Arguing about evf vs ovf is like arguing about hammer vs screwdriver

There is an new article on PetaPixel about an interview with the Ricoh president and the general manager of Ricoh products.
https://petapixel.com/2026/01/08/the-future-for-pentax-is-uncertain-but-ricoh-is-committed-to-the-brand/
Ricoh is committed to the Pentax brand, despite the quiet situation.
However, there appears to be no new DSLR yet on the drawing board.

Although my beloved K-1 looks and works as new after 9 years, I much like to have better AF for animal shots as well as an automatic focus stacking feature for mushroom shots.
Therefore I am considering to invest in Nikon FF mirrorless gear, such as the Z5-ii, that gets very good reviews.
Nikon has built in recent years a wide range of Z-mount lenses. Also, there are attractive Tamron lenses for this system.

Henk

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On 10 Jan 2026, at 22:43, Larry Colen lrc@red4est.com wrote:

If there was a good adapter to use K-mount autofocus with a mirrorless body, I could see myself being tempted to get that setup, because there are times that there are distinct advantages of EVF over OVF.

On 11 Jan 2026, at 19:09, lrc@red4est.com wrote:

Arguing about evf vs ovf is like arguing about hammer vs screwdriver

Good day, Bill

Many thanks for your eredite explanation & the time you took to
compile it. (A mini-thesis actually!). I agree with everything you say.

However, I have read a couple of reviews where it was alleged that the
EVF image had clearly been embellished by an AI algorithm. So, does
one really know?

With my K5 I shoot almost exclusively in TAV mode with the shutter
speed set to roughly 3x the focal length. In the bright light we
experience in this part of the world the ISO is seldom more than 1600
so noise is negligible. With the screw drive lenses I have, admittedly
the AF is slow, but fortunately the subjects which interest me are not
fast moving apart from aerobatics. In that case I have found that MF
at a small aperture to increase DOF is the only way. A K3 or K1 with
PLM lenses would do much better but such luxuries are a pipe dream.

Alan C   (In a rather soggy Phalaborwa)

On 11/01/2026 19:48, Bill wrote:

EVFs have an advantage when light levels are such that focusing
through an OVF is pure guesswork while an EVF gains up so you can see
what your doing. Yes noise goes up, but I'll take a noisy viewfinder
that I can focus with over a dark viewfinder that makes focusing
impossible.

For times when critical focus is required an EVF can zoom in on the
point of critical focus (yes, a DSLR can do that in live view, which
is defacto using the camera as if it has an EVF).

For times when focus is critical an an EVF will provide focus peaking
while an OVF will at best give you a green light focus indicator that
what the camera thinks it's pointing at is in focus. DSLR AF sensors
have a bad habit of being too large, misaligned or (and the K5 was a
brutally bad example of this) colour failure of the AF sensor causing
front or rear focusing.

My own K5 had unfixable AF colour failure to the point I was unable
to use AF in the studio or any time the light colour wasn't
unadulterated daylight.

When doing head & shoulders portraits with my K1 (and every AF Pentax
I've used) putting the focus point on the subject's eye more often
than not puts critical focus on the eyebrow, meaning that if I'm
trying to control DOF with a wider aperture I'm out of focus. Not
every picture want's f8, but with Pentax that was my only solution to
have some assurance that the eye would fall into the DOF and look at
least halfways in focus.

With my Fuji I can use my 56/1.2 or 75/1.2 at f1.2 and secure
critical focus every time with a close H&S portrait. With my Pentax
DFA* 85/1.2 on the K1 I have to stop down to f8 and pray, which kind
of makes all that extra money I paid for it something of a waste,
especially when the 85mm focal length is considered a common portrait
focal length on the format.

Most of the time these days I'm using a Fuji X-T5, a camera that
isn't renowned for having the best AF out there. Sony and Nikon
apparently are significantly better, but the Fuji is still pretty
darned good.

I can tell the camera which eye I want it focused on and it locks
onto that eye and holds focus no matter where it moves in the frame.
I can set my focus spot on a single person in a group and it will
hold that person in focus even as the person moves through a crowd.

And no, Alan, an EVF isn't AI, it's a direct representation of what
the sensor sees with no potential alignment issues causing the
viewfinder to see things the sensor isn't.

So yes, EVFs have some tremendous advantages over OVFs in some
situations.

The disadvantages are that some people are sensitive to EVF flicker.
I know I am, but the manufacturers seem to have overcome this. My
X-T1 gave me a blinding headache if I looked through the viewfinder
for more than half a minute at a time. My X-T5 doesn't, and it isn't
even the best viewfinder that Fuji makes. Those are reserved for the
X-H# series.

Battery life suffers with an EVF, but much of this can be mitigated
via not having the viewfinder turn itself on until the viewfinder is
looked through. And obviously, carrying spare batteries

And the biggest disadvantage that I see to EVFs is religion. People
have made OVF vs EVF into some sort of God fearing issue where one or
the other is the one true way and a pox on anyone who thinks
differently.

And yes, that is a two way street with zealotry on both sides.

bill

On 1/10/2026 11:26 PM, Alan Cole wrote:

On 11/01/2026 00:43, Larry Colen wrote:

there are times that there are distinct advantages of EVF over OVF.

Such as? OVF is the real thing, EVF is AI.

My K5 (ex Mark Cassino) & a few lenses up to 500mm suit me just fine.

Alan C

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