What Is a Viewfinder and How Is It Used When Taking Photos?

When talking about cameras and photography a ‘viewfinder’  is the part of a camera used for composing and focusing the subject being photographed, and viewing the entire frame of an image. Viewfinders can be glass, as found in rangefinder and DSLR type cameras, or an LCD screen as found in mirrorless cameras. In modern cameras the viewfinder also includes an overlay of useful camera and exposure information, include a visual representation of camera focus settings and metering settings. The viewfinder is a photographers one-stop shop for capturing correctly composed and exposed images. Live-view mode allows the camera’s rear LCD screen to be used as a viewfinder.