Auxiliary Viewfinders

Forget new lenses and camera specs. One of the most freeing things we can add to our photography is an auxiliary viewfinder because it removes precision.

The need to see through the lens is overkill. If a camera gets us close, that’s good enough. Who has the memory to remember what was composed in each frame? With film, we could photograph and forget it. The fun part was being out there with the camera. Today’s electronic viewfinders go overboard and preview monochrome photographs in black and white. The world is in color. The main idea behind monochromatic photography is to experience a colorful world and then see a mono photo later. The Auxiliary viewfinder lets us simultaneously see in color and record in monochrome.

With a Fujifilm mirrorless camera, its film simulation bracketing feature will let us preview an image in color while outputting a monochrome image.