Viewfinder magnification?

Thank you Lenny, that makes sense, but does it also suggest that it might be less suitable for someone like me who wears spectacles, as they keep the eye further from viewfinder?

Cheers.
Philip

Yes - you're right! I too wear spectacles, but not for photography. I set the dipoter adjustment on the viewfinder (the O-ME53 honours this) to what suits me I really struggle wearing my specs on DSLR viewfinders

I agree with that. I wear glasses and already a DSLR viewfinder is as far away as is reasonable. Add something to it and you'll see even less of the screen.

If anyone is having trouble viewing a screen clearly, don't forget that the dioptre adjustment should be made with the lens defocused or removed. Adjust the dioptre setting until the etched lines in the viewfinder are at their sharpest.

Short sighted users might find their reading/computer glasses make non-adjustable SLR viewfinders much easier to see. The virtual distance of the image we are viewing is about 1 metre, so we need to be able to comfortably focus at that distance.

Handy tip - I didn't realise that !

Thank you Lenny and John.

Philip

Olympus used to advertise that image though the OM series was
bigger than other 35mm SLR's. It was actually a bit of a marketing
trick. They simply moved the virtual image seen by the eye in
closer so that it appeared larger. For me it was too much of
a struggle to see all of the frame at once I had to move my
eye around. You get exactly the same effect by holding a postcard
in your hand at a comfortable distance and then moving it
closer.... it's bigger, but harder to appreciate and take in.

Magnifying eyecups on a DSLR are very useful.

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Hi LennyBloke,

I think I get what you mean. I'll try and get my hands on one to see how it works out.

thanks for the input!

And Algernon, did not know that fact on the OM series.

Though I guess different people have different preferences. For me, I really do enjoy the larger image - somehow I can FEEL the composition that I like more instinctively. Some say inverting the image helps them in composition by allowing them to focus on shapes and space and ignore other detail . . I kind of feel like that I guess.

But thanks for all the feedback to everyone else.

I was finding it difficult to focus manual lens (e.g. M lenses of which I have far too many!) on my K-5IIs so I bought a KPS UMC magnifying eyepiece. This provides 1.3x magnification and is vey easy to fit. The eyecup is about 1.4cms in depth and so creates a protrusion over the LCD viewer. However, for spectacle wearers the cup folds back over itself reducing its depth by about 50%. In practice the extra magnification is well worth while and the quality of the viewfinder image is not degraded. You do, however, have to hunt around the viewfinder to see exactly what is in frame and what is not. Overall this has been a useful buy and I am not thinking of reverting back to the standard viewfinder.

Unfortunately nothing compares favourably with my ME Super viewfinder!