David Pogue's Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

Optical Viewfinder

Every year, digital camera screens get bigger. That's good, because framing photos is much more satisfying when you can see what you're doing. Big screens are also great when it's time to show your pictures to other people.

On some cameras today, though, the screen fills the whole back of the camera—and there's no room for an optical viewfinder (the little glass hole).

Clearly, most people don't care; they don't find themselves using the optical viewfinder much and would rather have the bigger screen. As a result, optical viewfinders are disappearing. Some companies have eliminated them from all of their pocket cameras.

That's fine, but the optical viewfinder does come in handy now and then. In bright sunshine, the screen may fade, making it hard to frame your shots. In dim light, you may not see much of an image on the screen at all as you compose a photo. And eliminating the viewfinder means you can't use an old battery-life trick: turning off the screen.

Finally, holding a camera up to your face helps to brace it, reducing the likelihood of blur that's introduced by handheld jitters. Without an optical viewfinder, you're forced to hold the camera out away from your body.