Touring the viewfinder

- When you look through the viewfinder,…you're actually looking through the lens…that's taking the picture.…This can be useful because it allows you to really judge…what's happening with the camera.…It's an optical view.…Now, this is a little tricky,…but what's essentially happening is…you're looking through the back of the camera…and then it takes the light through a prism.…You may recall that there's a mirror inside your camera,…so the light passes through the lens,…hits the mirror, and goes up through the prism…and it goes into your eye.…

This allows you to see what's happening.…Now, the exact mechanics vary slightly from camera to camera…and not all cameras have an optical viewfinder.…Some of Canon's mirrorless cameras,…or point and shoot cameras,…don't actually use this optical approach,…this is what's really known as the DSLR.…But it doesn't really matter,…most diopters are more or less the same,…whether they're showing you an optical image…or they're showing you a small screen.…It's just the under the hood stuff that varies,…