same reason.

Thanks for your post!

Factory-refurbished Canon AS-1100-IS is available. I got mine here.

http://www.adorama.com/ICAA1100PR.html

I don't how they do this with a non-SLR setup but the optical viewfinder zooms in concert with the lens.

Uses 2 AA's which I prefer. I bought a couple of Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA's (two bucks a piece) to replace the alkalines that came with the camera and I should be good to go for 1,000 shots. It claims 150 shots from premium alkaline batteries.